African American Scientists And Inventors
by sephius1
James Edward Maceo West (born February 10, 1931 in Farmville, Prince Edward County, Virginia) is an American inventor and acoustician. Along with Gerhard Sessler, West developed the foil electret microphone in 1962 while developing instruments for human hearing research. Nearly 90 percent of more than two billion microphones produced annually are based on the principles of the foil-electret and are used in everyday items such as telephones, camcorders, and audio recording devices among others. West received a BS in Physics from Temple University in 1957. He holds over 250 foreign and U.S. patents for the production and design of microphones and techniques for creating polymer foil electrets.
In 2001, West retired from Lucent Technologies after a distinguished 40-year career at Bell Laboratories where he received the organization's highest honor, being named a Bell Laboratories Fellow. West then joined the faculty of the Whiting School at Johns Hopkins University where he is currently a research professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering.
In addition to his many contributions to acoustical science, throughout his career West has been a fervent advocate for greater diversity in the fields of science and technology. While at Bell Laboratories, West co-founded the Association of Black Laboratory Employees (ABLE), an organization formed to "address placement and promotional concerns of Black Bell Laboratories employees." He was also instrumental in the creation and development of both the Corporate Research Fellowship Program (CRFP) for graduate students pursuing terminal degrees in the sciences, as well as the Summer Research Program, which together provided opportunities for over 500 non-white graduate students….....Read More
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
News round up by dopper0189, Black Kos Managing Editor
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The video opens with blood already soaking through the driver’s shirt, and the police officer who shot him cursing, his gun still pointed at the dying man.
The driver’s girlfriend — who watched the fatal encounter and streamed the gruesome aftermath in live video to Facebook on Wednesday night from the passenger seat — asks at one point for help.
Her plea brought scores to the street within hours in an angry protest that rolled through the day at the governor’s mansion here and across the country, echoed in a congressional hearing with the FBI director and brought a grim-faced President Obama to the podium in Poland to call for greater urgency in police reform.
“This is not just a black issue. This is not just a Hispanic issue. This is an American issue,” Obama said. The fatal police shootings are “symptomatic of a broader set of racial disparities that exist in our criminal justice system.”
In the wake of this latest in a long string of police shootings — and less than 48 hours after another black man was killed by police in Baton Rouge — Minnesota authorities voiced shock and sympathy and vowed justice.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Linda and Harry Taylor of Palmdale, Calif., stood under a thatched roof in El Cupey, surrounded by smiling Dominicans and their children. They’d just finished helping teach people in this mountain village in the Dominican Republic to speak English—a skill that’s vital to their chances of getting a job in a nation where 40 percent of the population lives below the poverty line. The Taylors are African Americans, and they say the opportunity to offer help to people who look like them was a very moving experience.
“That was something,” Linda Taylor says. “In one of the English travel impacts we did, a lady spotted me out before we were even assigned to our family. I dubbed her my little sister! She was so wonderful and so giving and accepting and open … I wanted to work with people or come visit people like me—people of color—and this cruise came about and we thought it was a good idea.”
“I think it’s empowering,” adds Harry Taylor. “I have a philosophy—it’s better to give than receive and we are our brother’s keeper … I think it gives purpose to our living and our existence when we go out and help.”
The Taylors took one of Carnival Corp.’s new Fathom brand social-impact cruises to the Dominican Republic in mid-June. The company also travels to Cuba for cultural-immersion cruises. The Adoniawas the first U.S. cruise ship to land in Havana in nearly 40 years when it docked there in May. Fathom wants to give its passengers the opportunity to “travel deep” and get to know the culture of their destinations by helping with education, economic development and environmental issues, as well as getting involved with the unique cultural elements of both nations.
“We believed there was an opportunity to go and create an entirely different travel experience, an entirely different brand and company and market that was interested in a very different way to travel,” explains Tara Russell, president of Fathom and global-impact lead for Carnival Corp. and PLC. “We really studied and explored that hunger, and we looked at what is this hunger and how can we create a travel experience that allows us to achieve authentic impact.”
In Cuba, the seven-day cruise includes stops in three cities, including Havana and Santiago de Cuba. Passengers visit historic sites, interact with local artists and musicians, sample Cuban cuisine and have the opportunity to speak with residents of the island and learn about their lives.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Look within the recent bumper crop of remarkable young Chicagoans of color changing the music industry and speaking truthto power and you’ll see Jamila Woods among them. The 26-year-old singer, songwriter and published poet—best known for lending her mezzo-soprano to songs such as Chance the Rapper’s “Blessings” and Macklemore & Ryan Lewis’ “White Privilege II”—came up in the same fertile ground that nourished Chance, Vic Mensa, Mick Jenkinsand others who are bucking music industry dictates about what’s hot by staying independent and tackling issues like police brutality, structural racism and artistic freedom.
