Commentary: African American Scientists and Inventors
by Black Kos Editor, Sephius1
George Robert Carruthers (born October 1, 1939 in Cincinnati, Ohio) is an African American inventor, physicist, and space scientist. He has lived most of his life in Washington, DC.
From a young age he showed an interest in science and astronomy. He grew up in the South Side of Chicago where at the age of 10 he built his first telescope. Despite his natural aptitude, he did not perform well in school at a young age, earning poor grades in math and physics. Despite his poor grades he won three separate science fair awards during this time.
(con't.)
After graduating from Englewood High School he went on to get a bachelors in aeronautical engineering from the University of Illinois in 1961, a master’s degree in nuclear engineering in 1962, and a doctorate in aeronautical and astronautical engineering in 1964. He now works with NRL’s community outreach organization, and as such helps support several educational activities in the sciences in the Washington D.C. area.
His work on ultraviolet spectrums and other types of astronautical tools helped him earn the Black Engineer of the Year award, of which he was one of the first 100 people to receive. His work has also been used by NASA, and in 1972 he was one of two naval research laboratory persons whose work culminated in the camera/spectrograph which was put on the moon in April, 1972.
He is perhaps best known for his work with the spectrograph that showed incontrovertible proof that molecular hydrogen exists in the interstellar medium.
George Robert Carruthers was born in Cincinnati, Ohio on October 1, 1939 and grew up in South Side, Chicago. His father was a civil engineer and his mother was a homemaker. The family lived in Milford, Ohio until Carruthers' father died suddenly and his mother moved the family back to her native Chicago. At an early age George developed an interest in physics, which his father encouraged. Also as a child, he enjoyed visiting Chicago museums, libraries and the Adler Planetarium that caused him to be an avid science-fiction reader and enjoyed constructing model rockets. Later he became a member of the Chicago Rocket Society and various science clubs.
In 1957, he earned his high school diploma from Englewood High School. This was the same year that the Russians launched the first Sputnik. After high school he entered to the College of Engineering at the University of Illinois, getting his bachelor's of science degree in aeronautical engineering in the year of 1961. He also did his graduate work at the University of Illinois earning his masters degree in nuclear engineering in 1962 and his Ph.D. in aeronautical and astronomical engineering in 1964. While conducting his graduate studies, Carruthers worked as researcher and teaching assistant studying plasma and gases.....Read More
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
News by dopper0189, Black Kos Managing Editor
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Louisiana Supreme Court resolved a racially tinged power struggle inside its own ranks, ruling Tuesday that Bernette Johnson should be the state's first black chief justice. Black Voices: Bernette Johnson Set To Become Louisiana's First Black Chief Justice.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Johnson's years of appointed and elected service on the high court give her the seniority to succeed Chief Justice Catherine "Kitty" Kimball early next year, the court said in a unanimous ruling. Justice Jeffrey Victory, who is white, argued Johnson's appointed service shouldn't count and he deserved to be chief justice.
Voters elected Johnson in 1994 to the state appeals court, and she was assigned to the Supreme Court as part of settlement of an earlier lawsuit that claimed the system for electing justices diluted black voting strength and violated the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
She served an eighth Supreme Court district centered in New Orleans until the court reverted back to seven districts in 2000, when she was elected to the high court.
The racial dynamics of the case reverberated outside Louisiana. A long list of elected officials and civil rights advocates, including the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, called for Johnson to get the position. The New York Times published two editorials supporting her, one of which called the dispute an "unsettling example of how power can trample voting rights even where they should be sacrosanct."
The court said its ruling was based strictly on the law.
"Although commentators have loudly emphasized them, factors which we do not ascribe any importance to in answering the constitutional question before us include issues of gender, geography, personality, philosophy, political affiliation, and race – all of which have the potential to inflame passion," the court said.
James Williams, one of Johnson's attorneys, said his client was thrilled.
Chief Justice Bernette Johnson
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The racial dynamics of redistricting in Mississippi bring about a lawsuit. Jackson Free Press: NAACP Sues State on Voting Map.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Mississippi State Conference of the NAACP is again locking horns with the state of Mississippi over redistricting maps.
The NAACP is asking a federal court to throw out the results of the 2011 elections in which Republicans gained control of both houses of the Legislature for the first time since Reconstruction.
"The court should order special elections. However, those elections should not be held under the 2012 plans. Those plans result in discrimination against African-American voters," the lawsuit states. "The 2012 plans contain fewer black majority districts and black voting age majority districts than the plans offered by plaintiffs as interim plans in 2011. The 2011 plans are evidence that the 2012 plans result in discrimination."
