Oh, how the times are a-changing. The shifts happening in every area of our global lives usher into existence a brand new time. Things as we have come to know them are simply no longer. The times may be new, but there are ancestors who knew what to expect and warned us, if only we listened.
With Black History Month upon us, we are always prone to mentioning and rightfully celebrating the accomplishments of Black History makers. This Black History Month would be a good time to immerse ourselves in the wisdom of our ancestors, revisiting and absorbing the words and warnings that have been available to us.
It’s time to revisit the words of Octavia Butler. Butler, who was born in Pasadena, California, died in Seattle on February 24, 2006. She is buried near her hometown in the Mountain View Cemetery in Altadena, California. The cemetery did catch fire, but fortunately, it suffered minimal damage, leaving her resting place intact.
We all remember when the 47th President first took office as the 45th President; everyone was buzzing about the predictions Butler made in her seminal Afro-futuristic book Parable of the Talents. Written in 1992, Parable of the Sower anticipates post-apocalyptic Los Angeles. The February 1, 2025 diary entry in Sower reads, “We had a fire today.”
Octavia Butler was a student of history and was able to understand and write about the ways in which the past and present impact our future. She anticipated that climate change, racism, and economic disparity would create the perfect cocktail for chaos, and she nailed it!
In the essay, "My Dungeon Shook: Letter to my Nephew on the One-Hundredth Anniversary of Emancipation" in James Baldwin’s The Fire Next Time, Baldwin writes of not allowing himself to become enraged over the tools of systemic, legal, and socioeconomic discrimination embedded within the White power structure. In this writing, Baldwin speaks to the adoption of a more universal view of racial tensions. Fire was published in 1963, the precursor era of the Civil Rights Movement.
Works from both of these authors are definitely worth revisiting right now.
In Altadena, Octavia Butler is present. A bookstore there called Octavia’s Bookshelf has become a location for aiding residents suffering loss. Storeowner Nikki High has also suffered loss, and keeping the bookstore open has been a challenge, but she has activated the store to provide support to people impacted by the Eaton fire.
For those who believe in the power of calling on our ancestors, Octavia’s Bookshelf is a prime example of help from the beyond.
Taking time to understand history can certainly support our efforts to live well now. Our ancestors have given us many blueprints. We must be willing to absorb the teachings.
History is filled with repeating cycles of strength and weakness, wisdom and stupidity, empire and ashes. To study history is to study humanity."
Octavia Butler
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