Dorothy's legacy: A lifetime of stories & activism

Dorothy Bukantz, known as Ms. Dorothy by many students, has been a lifelong activist, educator, poet and an extremely gifted storyteller. Her interests are boundless: climate science, weaving and crocheting, mathematics, indigenous rights, John Dewey and Paulo Freire. Her activism brought her to Guatemala, Puerto Rico and to Northern Ireland as an observer during “marching season.” As a teacher she has touched thousands of lives, and her many godchildren and friends speak endlessly of her devotion and selflessness.

Now diagnosed with terminal cancer and with few weeks to live, a group of Dorothy's close friends have been working with her to document her life experiences, poetry, and photos to preserve her legacy. Her outlook and composure during this difficult time has been extraordinary. There is no one remotely like Dorothy and we are all grappling with what life will be like without her.

On December 5–7 we hired renowned photographer and videographer, Steve Liss, to come to Dorothy’s apartment to shoot video of our remarkable friend and mentor. We now have a video trove of recollections that we want to edit and compile into a series of vignettes of a remarkable life.

Meanwhile, a website is being created to house Dorothy's poems and other writing.

This fundraiser will help us to produce a professional documentary and contribute content to the website housing her poetry, photos, and more. The short video above is a clip that has been edited from our recording session. It’s a very Dorothy-like parable about the pure joy of teaching and how to see through one’s prejudice.

By supporting this project we will be able to preserve a small but vibrant part of Dorothy’s legacy. Funds will be used to cover production costs and costs for organizing, creating, and curating content.

Learn more and connect with Dorothy online with CaringBridge.