In 2011, the NAACP filed a federal suit to prevent last year's November election from taking place.
The NAACP's national president, Benjamin Jealous, traveled to Jackson to urge lawmakers at the time "to formulate an equitable redistricting plan that is inclusive of all Mississippians." However, the courts ruled that the Legislature could put off redistricting until the 2012 session.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Bribery for government services is so pervasive that Anthony Ragui started a website to let people report instances. The goal: Empower them to say no. LA Times: One Kenyan's online crusade against corruption.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The euphemisms for bribery in Kenya are as quaint and unthreatening as an honest policeman's smile: "something small," "facilitate," "do the necessary," "tea money."
All those something smalls, however, add up to something large, according to Anthony Ragui, a Kenyan anti-corruption campaigner whose website, ipaidabribe.or.ke, tracks self-reported bribes in Kenya. Since going online in December, the site has reported respondents shelling out more than half a million dollars, mainly to police and other government officials.
"I'm not stupid enough to think I can change the world in one day. But I said, 'What can I do to make a difference?'" Ragui says, explaining why he started the website.
Police are the worst, according to raw data submitted to the site and other corruption surveys. But the most surprising insight, says Ragui, is not the pervasiveness of bribery for government service, whether it is obtaining a birth certificate or securing a government contract.
Instead, it is the fact that somewhere in Nairobi there really is an honest cop.
"Honestly, I was in utter shock. That degree of courtesy and politeness was too much," wrote a Kenyan motorist on the website, after being caught behind the wheels of an uninsured car without a driver's license in June. After the policeman patiently admonished him without asking for cash, he asked the officer what made him different from all the others.
"I love my job," the policeman replied, adding that he'd recently gotten a raise. The humbled driver said he went out and paid his insurance the next day.
The website allows Kenyans to report bribes as they are demanded, via cellphone text messages.
"It's very empowering if you can go to an office and tell someone, 'I'm going to report you for corruption,' and you can do it automatically on your cellphone," Ragui says. The names of alleged bribe takers are not posted on the Internet so as to avoid people unfairly smearing their enemies.
Kenyan protesters confront a police officer in Nairobi during a demonstration over parliamentary wages. (Dai Kurokawa, European Pressphoto Agency / October 9, 2012)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
East New York’s West Indian gardens flourish (we need more of these to combat food deserts). New York Times: The Seeds They Carried.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
HEATHCLIFF HUXTABLE, the prominent Brooklyn Heights gynecologist, knew just where to find a dasheen bush for his anniversary gumbo. He called a Caribbean chef, a “Mr. Atkins,” he said, from a “clean but shabby restaurant” known as the Callaloo Pot.
Most northern gardeners would recognize dasheen (Colocasia esculenta) only as a tame houseplant in a windowsill. Here, it goes by the name elephant ears. Yet the corms, or bulbous tubers, of the dasheen plant are the “coco” of Jamaican cuisine, and the young leaves are a popular boiled green. Twenty years ago, Dr. Huxtable — yes, we’re talking about the fictional character on “The Cosby Show” — liked his dasheen bush in an okra soup called callaloo.
Today, the place to unearth dasheen, and dozens of other Caribbean mainstays, is East New York and the neighborhood’s 60 community gardens. There are likely some 16,000 residents of West Indian heritage, said researchers at the Center for the Study of Brooklyn, looking at recent census data. And among this population are some of the most devoted and prolific gardeners in the City of New York.
Their bounty often lands at the Saturday farmers’ market in front of the United Community Centers and its adjacent youth farm, part of East New York Farms, on Schenck Avenue. The vendors’ tables dead end at New Lots Avenue, and a graveyard of Revolutionary War veterans and former slaves.
For the people who live here now, this farm and market is a place to pick up staples for the dinner pot or the apothecary. For visitors, it’s a botanical expedition you can make on the No. 3 train.
This is not your “conventional Greenmarket,” said Eric-Michael Rodriguez, 31, a lifelong community gardener in East New York and a horticulturist and seed collector at the nearby Weeksville Heritage Center. “The diversity of plants you see there is like no other market I’ve seen in the Northeast United States.”
It’s a clearinghouse for Caribbean plants: greens like callaloo and Malabar spinach; peppers like the hot Scotch bonnet and the sweet aji dulce; beans like the yardlong, the lablab and the red round; and cucurbits like the sour gherkin and the bizarre bitter melon.
New York Times
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Welcome to the Front Porch
If you are new, introduce yourself, grab a chair, a bite to eat and rap with us for a while.