Commentary: African American Scientists and Inventors
by Black Kos Editor, Sephius1
Annie J. Easley (April 23, 1933 - June 25, 2011) was an African-American computer scientist, mathematician, and rocket scientist. She worked for the Lewis Research Center (now Glenn Research Center) of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and its predecessor, the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA). She was a leading member of the team which developed software for the Centaur rocket stage and one of the first African-Americans in her field.
Annie Jane Easley was born to Bud McCrory and Willie Sims in Birmingham, Alabama. In the days before the Civil Rights Movement, educational and career opportunities for African American children were very limited. African American children were educated separately from white children and their schools were most often inferior to white schools. Annie was fortunate in that her mother told her that she could be anything she wanted but she would have to work at it. She encouraged her to get a good education and from the fifth grade through high school, she attended Holy Family High School, and was valedictorian of her graduating class.
After high school she went to New Orleans, Louisiana, to Xavier University, then an African-American Roman Catholic University, where she majored in pharmacy for about two years.
In 1954, she returned to Birmingham briefly. As part of the Jim Crow laws that established and maintained racial inequality, African Americans were required to pass an onerous literacy test and pay a poll tax in order to vote. She remembers the test giver looking at her application and saying only, "You went to Xavier University. Two dollars." Subsequently, she helped other African Americans prepare for the test.
In 1963, racial segregation of Birmingham's downtown merchants ended as a result of the Birmingham campaign, and in 1964, the Twenty-fourth Amendment outlawed the poll tax in Federal elections. But it was not until 1965 that the Voting Rights Act eliminated the literacy test.......Read More
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News round up by dopper0189, Black Kos Managing Editor
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Hashtags like #BrownGirlMagic, #BlackGirlsRock and #CareFreeBlackGirl represent a movement of self-definition led by black women for black women. A self-definition that seeks to motivate, push and create space for black women to stand up straight in the crooked room that is America’s commitment to distorted and backward portrayals of black women’s humanity.
Similarly, stories written by queer black women have been instrumental in creating an inclusive, diverse space within the larger black female community. Having queer black female writers freely penning their own stories challenges the notion that there is one way to be a black girl.
Writers like these inspire us to reclaim our narratives and embrace the ones that we have yet to create, eliminating the fear of painting the strokes of what it means to be a black woman with one brush and with one color—especially as it relates to black love and black sexuality.
Meet five queer black female authors who are using their voices to clear out racist, sexist and homophobic spaces to make room for all of our stories:
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DEMANDING bribes from large state-owned companies can be a tricky business, even if the intended beneficiary is the ruling party. But at least the maths can be kept nice and simple. Take a deal to supply locomotives to South Africa’s state-owned passenger-rail agency. According to papers before a Johannesburg court, a politically well-connected businesswoman allegedly told the winning bidder that, since the contract was worth billions of rand, “she could not understand why 10% of the value of the bid could not be paid to the African National Congress (ANC)”.
The allegation was made by Popo Molefe, chairman of the rail agency. More important, he is a former premier of a province and a stalwart member of the ANC, which has ruled South Africa since the end of apartheid in 1994 (and says it never received a penny of this money). Mr Molefe made the allegations after he was told by the minister of transport, Dipuo Peters, to “close off” a corruption probe that has discovered at least 14 billion rand ($951m) in dodgy spending. Mr Molefe also says he was told by the winning bidder that it had paid money to a go-between to give to the ANC for rigging the contract.
Mr Molefe’s claims are striking not for the rottenness they reveal in a country where corruption has become endemic, but for the fact that they have been aired by a senior member of the ANC, which since its days as an underground movement has prized loyalty above all. Now comrade has turned on comrade, ministers speak out against each other and the bosses of state-owned companies openly defy their political masters.
“The thing about the ANC is that it has pretty much practised a code of omertà,” says Tony Leon, a former leader of the opposition Democratic Alliance (DA). Yet these are unusual times for the ruling party. The old rules are being ignored in a desperate battle for the levers of power.
Central to this is a struggle between Jacob Zuma, a president accused of 783 counts of corruption, fraud, money-laundering and tax evasion, and Pravin Gordhan, his respected finance minister (pictured), over control of the Treasury. The state’s highest crime-fighting body, known as the Hawks, has called in Mr Gordhan for questioning over charges that look trumped up. Rumours of Mr Gordhan’s possible arrest have sent the currency spiralling down. Growth has ground to a halt.
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Campaigning for Haiti’s Oct. 9 presidential do-over elections got off to a timid start Tuesday with the country’s elections chief asking candidates and political parties to campaign fairly and prevent elections-related violence.
Léopold Berlanger also reiterated that there will be stricter controls on the balloting, which includes voting for one portion of the 30-member Senate and runoffs for several legislative seats.
“There will be no voting wherever you like,” Berlanger said, referring to poll watchers, also known as mandataires, who were allowed to vote at any polling stations in last year’s disputed vote, triggering allegations of fraud and plunging the country into a political crisis. “No one will have the right to do this.”
