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Sisters Phylicia Rashad and Debbie Allen are considered national treasures to the culture, so it’s only right that they come from royalty! The Houston, TX, natives are best known for their contributions to the world of entertainment. Rashad gained notoriety in her role as Clair Huxtable on “The Cosby Show” and went on to serve as a guest lecturer, faculty member, and dean in the arts at Howard University. Her sister, Allen, is known for transforming the choreography world in Hollywood as we know it today as well as having a hand in shows like “Fame,” “A Different World,” and more. Recently, their mother, Vivian Ayers Allen, was acknowledged by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) for her contributions to the field of space. During a ceremony held in their hometown of Houston on July 19, the organization honored the women who assisted with the Apollo 11 mission, ultimately leading to Neil A. Armstrong’s legendary landing on the moon in 1969, Blavity reports. The...
A’ja Wilson does not take the sacrifices of her parents for granted. Growing up, the Las Vegas Aces player credits her dad for encouraging her to practice shots on the court, she tells ESPN. Her father, Roscoe, would make her wear a weighted vest while she scored layups. The South Carolina-born athlete describes this time period as “the hell part” of their relationship, but it also helped to improve her skills. “Left hand, right hand, left hand, right hand,” Roscoe told ESPN. “I’d tell her to always know where her feet should be, don’t bring her hands down below her shoulders. Now, it’s second nature.” A’ja saw her improvement too. “…The heaven part was that as I grew, I started to see my game change. I realized my dad was just being my coach. As I got older and basketball got more serious, I saw that, ‘This man may know some things, A’ja, so I suggest you listen to him.'” Roscoe’s passion for the game was reflected in his own life. While he never made it to the NBA, the former...
Some people hit the scene and almost immediately make their imprint on culture. Whether it is a hit song, a breakout role, or sex appeal – some people just have that it factor. And with his inclusion in a previous version of People Magazine’s “Most Beautiful People” list, Boris Kodjoe has been making his impact in that way for some time now. Born in Vienna, Austria, Kodjoe is a German-Ghanaian actor and model whose career in the entertainment industry has spanned a few decades. Before he became a household name, Kodjoe earned a marketing degree from Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) in 1996. According to ESPN, Kodjoe was a four-year letterman athlete winning 75 career singles while on the tennis team at VCU. However, he suffered a back injury that prevented him from pursuing the sport professionally. Instead, Kodjoe decided to focus on and pursue modeling and acting. The star appeared in the 1995 recording of TLC’s video for “Red Light Special.” He would go on to get his...
If you’ve felt like time on earth has been moving by faster than normal — your thoughts are valid and scientists have proof. According to the Seattle Times, a group of scientists operating out of the National Physical Laboratory in England revealed that the Earth is spinning faster than normal. To break it down a bit further, since the beginning of time, the Earth has completed its cycle in 24 hours. Within the last two months, that cycle has been shorter than normal. Per The Guardian, on June 29, that same cycle was 1.59 milliseconds shorter than usual, making it the shortest day since the 1960s, which is when scientists first began using atomic clocks to measure time. The month of June wasn’t the only time that the Earth was spinning at a rate much faster than normal. On July 26, the same thing occurred when the Earth finished its rotation just a few seconds shy of the previous record the month before at 1.50 milliseconds shorter than normal. Since Earth is spinning faster, the...
Living in a time where Black representation in media is still needed, we love to see the faces seated at this news station’s desk. BET reports that local Texas news station KCEN — an NBC affiliate — has a show where its hosts are all Black women. The show — “Texas Today” — is led by Jasmin Caldwell, Taheshah Moise, and meteorologist Ashley Carter, according to the outlet. Residents of Temple, Waco, Killeen, and surrounding areas are able to start their mornings by tuning into the show for the news. Although being a part of the trio herself, the hiring move from KCEN still feels surreal in a sense. “Growing up, I always saw all-white news anchors,” she said, according to BET. “I didn’t think that there would ever be Black newscasts. I knew there was always room for one, but I didn’t think that I would see three African Americans — male or female — permanently, all at one time. No way.” Being a part of a dream come true happened for Caldwell about five years after first joining KCEN,...
STEM degrees have grown significantly in popularity. According to College Counselor Services, these degrees have exploded in popularity over the past decade, especially as digital technology and computers have become a part of our everyday lives. The outlet reports that biology & biomedical sciences are the most sought-after STEM degrees, followed by degrees in mathematics & statistics, and computer science & technology rounds out the top three. What’s more, the National Science Foundation confirms that Black students — especially Black women — are seeing the value of these degrees, and are flocking to them in record numbers. “Women in the STEM workforce increased from 32% in 2010 to 34% in 2019, nearly all of which was related to an increase in the proportion of women with a bachelor’s degree or higher in STEM, from 42% (5 million workers) in 2010 to 44% (7 million workers) in 2019,” the government agency said in its most recent report. “The proportion of women in the STW in 2010...
The world’s first-ever African American interactive STEM doll is here to enlighten the youth. As AfroTech previously told you, Bukola Somide is the creator of Somi, an interactive doll designed to break down education barriers in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) for minority children. The software engineer and inventor boasts nearly two decades of experience of working within the information technology sector. According to a press release, Bukola Somide recalls being the only Black woman or Black person serving on the Software Development team in various occasions. Aiming to create a more diverse future, the Somi doll was birthed to demystify STEM and create representation for underserved children. “Representation matters in tech because it gives hope to under-served children who may otherwise think their dreams are impossible due to lack of accessible role models. A child seeing a doll who looks like them, engaged in Computer Science, helps to shatter a mental...
