Commentary: African American Scientists and Inventors
by Black Kos Editor, Sephius1
Etta Falconer was born in Tupelo, Mississippi in 1933. She received her A.B. in mathematics from Fisk University in 1953, where her role model was Dr. Evelyn Boyd Granville, and her M.S. at the University of Wisconsin in 1954. After receiving her master's degree, she became an Instructor at Okolona College. She taught at Okolona College from 1954 to 1963, then become a teacher in the Chattanooga public school system. She left there after one year to become an Assistant Professor at Spelman College in Atlanta, Georgia. She taught at Spelman College until 1971. During this time, Falconer earned her Ph.D. at Emory University under the direction of Trevor Evans, who insisted that "she was the best of the numerous Ph.D. students he had in his 30 years at Emory" [AWM Newsletter]. She completed her Ph.D. in 1969 on "Quasigroup identities invariant under isotopy", and the following year published her paper on "Isotopy Invariants in Quasigroups" in the Transactions of the American Mathematical Society.
(con't.)
Soon after completing her Ph.D., Falconer became an assistant professor of mathematics at Norfolk State University. She remained there for one year and then returned to Spelman College in 1972 as associate professor of mathematics and chairperson of the Mathematics Department. She chaired the department until 1985, and also chaired the Natural Sciences Division at Spelman College from 1975 until 1990.
Professor Falconer was involved in instituting programs to help undergraduates prepare for success in graduate school. Her efforts included the NASA Women in Science Program started in 1987, NASA Undergraduate Science Research Program, and the College Honors Program at Spelman College. She instituted these programs for the purpose of directing high-ability students toward doctoral programs. From the first class of NASA graduates, five entered graduate programs in applied mathematics (Brown University), mathematics (University of Maryland), operations research (Georgia Tech), chemistry (University of Florida), and medicine (Baylor College of Medicine). The success of these five students can be counted as a credit as well as an honor to Professor Falconer's character. She also was a founder of the National Association of Mathematicians, an organization that promotes concerns of black students and mathematicians.
In 1995, Professor Falconer was awarded the AWM Louise Hay Award given to celebrate outstanding achievements in mathematics education. In response to being awarded the Hay award, Falconer said:
I have devoted my entire life to increasing the number of highly qualified African Americans in mathematics and mathematics related careers. High expectations, the building of self confidence, and the creation of a nurturing environment have been essential components for the success of these students. They have fully justified my beliefs. Perhaps the most rewarding moments have come when younger faculty have undertaken the same goal and have surpassed my efforts - reaching out to the broader community to help minorities and women achieve in mathematics.
Etta Falconer was the Calloway Professor of Mathematics at Spelman College and served as Associate Provost for Science Programs and Policy.....Read More
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News by dopper0189, Black Kos Managing Editor
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Unholy alliance starting to fray. Washington Post: Race and redistricting
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Since the 1990s, black Democrats and Republicans have been in an “unholy alliance” when it comes to redistricting. While it still holds in some cases, that alliance may be ending as manipulation of majority-minority districts threatens Democrats chances of retaking the House majority.
As African-Americans overwhelmingly vote Democratic, Republicans want to cram the Democratic vote into as few House districts as possible. There are two ways to dilute that influence in the redistricting wars: “cracking,” or spreading black voters out across multiple House districts, and “packing,” or putting as many black voters as possible into the fewest number of districts.
Cracking the minority vote can easily run afoul of the Voting Rights Act’s 1982 amendment, which mandates that minority voters be able to choose their representatives.
Packing, on the other hand, gives black politicians a better chance at getting elected, while diluting black voters’ influence on other districts. While egregious packing can be challenged in court, it is harder to fight. In the ‘80s and ‘90s, Republicans developed an “unholy alliance” strategy to exploit this sytem.
By packing Democrats into fewer and fewer House districts to protect a handful of black incumbents, Republicans are expanding their control over all 435 House seats by limiting Democratic influence to the smallest number of House seats possible.
“The Voting Rights Act has become one of Democrats’ biggest roadblocks to taking back the House,” said redistricting expert Dave Wasserman of the Cook Political Report. “This pattern of heavily minority districts and increasingly-whitewashed surrounding districts means Democrats could win the total vote for House by several points and still fall more than a dozen seats short of 218.”