Berlanger also said that the voter list — now at 6.1 million voters — is ready, and that the number of polling stations has been reduced to provide voters with more space and privacy to cast ballots.
“We are making a lot of effort for these elections to be done another way,” he said, calling on Haitians to “show all the other countries that we can take control of our own affairs.”
Last week, elections authorities finally released details of the $55 million budget, $48.5 million of which will be cobbled together with funds from several public agencies including the port and the central bank.
Despite assurances that the repeatedly postponed vote will finally happen, doubts still persist over whether Haiti will be able to pull off the balloting without international financing. On Monday, the country announced a hike in gas prices, causing politicians to take the airwaves to denounce the move. Transportation unions have also announced a strike for Thursday.
At the same time, several corruption probes also threaten to derail the process.
“We hope and we trust that they are very serious when they say the elections are going to take place,” said Brazil’s ambassador to Haiti, Fernando Vidal. “It would be catastrophic if there are no elections in October.”
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I don’t speak on the toxicity of the nail salon as an exaggeration or as a mere observer but, rather, as someone who goes multiple times a year—once every two weeks, after each paycheck, in fact—to keep my gel coat poppin’ and to make sure my eyebrows continue to slay to the high heavens. I take grooming seriously, especially when it comes to these two features, because that’s how I choose to present myself to the world. Still, going to the nail salon has become exhausting. What was once a place of solace has become as oppressive as that neighborhood barbershop—a place where I spend more time defending myself and my reason for being than I do actually enjoying quality time with myself.
Last week, as I walked into one of the many nail salons in Washington, D.C., I realized that, like before, I was one of few men. This was not uncommon. Immediately, heads turned as if a celebrity (hint: I’m not) had entered. My initial thought process was, “Maybe they are jealous of the thickness of my eyebrows.” They stared for so long, though, that it became uncomfortable and I began to feel unsafe. I realized fairly quickly that these were not jealous glares; instead, each side eye screamed, “Why is he in here?” I recognize the importance of communities needing space, so I attempted to ignore the silent intimidation directed toward me and sat at the nearest open station.
But the whispers and literal finger-pointing continued.
I was almost halfway through my manicure when the manicurist demanded that I cut my nails and leave them buff- and polish-free. Quickly, I informed her that I wanted my nails filed, not cut, and that I would like gel polish as I have had many times before. Her response: “Men shouldn’t get gel on their nails.”
As people in my proximity began to laugh at me wanting gel polish, even boldly calling it “weird,” I decided to use this as an opportunity to discuss gender norms, masculinity, queerness—and why I would never be back again. But it didn’t escape me—even after I walked out with a free manicure—that it would happen again. These experiences are inescapable in a homophobic society with gender norms so rigid, they’re “straight.”
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This year marks the 30th anniversary of Dragon Con—and, not coincidentally, the start of one of the best eras of black pop culture ever. The Root: Dragon Con: Where Black Nerds Come Out to Play.
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Most people spend their Labor Day weekend cooking, shopping or just getting the heck out of town. Other people spend Labor Day weekend cooking up plans for world domination, shopping for rare-action-figure collectibles and finding ways to fly to another galaxy.
At least that’s the main explanation for most black folks who attended Dragon Con weekend in Atlanta. This year marks the 30th anniversary of Dragon Con—and, not coincidentally, the start of one of the best eras of black pop culture ever. A sign that maybe, after all these years, the genre dedicated to white male power fantasies has finally opened up.
Going to a comic book or science fiction convention is a lot like attending any other convention: You dress up, look forward to meeting colleagues and similarly interested people, attend some panels, and spend most of the night partying. The only difference is that at Dragon Con, you do most of this while wearing costumes of your favorite video game, movie or cartoon characters.
The convention began 30 years ago as a small collection of fans who would get together to play Dungeons and Dragons and trade comics. Over the years, Dragon Con has grown to what is likely the second-biggest convention of its genre in the country, with over 70,000 people crowding into the downtown-Atlanta hotel district for four days of panels, fun and parades.
There are two things that really distinguish Dragon Con from most other conventions. First, it has remained, for lack of a better word, more “fan friendly.” Celebrity guests in the autograph room, like Austin St. John (the original Red Power Ranger), Janina Gavankar (The “L” Word, The League andTrue Blood) and Jack Gleeson (King Geoffrey from Game of Thrones), are incredibly accessible and fun to talk to and generally appear to be having a good time. Often fans will just walk up to talk and share stories about the shows without buying an autograph or taking a picture.
The other big distinction with Dragon Con is often how amazingly, unmistakably black it all is. Maybe it’s because of Atlanta, maybe it’s because of changing culture and demographics, but the number of black folks who are interested and are willing to come out and share their love of all things Marvel, DC and Cartoon Network has increased every year since I’ve attended Dragon Con, and I’ve been going since 2011. There are black folks in costumes for black heroes, white heroes and just about anyone else. The feeling of acceptance is universal, and the convention tacitly enforces an “accept all costumes and body types” theme.
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