She was no longer hidden. RIP Katherine G. Johnson.
Commentary by Black Kos Editor Denise Oliver-Velez
I never thought I would live to see the day that a black woman would be honored around the globe for her skills in math and science. Katherine G. Johnson was that woman, and she will live on in the hopes, dreams, and minds of many young girls of the future who will follow her blazing trail and make their marks on history.
Johnson, along with Dorothy Vaughan, and Mary Jackson, were the black women whose contributions had been hidden, and brought into the light, via the book, Hidden Figures: The American Dream and the Untold Story of the Black Women Mathematicians Who Helped Win the Space, by Margot Lee Shetterly, which later became the 2016 film, Hidden Figures.
Black Kos Editor Sephius1 covered her here in 2016, and again in 2017.
From her NY Times Obituary:
They asked Katherine Johnson for the moon, and she gave it to them.
Wielding little more than a pencil, a slide rule and one of the finest mathematical minds in the country, Mrs. Johnson, who died at 101 on Monday at a retirement home in Newport News, Va., calculated the precise trajectories that would let Apollo 11 land on the moon in 1969 and, after Neil Armstrong’s history-making moonwalk, let it return to Earth.
A single error, she well knew, could have dire consequences for craft and crew. Her impeccable calculations had already helped plot the successful flight of Alan B. Shepard Jr., who became the first American in space when his Mercury spacecraft went aloft in 1961.
The next year, she likewise helped make it possible for John Glenn, in the Mercury vessel Friendship 7, to become the first American to orbit the Earth.
Yet throughout Mrs. Johnson’s 33 years in NASA’s Flight Research Division — the office from which the American space program sprang — and for decades afterward, almost no one knew her name.
We know her name now.
The world knows her name.
Rest in Peace dear lady.
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News round up by dopper0189, Black Kos Managing Editor
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“I will tell you there are just as many nerdy black kids who would love to be physicists and engineers as there are nerdy Jewish kids or nerdy white kids.” NBC: Physicists propose $50M to support African American students
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African Americans make up a small fraction of college graduates with physics and astronomy degrees, and so risk missing out on many of the lucrative new technology jobs, some industry experts say.
That observation comes after a task force, backed by the American Institute of Physics, recommended that physical science societies create a $50 million endowment to support students of color in physics and astronomy.
The task force, which released a report last month on the “underrepresentation” of African Americans in physics and astronomy, hopes to see the number of bachelor’s degrees awarded to African Americans in physics and astronomy double by 2030, to at least 500 a year.
In the coming months, panel members will speak at science conferences and events to build support for the recommendations.
"All of the growing disciplines — the self-driving cars, all of the satellite technology necessary for our cellphone communications and transmissions — these are all topics that are undergirded and underpinned by physics," said Tabbetha Dobbins, a task force member and an associate professor in physics and astronomy at Rowan University in New Jersey.
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As Rio prepares to kick off Carnival, Mangueira is one of several samba schools using the world’s biggest festival as a platform, with a theme of Jesus of the favela returning to a land of prophets of intolerance. The Guardian: Rio Carnival takes a stand against Bolsonaro's divisive rhetoric
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Packed into the brightly lit samba rehearsal hall, in the Mangueira favela of Rio de Janeiro, hundreds of revellers dressed in pink and emerald threw their arms towards the sky and burst into song. As they sang, some wiped tears from their eyes. Couples drew closer, clutching one another’s hand.
“My name is Jesus of the people,” the crowd chanted. “I am found in love which finds no boundary; search for me in the ranks who fight against oppression.”
As Rio de Janeiro prepares to kick off its annual Carnival festivities on Friday, Mangueira is among several samba schools poised to turn the world’s biggest festival into a platform for protest against the divisive rhetoric that has marked President Jair Bolsonaro’s first year in office.
This year, the Mangueira parade will tell the story of Jesus born in the favela who stands up to “prophets of intolerance”.
The school’s theme comes against a backdrop of deep polarization in Brazil since the country elected an ultra-conservative president who has gained infamy with offensive remarks about women, black people, gays and indigenous people. Bolsonaro has also vowed to loosen gun controls, promising criminals will “die like cockroaches on the street” at the hands of police.
The headline song envisions Christ with a “black face, indigenous blood and the body of a woman” and – in what appears to be a rebuke to the president – warns that there is “no Messiah with a gun in hand”. (Bolsonaro’s middle name Messias means “messiah”.)
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Assumption Parish Sheriff Leland Falcon said racist text messages sent to his former Chief Deputy came from a phone belonging to embattled 23rd Judicial District Judge Jessie Leblanc. The messages are laced with comments that he claims are aimed at one of his African-American deputies and an African-American law clerk in Ascension Parish. Judge Jessie Leblanc's attorney Jill Craft vehemently denied that the judge sent the messages and claims the copies provided to WBRZ have been altered.
WBRZ has made an editorial decision to not directly quote the word - an offensive word beginning with an "N."