But that could now be changing.
“In the 1990s, all of the [electoral] cases were favoring this unholy alliance,” said redistricting expert Michael McDonald. “ Those conditions have dramatically shifted. More often we’re finding situations where it’s not in the black community’s interest to side with Republicans.”
Republicans no longer need much help from African-American lawmakers. In many Southern states, the GOP controls the process for the first time in decades. And where they don’t, black Democrats are seeing more value in being in the majority.
In Virginia, Rep. Bobby Scott (D) has been open to drawing down the amount of black voters in his district in order to create a second significantly African-American district. In Maryland, black lawmakers backed a plan that helped Democrats by spreading out minority voters — despite objections from Rep. Donna Edwards (D). Black leaders are pushing back on attempts by Rep. Corrine Brown (D) to preserve her oddly-shaped minority-majority seat.
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Let me spell this out for people in plain English. Artur Davis loss the Alabama Democratic primary for Governor because a large percentage of black folks either like the white candidate better thought he was a f-ing dick or some combination of the two. Now much like Joe Lieberman he is going to be a cry baby @sshole and continue to do stuff like this. Davis was out of step with his district and I'm glad he's out of congress. dopper0189
HuffingtonPost: Artur Davis, Former Congressman From Alabama And Obama Ally, Changes Tack On Voter ID Law
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Artur Davis, a former congressperson from Alabama who ran for governor last fall, is raising eyebrows for an editorial he wrote supporting the voter I.D. laws recently passed by the Republican-led legislature there.
Davis, who ran for the governorship of the Yellowhammer State last year, had previously been opposed to such laws, which requires voters to submit certain forms of identification before they can cast their ballots. "When I was a congressman, I took the path of least resistance on this subject for an African American politician," he wrote in the Montgomery Advertiser. "Without any evidence to back it up, I lapsed into the rhetoric of various partisans and activists who contend that requiring photo identification to vote is a suppression tactic aimed at thwarting black voter participation."
Davis wrote that there has been widespread voter fraud in some of Alabama's predominantly black districts. "The truth is that the most aggressive contemporary voter suppression in the African American community, at least in Alabama, is the wholesale manufacture of ballots, at the polls and absentee, in parts of the Black Belt."
"Voting the names of the dead, and the nonexistent, and the too-mentally-impaired to function, cancels out the votes of citizens who are exercising their rights -- that's suppression by any light. If you doubt it exists, I don't; I've heard the peddlers of these ballots brag about it, I've been asked to provide the funds for it, and I am confident it has changed at least a few close local election results."
When asked by Talking Points Memo and Slate to specify instances of voter fraud to which he alleged, Davis declined to do so.
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The 2008 election was the first time that black voters in the United States made up a slightly larger share of the electorate than their share of the population. NYT: Changes in Black Voter Turnout
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Dr. Boyce NewsOne: Al Sharpton, Tyler Perry, And “Proper Negroes”
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To use recent vernacular, I can say that Rev. Al Sharpton is not a “Proper negro.” But he is a very smart negro. Tyler Perry is also not a proper negro, just a very rich negro. I personally don’t consider myself to be as smart as Sharpton and I know I’m not as rich as Perry. Also, judging from how few friends I have in academia, I’m starting to think that I’m not even all that proper.
So, my improper thinking kicked in when I heard Sharpton refer to Tyler Perry critics as “proper negroes.” Tyler has been hit with the kind of haterology only reserved for a Black man who was able to stealthily rise to become the highest paid man in all of Hollywood. Not the highest paid Black man; he is the highest paid man, period. Since then, Perry critics have come out in full force, finding creative ways to build their fame by attacking him at every turn. A great example is the commentator Toure, who referred to Tyler Perry films as “cinematic malt liquor for the masses.”
As they say in China, “The fattest pig always gets slaughtered,” so I’m sure Perry understands that you can’t be the king of the mountain without having a few enemies. Personally, I didn’t like Toure’s remarks, not because I didn’t understand where he was coming from, but rather than dig through Perry films to try to understand them, he would rather sit on the side of the road and throw rocks. But jeering from the stands is all you can do when no one invites you into the game.