On “Blk Girl Soldier,” the second single from her highly anticipated debut album “Heavn”, Woods laments society’s violence against Black women while invoking the power of activists including Ella Baker and Assata Shakur. “They want us in the kitchen, kill our sons with lynchings/We get loud about it, Oh now we’re the bitches?” Woods croons over the song’s propulsive beats.
She explores these themes throughout “Heavn,” which features contributions from Chicago artists such as oddCouple and members of Donnie Trumpet & The Social Experiment, the Chance-led outfit that enlisted her for the hip-hop gospel song “Sunday Candy.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Look, I want to read Underground Airlines by Ben H. Winters. It sounds like a good book. A book set in an alternate universe where the Civil War never happened, so slavery is still legal and U.S. Marshals chase down runaway slaves? Sign me up! And an ex-slave–turned-Marshal is the conflicted main character? Pass the damn popcorn already.
But Alexandra Alter’s New York Times profile on Winters and his book managed the seemingly impossible: It made me want to avoid a book with a dynamite premise, one right up my combo sci-fi–nerd/history-geek alley. And I’m not the only one. Twitter and Facebook lit up over the story, with science-fiction writers and readers weighing in, mostly outraged about the profile’s tone-deafness to the history of slavery and sci-fi.
Lev Grossman, author of The Magicians book series, calls Winters “fearless.” Black author and screenwriter Attica Locke signs off on his book as “everybody’s history.” The article makes sure to mention how brave and controversial the book is, so controversial that one publisher passed on it. Winters talks about being inspired by the death of Trayvon Martin and other black men and women killed in recent years. The profile checks all of the right boxes.
Reading the profile, you might think that Winters is the first writer ever to tackle slavery through science fiction. Winters hat-tips Philip K. Dick’s and Philip Roth’s alternate history novels, with passing nods to Zora Neale Huston, Toni Morrison, and other black writers. But neither Winters nor the Times’ Alter brings up black science fiction.
Ben H. Winters has responded via email. We've reprinted his response below with permission:
Hi J.,
I saw your piece on Slate. Thank you for writing it.
All of the feedback to that Times article has been hard to read, particularly in regard to Octavia Butler. When I was asked my influences I directed the Timesreporter to a blog entry I had done a couple weeks earlier, which specifically highlighted Kindred. It breaks my heart that people think I am ignoring Butler, or ignorant of her work, or just plain ignorant.
While we're at it, I agree with those who scorn the idea that writing this book required some sort of "courage" or "daring" on my part. I am acutely aware of the privilege I have in my country and in my industry, wearing the skin that I do. This book grew out of my own distress about systemic racism in America. Like I said in this Kirkus interview, “I wanted to explore a painful history and a painful present. And I wanted to ask white readers to think about these things as deeply as black people are forced to think about them.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Schools should be held to higher standards than students. If schools irresponsibly impose discipline practices, then those rules (or leaders) should be expelled. However, when it comes to discipline, we give students the cane and schools a slap on the wrist.
“I’ll say up front: I am not here to offer any hard-and-fast rules or directives,” said Secretary of Education John King in prepared remarks for the National Charter Schools Conference. Careful not to offend the charter school community, which upholds autonomy as sacred, King added, “But I believe the goal for all schools should be to create a school culture that motivates students to want to do the best.”
Suspension and expulsion don’t work. Their elimination is the solution; all other “improvements” are effectively pain management. The racial disparities in school discipline reflect the cultural appetite to punish black children. The only way districts, schools, unions, charter leaders and Congress will find effective alternatives will be to take those ineffective disciplinary practices away.
King and the Obama administration must properly account for the deep belief society has in kicking students—particularly black students—out of school in order to increase graduation rates and reduce crime as part of the president’s My Brother’s Keeper initiative (pdf). A proper accounting means eliminating suspension and expulsion first. Mirroring the criminal-justice system, black youths are targets for punishment in school. Practices of expulsion and suspension are tightly stitched to zero-tolerance policing and to parents’ faith in corporal punishment. All are outmoded cultural practices that don’t work.
Our deep belief in punishing black students is the reason King must do more than make friendly suggestions to the charter sector and the rest of the nation’s public schools.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
WELCOME TO THE FRIDAY’S PORCH