A quarter of Black graduates with Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) degrees come from Historically Black Colleges And Universities (HBCUs), the United Negro College Fund reported. Overall, HBCUs graduate 20 percent of all Black undergraduate students, and over the years, HBCUs have invested more resources into grooming the brightest Black STEM leaders. Black and white students embark on earning STEM degrees at the same rate. Still, The Penn Center for Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs) found that Black students studying engineering earned only 4.2 percent of bachelor’s degrees in 2012 compared to 68.1 percent of white students. Overall, recent research shows that Black graduates account for only seven percent of STEM degrees. The lack of resources for Black STEM students starts at the K-12 education level. The U.S. Department of Education found that only 50 percent of public schools serving Black students in the U.S. offer calculus, and about 63 percent offer...
In 2017, Howard University launched the Karsh STEM Scholars Program to encourage Black students to pursue a career in STEM research or teaching with the contingency of pursuing an M.D. or Ph.D. at an institution. The Historically Black College and University program offers full scholarships to its students and fosters an environment where students will receive mentorship and peer support, which is often an area Black students fail to receive from other institutions. According to a 2021 Wiley Report, surveying 2,000 young adults, 44 percent of them credited their pursuit in STEM to encouragement from their college.
A Black woman is making history at NASA once again! According to Texas Public Radio, Vanessa Wyche will become the first Black woman to serve as director of a National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) center. Wyche, a 30-year- NASA veteran, will lead efforts in human spaceflight missions, the nation’s astronaut corps, International Space Station mission operations, and the Orion Program at the Johnson Space Center. NASA’s Johnson Space Center, located in Houston, Texas, is ready to embark on a new era of space flight and exploration led by Wyche. “We’ll have the opportunity to have robotic missions as well as human missions going to the moon and working in tandem together,” said Wyche in an interview. “So, yeah, now is an extremely exciting time.” That excitement includes partnering with SpaceX and Boeing on missions to the ISS which will eventually lead to missions to the Moon, reports Houston Public Media. “SpaceX has been successful at having our astronauts fly on...
Out with the old, in with the…better! This Virginia middle school was once named after a Confederate soldier and now its name will be replaced with a Black shero. According to USA Today, Sidney Lanier Middle School was established over 60 years ago and was named after an American poet who also happened to be a private in the Confederate army. Now, it will be renamed to honor NASA mathematician, Katherine Johnson. Johnson is known for her contributions to helping NASA put the first man on the moon and was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the United States’ highest civilian honor, by President Barack Obama at age 97 in 2015. In September 2020, the Fairfax city school board made the decision after a majority of residents called to have the name changed. Over 300 new names for the school were submitted and the approval to rename the school was made on Nov. 2, 2020. Other names in the running included Fairfax Woods, Legacy Independence and City, and the late great Maya Angelou....
Women’s accomplishments in STEM get overlooked far too often, and for Black women, this fact reigns even more true. It’s not enough to just know these women’s names, sometimes it’s better if we can physically see the women behind our groundbreaking innovations. Lyda Hill Philanthropies® — a nonprofit organization that funds transformational advances in science and nature — and its IF/THEN® Initiative recognized that not only were women not being properly highlighted in STEM, there was also a lack of physical representation that honored them and their work. To resolve this issue, the initiative created the #IfThenSheCan exhibit, which acts as a first-of-its-kind monument for the most life-sized women statues ever assembled in one location at once. The idea behind the exhibit was fueled by IF/THEN®’s discovery that there were less than half a dozen women statues in all the major U.S. cities. Made up of over 120 ambassadors for IF/THEN®, the historic exhibit has set out to activate a...
The Vivien Thomas Scholars Initiative, named for one of Johns Hopkins University’s most beloved figures, has arrived. In a press release announcement, it was revealed that the initiative — made in partnership with Johns Hopkins University and Bloomberg Philanthropies — has a $150 million war chest. This war chest is set to address the racial disparity in STEM education, and to bring diversity and inclusion programs within the STEM field into colleges and universities. Specifically, the Vivien Thomas Scholars Initiative will be investing in students from Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs). In a statement provided in the press release announcement, billionaire businessman and former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg said that the growing racial disparity in STEM fields has reached its tipping point, and that the philanthropic arm of his company felt compelled to invest in a program that would address it in a positive,...
The gender gap in the tech industry has long sparked conversation. Thanks to two executives, the conversation just got more upbeat. In a recent TechCrunch article , Girls in Tech Founder and CEO Adriana Gascoigne revealed that progress is happening, and for one reason : revenue generation. Citing a 2017 study conducted by the Boston Consulting Group, Gascoigne revealed that due to innovation, companies with diverse management teams have 19 percent higher revenue. That discovery may cause many tech shops to pursue diversity initiatives more assiduously. Maddox Events co-founder Michaela Jeffery-Morrison would agree that tech companies need to do more. Jeffery-Morrison established Maddox Events as a way of creating events to encourage diversity. Gascoigne founded Girls in Tech in 2007 after observing a paucity of female counterparts in her field. The mission of the global nonprofit is “to put an end to gender inequality in high-tech industries and startups .” Now, in its twelfth year,...