On the flip side of it all, Sharpton classifying all Perry critics to be “proper negroes” is nearly as problematic as Toure’s malt liquor comment. Perry isn’t just being criticized by “proper negroes,” he’s being critiqued by conscientious negroes. Even Perry himself (I’ve only spoken to him once, for roughly 15 minutes, to try to get an understanding of his rationale) has admitted that some of his more problematic characters are an entertainment sacrifice that he makes in order to reach young adults on issues such as depression, abuse, and addiction. While this doesn’t clear Perry of his responsibility, it does say that he might be sacrificing the battle in order to win the war.
Idris Elba, who starred in one of Perry’s films (“Daddy’s Little Girls”), has himself said that while he likes working with Perry, he chooses not to participate in that which he considers to be buffoonery. Elba’s British accent might make him sound like a proper negro, but it would be unfair to write off his balanced critique as mere jealousy or disconnected thinking. There are plenty of good, decent, down-to-earth African Americans who can’t watch Madea on film without throwing up in their own lap. That’s ok, because not every Black movie is a fit for every Black person – that’s where the term “target audience” comes from.
So, the bottom line is that Sharpton probably should have found a more careful way to describe his disappointment toward Tyler Perry’s critics. Some of them have gone over the top, which Perry doesn’t deserve. But class warfare is not the solution either. I remember Sharpton defining his dispute with Cornel West over Obama to imply that he doesn’t relate to Black scholars, which unnecessarily extrapolates the fight to be about more than just two people. Sharpton, one of the smartest people I know (he’s actually sharper than most of the PhDs I’ve encountered), is wise enough to realize what he’s doing, and I’d be surprised if he himself doesn’t have an issue or two with some of what he sees in Perry flicks.
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Minority elders are more frequently becoming nursing home residents compared to whites, a new study reveals. The Grio: Is there 'white flight' from US nursing homes?
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Available nursing home spots in the United States decreased over 6 percent between 1999 and 2008, while still having to accommodate 1.2 million people.
A disproportionate number of residents are black, Latino and Asian, the study finds. And, compared to 1999, fewer residents are white. The study, published in Health Affairs, focuses on the top 10 metropolitan areas for each minority group.
While nursing home admissions fell by 10 percent for white elders, admissions are up 11 percent for blacks, and even more for Hispanics and Asians -- over 50 percent.
This increase might suggest better access to nursing home care for minorities, but lead researcher, Dr. Zhanlian Feng, of Brown University, explains that it may be the opposite. The higher rates are actually due to a lack of access to more desirable care options for elders of ethnic minority groups, he says.
"Seemingly, we are closing the gap in terms of minority access to nursing home beds, but I don't think that is something to celebrate," Feng says. "They are really the last resort. Most elders would rather stay in their homes, or some place like home, but not a nursing home unless they have to."
The study suggests that the growth in the number of minority elders living in nursing homes may be driven largely by demographics and disparities.
Nursing homes located in areas with high proportions of ethnic minorities are often of poorer quality and more likely to shut down than those located in high-income areas, previous research has shown.
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A new report finds that while Black applications to medical school gained this year, the increase in actual enrollment was a lot less robust. BET: Where Are All the Future Black Doctors?
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The Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) reported Monday that applications to medical school reached an all-time high in 2011 across all ethnic groups, and Black applications surged at a higher rate than the national average.
While total applications rose by 2.6 percent, the number of African-American applicants increased by 4.8 percent.
However, Black application gains lagged behind those made by Latino students, and the percentage increase in enrollment revealed an even larger disparity. For Blacks, enrollment rose only 1.9 percent. Among Latino med students, by comparison, applications rose 5.8 percent among applicants and enrollment was up 6.1 percent.
In actual numbers — as opposed to percentage change — the AAMC reports that there were 1,375 Blacks enrolled as first-year medical students in 2011, compared to 1633 Latino students, 4,354 Asian students and 12,702 white students.
The AAMC says that the numbers signal positive movement toward diversity of tomorrow’s healthcare providers.
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Marvin Gaye "What's Going On / What's Happening Brother"
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The Front Porch is now open.
Grab a seat, sit down and rap with us for a while.