Never Doubt What Happens When A Black Woman Masters Math
On Christmas 2016, Hidden Figures brought the stories of Katherine Johnson, Dorothy Vaughan, and Mary Jackson – three pioneering Black women mathematicians – to the big screen. Their work behind the scenes at NASA formed the calculations responsible for successfully sending John Glenn into orbit around the earth. While history books recorded this feat from the astronaut’s perspective, historians have failed to adequately represent the masterminds behind NASA’s early accomplishments. Johnson, Vaughan, and Jackson were “Hidden Figures.” Hidden Figures offers us the accurate history of the events leading up to the launch of the “Friendship 7” in 1962 and restores a sense of humanity to all of the African American women who made it possible.
Although their pure brilliance is impressive enough, what makes the efforts of Johnson, Vaughan and Jackson truly groundbreaking is the way they traversed a tumultuous social climate in order to change the course of history. In a Jim Crow segregated south, these women overcame daily adversity in the workplace quite similar to what’s seen today through the #BlackWomenAtWork movement. While they performed the same work as their white counterparts, African American women were paid less, and relegated to separate bathroom and dining facilities. Further, many of these women were forced to retake courses that they had already passed to meet NASA’s requirements ….and were still skipped over for promotions.
Sound familiar?
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Though African Americans, especially women, were considered second-class citizens, America needed all hands on deck to ensure advancement in the global Space Race on the brink of World War II. With the agitation of A. Philip Randolph, the Black father of the labor movement, as well as the needed for more bodies and brains in the preparation for war, President Franklin D. Roosevelt issued Executive Order 8802, forbidding “discrimination in the employment of workers in defense industries or government because of race, creed, color, or national origin.” This landmark order opened the door for African American women to occupy new positions in the workforce.
Katherine Johnson, Dorothy Vaughan, and Mary Jackson were not the only “human computers” to work in the West Area division of the Langley Research Center for NASA. However, they were exemplars who rose through the ranks during a time when women were not typically considered for advanced positions.
Johnson became NASA’s first African American aerospace technologist (eventually winning the Presidential Medal of Freedom), Vaughan became NASA’s first African American manager, and Jackson became the first Black female engineer at NASA. In each instance, these women transcended racial barriers with dignity and class while making it possible for other African Americans to follow in their footsteps.
Hidden Figures is a literal depiction of #BlackGirlMagic. It serves as a timely reminder that we must continue to protect the legacy of unparalleled African American achievement in this country. With the current dearth of African Americans pursuing careers in the STEM fields relative to other racial and ethnic groups, this film motivates us and highlights role models that we (and our children) can strive to become.
The Black women who spearheaded these aerospace efforts are unsung heroes who epitomize the values of resilience, perseverance, and persistence. If you have not seen the film, go get your daily dose of Black history and let us know that you agree!
The post Never Doubt What Happens When A Black Woman Masters Math appeared first on PushBlack.
Described as a “pioneering urban mayor,” Richard Hatcher led the city of Gary, Indiana during the rise of the Black Power Movement.
As Gary’s first Black mayor - and the first Black mayor in the state of Indiana and among the first of any major U.S. city, Hatcher would also serve as the executive director of the NAACP and was known for infusing Black power principles into his politics. In 2017, we celebrate the 50th anniversary of his historic election.
Hatcher served as mayor of Gary, Indiana from 1967-1987 for an unprecedented five terms. While both positive and negative attributes are referenced in remembering his mayoral tenure, Hatcher is still heralded as a #PushBlackHero since achieving a political feat that most American cities have yet to witness.
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As a civic leader, Hatcher was committed to building the Black dollar. He used his power and influence to award the majority of contracts to Black business owners and promote investment in city infrastructure.
While in office, “much of urban America was undergoing painful and profound change: disappearing factory jobs, fewer Federal dollars, rising crime and disease, dying steel mills and middle-class flight.”
However, under the “Hatcher era,” Gary experienced progress on issues of unemployment and civil rights. His encouragement and support of Black-owned businesses helped to attract both outside government and private capital for investment.
As a graduate of Indiana University and Valparaiso University, obtaining a Bachelor of Science and law degree respectively, Hatcher first practiced law before becoming involved in city politics.
He served as deputy prosecutor for Lake County, Indiana from 1961 to 1963, helped to found a civic and social club, Muigwithanian (or “the Movement”), and served as both a city council member and, eventually, city council president.
Outside of formal political office, he served as Jesse Jackson’s campaign chairman during the 1964 presidential race, and later as an advisor during the 1988 race.
Without surprise, Hatcher’s pro-Black focus did not come without critique. Some asserted that his agenda was biased against non-Blacks and used “Gary-Genesis” as a theme to counteract suburban migration of middle-class Black families.
However, his legacies through a commitment to the underserved Black community of Gary, Indiana continue in present times.