Falcon said former Chief Deputy Bruce Prejean received the messages in December of 2018 and refer to Assumption Deputy Erick Taylor as a "dirty cop, thug, and a [expletive]." The racist rant is part of a string of text messages Falcon provided to the WBRZ Investigative Unit. The sheriff also said the text messages refer to Judge Alvin Turner's law clerk, Brianne Sterling as a [expletive]."
District Attorney Ricky Babin said letters will now be going out to every single defendant who has ever appeared before Judge Jessie Leblanc beginning in 2012, when she was first sworn in, until now. The defendants and their attorneys will be notified of the racist language she allegedly used. Judge Leblanc presides over cases for things as minor as a traffic ticket all the way up to a murder charge.
Babin said he was made aware of the text messages this week.
"It's a daunting task," Babin said about having to send out letters to defendants dating back eight years. "We are still going through all the other cases in Assumption Parish."
Here is a transcript of a text conversation between Leblanc and Prejean provided by WBRZ:
LEBLANC’S PHONE: Goodbye
LEBLANC’S PHONE: And you don’t have to pretend we are friends in front of other people. I’ve also learned not to be fake.
LEBLANC’S PHONE: So if someone has a question refer them to me.
LEBLANC’S PHONE: And if you feel the need to share my text messages-please share them all so they get the FULL story.
LEBLANC’S PHONE: I’m sure you are with thug ni**** Erick. He is such a good friend.
LEBLANC’S PHONE: I can’t wait till the day he is called out for what he is. Dirty cop. Thug. Ni****.
LEBLANC’S PHONE: I guess this time ends with sour grapes too and an inability to talk. It’s ok. I’ll be just fine.
PREJEAN: I see how you feel. I’m still your friend.
LEBLANC’S PHONE: Friends don’t call friends liars.
LEBLANC’S PHONE: I suppose we have different definitions of what a friend is.
LEBLANC’S PHONE: If Brianne makes you happy- good for you. I just feel sorry for your kids and grandkids.
LEBLANC’S PHONE: What an embarrassment
PREJEAN: I’m not seeing Brianne
LEBLANC’S PHONE: At least I was NEVER unfaithful to you with ANYONE- much less a ni****.
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The Manhattan district attorney has announced it will consider reopening the case after a six-part series detailed potential miscarriages of justice. The Guardian: Netflix documentary leads to review of Malcolm X's murder
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The investigation into Malcolm X’s death could be reopened after new information was detailed in a Netflix series. Following the release of the six-part documentary Who Killed Malcolm X? – which launched on the streaming platform on 7 February – the Manhattan district attorney will look into the case of the civil rights activist, with the possibility that the case may be reopened.
Three men were jailed for the 1965 murder of the activist, who in his campaigns for black empowerment dismissed the nonviolent ideology of contemporaries such as Martin Luther King. Malcolm X had been a member of Elijah Muhammad’s Nation of Islam until an acrimonious split in 1964. Another member, Talmadge Hayer – later known as Mujahid Abdul Halim – admitted his part in the killing, while two other men, Norman 3X Butler (who later became Muhammad Abdul Aziz) and Thomas 15X Johnson (who took the name Khalil Islam), maintained their innocence. Aziz was released on parole in 1985; Islam was released in 1987 and died in 2009; Halim was released in 2010.
The documentary examines various theories surrounding the killing, including that it was set up by the FBI and was carried out by white nationalists. Crucially, it emphasises the lack of evidence against Aziz and Islam, and the fact that Halim said that neither man was involved. The Innocence Project, a nonprofit organisation that investigates potential miscarriages of justice, has also claimed that a civil rights lawyer, William Kunstler, obtained FBI documents supporting Halim’s version of events and naming other co-conspirators.
In a statement, the district attorney said: “[District attorney Cyrus] Vance has met with representatives from the Innocence Project and associated counsel regarding this matter.”
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The NAACP celebrated a year of achievement with the 51st NAACP Image Awards broadcasted live on BET. The big winners of the evening included Lizzo as Entertainer of the Year and Jamie Foxx as Outstanding Support Actor in a Motion Picture for Just Mercy.
Additional winners for the evening included Angela Bassett as Outstanding Actress in a Drama Series for her work in 9-1-1. Lupita Nyong’o won Outstanding Actress in a Motion Picture for her performance in Us. Marsai Martin won Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture for Little and her tv mom Tracee Ellis Ross won for Outstanding Actress in a Comedy Series as Rainbow Johnson in black-ish. Just Mercy also won the award for Outstanding Motion Picture.
During the evening, Rihanna was presented with the President’s Award by NAACP President and CEO Derrick Johnson for her philanthropic efforts and community service.
Coming off a birthday celebration in Mexico, Rihanna appeared at the ceremony wearing a purple ruffled dress from Givenchy’s spring 2020 couture collection, Yahoo reports. During her acceptance speech, she spoke to everyone coming together to “fix this world” and in glowing honor of receiving the award.
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