Pasadena's Black History Festival Becomes Beacon Of Healing For Eaton Fire Survivors - Beritaja

Walt Butler has nary plans to slow down.

“If you remainder excessively much, you conscionable go lethargic,” the Pasadena sports icon said while handing retired civilization T-shirts to kids astatine his booth astatine the 2026 Black History Festival connected Saturday. And the 84-year-old has truthful overmuch much he wants to do.

“We conscionable request to do much for others,” Butler said. “Some of the things that I want to do is effort to thief small kids to go much economically inclined to negociate their ain money. Stop wasting it each and look for the future. These knucklehead kids, they are our future, you know.”

Filicia Flot, left, and her hubby Derrick pinch grandson RJ Silva astatine the 44th Black History Month Festival successful Pasadena.

(Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)

The expansive marshal of the festival, Butler, who lost his longtime location successful Altadena successful past year’s Eaton fire, embodies the event’s taxable of passing the baton to the adjacent generation. He’s known successful the organization some for his precocious schoolhouse and assemblage track-and-field career, arsenic good arsenic his activity advocating for learning and helping those successful need. In betwixt chatting up attendees who’d alternately rib him for his property and telephone him “a cleanable domiciled model,” Butler said about his dream of getting much kids to be religion regularly and to thief the section unhoused community.

“People request ... a chance to springiness [themselves] a adjacent chance,” Butler said. “And if we springiness ourselves a adjacent chance, we person little clip to mistreat others.”

Held astatine Robinson Park successful Pasadena, the 44th Black History Festival was a ceremony of organization and resilience arsenic group proceed to retrieve and move guardant successful the aftermath of past year’s Eaton fire, according to the city’s announcement.

Musical performances connected the intermezo shape kept things lively. There were besides moments of nickname for figures specified arsenic the Rev. Jesse Jackson and his civilian authorities advocacy, including his push to merge the activity of the Tournament of Roses. Jackson died Feb. 17 astatine property 84.

Candace Lacy, pinch Victory Bible Church, sings astatine the 2026 Black History Festival successful in Pasadena.

(Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)

Among the booths for vendors, nationalist work organizations and libraries were those dedicated to educating and celebrating section Black history, specified arsenic “Amplify,” an oral history documentary about those displaced by the building of the 710 Freeway.

Basirah Olawale, a Pasadena resident attending the show for the first time, said she wanted to bring her young children to the arena to “expose them to much of our culture.”

“Representation” is important, she added.

“It’s bully to beryllium successful a spot wherever we’re celebrating Black History Month and beryllium pinch the community,” said Shanika Honeycutt, different first-time attendee.