In 2016, though without holding a formal political title, Hatcher continued to advocate for a Civil Rights Hall of Fame and Museum to pay tribute to the struggle and heroes of the 1950s and 1960s.
In true Hatcher fashion, this museum would be housed in none other than Gary, Indiana.
It’s popular for people to say they are going “Back to Africa,” but rarely do we talk about former movements of doing so. To be honest, “Back to Africa” efforts have come in waves and seen their share of success and failure.
As early as 1820, Black Americans began journeys back home via the American Colonization Society (ACS) founded by Charles Mercer and Robert Finley. Comprised of prominent white religious leaders and slave owners, the ACS had contradictory intentions for supporting the migration of free Blacks to Africa.
While religious figures thought that Blacks would have a better chance for true freedom by leaving the U.S., slave owners either desired to get rid of them out of fear of rebellion or wanted them to stay in order to exploit them for further economic gain.
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Many free Blacks had doubts about leaving the country and were often too afraid to leave what they were conditioned to view as “comfort” near white people.
It was around this time when many American-born Africans began considering themselves African-Americans despite living in a nation that clearly did not want them there.
But what about the Blacks who chose to leave?
The ACS founded the Republic of Liberia and welcomed nearly 13,000 residents by time of the Civil War. The Liberian government promised 25 acres of land to Black migrants from America, but those who came over encountered unexpected challenges.
Although Liberia was described as a new home and land of opportunity, many of these formerly enslaved folks had been stripped of their original languages and customs and converted to Christianity leaving them with few solid connections to their roots.
Additionally, the first rulers of Liberia were white and the subsequent Blacks from America who rose to power often emulated what they learned from these past leaders, which led to the subjugation of native Africans who were in the region.
Migration died down for a while until the next wave resurfaced with the rise of the KKK in South. Blacks feared for their lives and saw no hope for achieving true equality in America.
Unfortunately traveling to Africa was costly, so lots of people who hoped to go were precluded from doing so.
Up until this point there had been no Black-led efforts to get people back to the motherland, but then arrived the legendary Marcus Garvey bringing with him the idea of African Zionism.
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In Garvey’s own words, “many white men have tried to uplift them [the Negroes], but the only way is for the Negroes to have a nation of their own, like the Jews, that will command the respect of the world with its achievements."
Garvey developed a three-pronged approach to getting people to Africa. First, he established the Universal Negro Improvement Association, which birthed crucial organizations that aided in the effort to get resources to Liberia.
Second, he created the Black Star Line that provided direct transportation to different parts of Africa. Finally, he instituted the Negro Factories Corporation to encourage Black economic independence by building factories, grocery stores, restaurants, and other businesses.
Unlike the ACS, Garvey was not simply motivated by the idea of racial separation from white Americans but rather a definitive need for Black nationalism. Much of his political and religious thought spawned rastafarianism and inspired the Nation of Islam.
Revisiting these “Back to Africa” movements begs us to ponder what such a push would look like today. Media-driven stereotypes about Africa may hinder our ability to even conceptualize what life could be like for us there.
Additionally, “Back to Africa” rhetoric often focuses on the idea of freedom and returning to roots, but are most people prepared for that cultural immersion?
If a new “Back to Africa” movement is going to work, we must all come together and repair what has been lost culturally and reject much of the poison Europeans have injected us with. Stokely Carmichael said it best when he articulated that it all starts with a focus on Africa and accepting ourselves as African, not just being Black.
If you are interested in planning your return home, Ghana has implemented a “Right of Abode” program which welcomes all brothers and sisters in the Diaspora to become citizens of the nation.
The heart of colonialism still beat strong off the coast of Africa in 1968. And British imperialists had it in for the inhabitants of one specific island.
Having gained independence that year, the isle-nation of Mauritius was finally free from the British’s iron grip. But the attached island-chain of Chagos wasn’t so lucky.
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The British held onto the Chagos Islands, a process that involved deporting the ENTIRE population of Chagossians - then banning them from returning home! As if this was not heinous enough, the land was instead leased to the U.S. for an airbase in 1971.
Well, after fighting for 50 years, Chagossians have achieved a victory! The United Nations’ highest court, the International Court of Justice (ICJ), ordered the UK to return the Chagos Islands back to Mauritius.
“This continued administration constitutes a wrongful act,” said the Somali president of the ICJ, Abdulqawi Ahmed Yusuf.
The Mauritian government said this is a “historic moment in efforts to bring colonialism to an end and to promote human rights, self-determination and the international rule of law.”
As Black people who were stripped of their land by imperialist hands, this UN court ruling is a small step in the continued battle to ensure that we are all free.
America is the only country on earth that has ever defined Black people by the amount of “Black blood” they possess. Throughout the 19th and 20th centuries, ideas of racial purity swirled around the southern states as Jim Crow laws segregated Black and white people and gave birth to the infamous “one-drop rule.”
