A mentor to hundreds of people died this week. Professor Buddy Butler persuaded me in 1998 to apply to San Jose State University, so we could work together. He appointed me the Education Director of STEP (School Touring Ensemble Program) which was a multi-cultural theatre company of SJSU undergraduate students that toured K-12 schools in California performing plays with social justice messages. He cast non-traditional people in roles. He boosted everyone’s confidence. He made magic.

We met approximately one year after my divorce from my starter husband. Buddy inspired me to believe in myself and found opportunities for me to shine, as I struggled to re-build my life. The summer before graduation, he invited me to join an elite group of talented actors to research primary sources of the many paths that immigrants took to reach California in the 1800s. We learned to quilt. We visited museums and state archives. We wrote a play called California: A Common Thread.

Buddy introduced me to his mentor, Dr. Ethel Walker, and together the two of them encouraged me to enroll in graduate school. Buddy sent me to the library to watch hours of black and white videos to help me understand the history of racism here in the U.S. As an original member of The Negro Ensemble Company (NYC) and a founding member of the Black Theatre Alliance and The Black Theatre Network, Buddy built on his family’s history of storytelling to break down barriers and find universal truths in performance.

From Buddy, I learned that it is not enough to not be a racist; he taught me to be actively anti-racist. He introduced me to the theory of anti-bias curriculum and helped me write Study Guides for student productions of shows that tackled complex issues: King, A Man and His Dream, Bang-Bang, You’re Dead, Some of My Best Friends.

In 2019, SJSU’s magazine “Washington Square” featured Buddy and included this quote:

“What is a story saying? What difference is it making? What is it revealing?” Butler asks. “I use theater as my chosen social and political platform. It’s not just entertainment. It’s cultural. It’s educational. By doing plays, I can make a difference.”

When I fell in love in 2004, Buddy immediately guessed that I had met The One. He was a keen observer and many of us who knew him have been struck by his ability to ask the right question at the right time, usually with a sly smile and a glint in his eye. He saw into our hearts and with love and attention, he directed our gaze to reflect on our own needs and desires. He helped us not just grow but to bloom and stretch towards the sun.

In the thirteen years since I moved away from San Jose, I have remained good friends with Buddy’s beloved wife, Betsy. (Buddy preferred IRL to online interactions.) I have watched their daughters grow up through online posts of the Butler family adventures. It is with tremendous sadness that I write this reflection today. Buddy loved his family.

“There are no black or white emotions. You hurt, I hurt. Pain is pain, love is love. It’s the occasion which is different, not so much the feeling. But if we break life down to the essentials, we share almost everything. The only difference is our cultural and historic context.”
-Buddy Butler