Event Detail

Questers El Molino Fundraiser To Benefit Altadena Historical Society presents The Black Pasadena of Octavia E. Butler

Monday, February 24, 2025 at 5:30 p.m.

Cost: Free

Sponsor: Questers El Molino

For more information call: 202-262-9660

Or click here: https://www.questers1944.org/

This Questers’ Black History Month program is also a fundraiser for the Altadena Historical Society that is playing a major role in the recovery and rebuilding of historic Altadena, particularly in the Black community. A special thank you to Veronica Jones for her indispensable help in planning this program and "to our guests from the Altadena Historical Society attending tonight’s event". in the wake of the devastating Eaton fire, the Altadena Historical Society needs to decontaminate their existing archives, as well as reach out to displaced residents with remaining items of historic value to archive and digitize these resources, ensuring these significant Altadena stories are not lost to history. The choice of Octavia E. Butler as topic for tonight’s program could not be more timely. An award-winning Black woman author of immense accomplishment and reputation, she lived her formative years on the border of Pasadena and Altadena, and her papers are deposited in the Octavia E. Butler Archives at the Huntington Library. Her powerful, prophetic voice inscribed in her science fiction novels is more relevant than ever given the devastating effects of climate change being realized today. Presenter: Dr. Chi-ming Yang is a Professor of English at the University of Pennsylvania. She is an accomplished scholar specializing in histories of race, empire, and East-West cultural exchange. Her recent book on the childhood influences and writings of Octavia E. Butler, entitled Octavia E. Butler: H is for Horse, has been published by the Oxford University Press and will be available for purchase in May 2025. According to Dr. Yang, the figure of the horse, representing the contradictions of freedom and captivity, is central to Butler’s creative thinking. Her book also includes interviews with Butler’s classmates at the John Muir High School in Pasadena as well as Altadena community members. Click here to view flyer.