The one-drop rule stated that any person who had ANY African ancestry, no matter how distant the relative, was Black. This vile and blatantly disrespectful rule made its way into laws in dozens of states to make it clear that whites did not approve of intermarriage or sexual relations with African-Americans.
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Unlike any other minority group in America, Black people were punished for mixing with whites. For example, Arkansas declared in 1910 that the mere existence of a biracial child in a home was a parental crime and warranted a felony charge.
Additionally, states had a legal basis for discrimination that helped them deny Black people many opportunities afforded to whites. The one-drop rule even affected Black people who could “pass” as white by giving a more scientific basis for discrimination instead of affording privilege based solely on looks.
The one-drop rules fall in line with America’s history of racism and prejudice. It was white southerners’ last-ditch effort to protect their fleeting sense of white supremacy as African-Americans earned their civil rights.
The one-drop rule is peculiar and demonstrates how African-Americans have long been seen as second-class citizens. According to a Harvard study, the one-drop rule still exists today and has infiltrated Americans’ perception of Black people including popular folks like Barack Obama and Halle Berry.
To learn more about the one-drop rule, James Davis’s Who Is Black: One Nation’s Definition is a great book that dives deeper into this fascinating history.
The legendary James Baldwin and Richard Wright notoriously never saw eye-to-eye on what it means to be Black in America. These two authors have fostered some of our most memorable, nostalgic, and liberating moments by telling stories that we emotionally connect to, however, they fundamentally disagreed on how to talk about the Black experience.
Baldwin and Wright are both world-renowned best-selling authors who articulated the plight of African-Americans in their work. Each writer’s unique perspective has contributed to the diversity of voices represented within Black literature. However, these two had serious “beef.” Baldwin despised how Wright characterized the Black community in his famous novel “Native Son” so much so that he wrote an entire book of criticism called “Notes of a Native Son” detesting Wright’s work.
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Baldwin’s main critique of “Native Son” was that it reinforced dangerous racial stereotypes about Black people. He argued that Wright used these disgusting depictions of Blacks to appease his white audience and sell more books. In essence, Wright “sold out” his own community by giving his characters stereotypical traits to make them palatable for whites in hopes to elicit their sympathy. Bigger Thomas, the story’s protagonist, was a murderer and rapist motivated by animal-like impulses while his supporting characters were petty criminals, mammies, and Negroes satisfied with an average life in the ghetto.
According to Baldwin, “Native Son” stripped Black people of our humanity in a time when we needed to be affirming our humanity the most. Baldwin even compared the damage done by “Native Son” to Harriet Beecher Stowe’s “Uncle Tom’s Cabin,” which famously degraded Blacks and made us appear subservient to whites. The difference being Wright is a Black writer perpetuating these negative images, which arguably is even more problematic.
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Representation matters in more than just novels, and that is why Baldwin took the time to address Wright. He understood that these were more than mere words on a page; these words carried consequences. If Blacks are perpetually portrayed as urban, criminal, lazy, and aggressive, people may truly believe that all Blacks fit those descriptions. This leads to a public that devalues the lives of Blacks and sees us as expendable. And ultimately, Baldwin believed Wright contributed to these destructive narratives.
Who was right – Baldwin or Wright? Were Baldwin’s criticisms warranted? Was Wright simply reflecting his authentic experiences?
What we know for certain is Black people have a collective image that nobody is going to protect but us. Although this image is highly influenced by books, music, movies, and even popular culture, we as individuals each have the power to contribute to ensuring it remains positive. Our words and actions can either uplift or tear down barriers created by racial stereotypes so we must choose them wisely.
The post The Revealing Conflict between Baldwin and Wright appeared first on PushBlack.
An incredible activist, thinker, and writer on gender, race, class, and prisons, Angela Davis is one of the most notable icons of the Black liberation movement.
In fact, Governor Ronald Reagan was SO threatened by Angela Davis in 1969 that he wanted her thrown out of UCLA, where she was a professor.
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As fellow soldiers in the fight for social and racial justice, the Queen of Soul herself, Aretha Franklin, offered to bail Davis out of jail!
“Angela Davis must go free,” Franklin told Jet magazine. “I’ve been locked up (for disturbing the peace in Detroit) and I know you got to disturb the peace when you can’t get no peace.”
In 1970, Davis fought against the prison-industrial complex to free the Soledad Brothers. A shootout in the Marin County courthouse led to charges. She faced the death penalty.
When she was as young as 5, Davis was taught by her communist parents not to talk to the FBI, who were always trying to get information from her and other children.
Davis became a vegetarian while in prison - maggots infested the meat there. Even when she got out, she could never eat meat again.
Angela Davis’ politics are still getting her in trouble - a testament to how important and critical she and many elders are in the Black liberation movement today.