{"id":773,"date":"2023-04-09T22:04:00","date_gmt":"2023-04-09T22:04:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/apexsamplework.com\/insightnews\/?p=773"},"modified":"2025-02-06T22:06:17","modified_gmt":"2025-02-06T22:06:17","slug":"black-women-in-science","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/apexsamplework.com\/insightnews\/2023\/04\/09\/black-women-in-science\/","title":{"rendered":"Black Women in Science"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

BLACK WOMEN IN SCIENCE<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

By Kimberly Brown Pellum, Ph.D.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The role of Black women in our nation\u2019s history can never be overstated. We have high-profile sistahs such as entertainment greats Aretha Franklin and Beyonce; civil rights leaders like Fannie Lou Hamer, Rosa Parks, and Coretta Scott King; sports figures like Althea Gibson, Serena Williams, and Brittney Griner; entrepreneurs like Oprah Winfrey and Linda Johnson Rice; and First Lady Michelle Obama and Vice President Kamala Harris.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As important as the aforementioned, if not more, are the contributions Black women have made through science. Often faced with barriers because of race and gender in the fields of science, sistahs refused to let those obstacles stop them from achieving great strides in their chosen professions. I think of a verse in the hymn \u201cNo Ways Tired,\u201d the one that says, \u201cNobody told me that the road would be easy.\u201d However, that doesn\u2019t mean it\u2019s impossible. That being said, it is an honor to present Dr. Kimberly Brown Pellum\u2019s children\u2019s book, Black Women in Science<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In her introduction, Dr. Pellum lays out her purpose in each biography: to educate and inspire. Coupled with that is an important message: \u201cEverything you need to succeed is already inside you.\u201d As I read each biography, I was both educated and inspired. A few of the women I knew about; others were new to me, and each story provided something valuable to learn from. Though I will touch on each sistah\u2019s role (past and present) in advancing science in this column, I encourage you and your children to read the entire bios:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rebecca Lee Crumpler\u2014first African American woman to become a professional medical doctor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Annie Turnbo Malone\u2014chemist and predecessor of Madame C.J. Walker, developing a line of personal hygiene and beauty products for Black women.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bessie Coleman\u2014first African American women to hold a pilot\u2019s license.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Flemmie Pansy Kittrell\u2014first African American to receive a Ph.D. in nutrition from any school, identifying the relationship between nutrition and early child development.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mamie Phipps Clark\u2014built the first full-time guidance facility for kids, the Northside Center for Child Development, in Harlem in 1946. Her expert testimony was a factor in the historic Supreme Court case Brown vs. Board of Education<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Katherine Johnson\u2014mathematician, rocket scientist, and human \u201ccomputer\u201d at NASA, her math calculations and formulas were crucial in launching John Glenn\u2019s orbital flight of the earth in 1962.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jane Cooke Wright\u2014the \u201cGodmother of Chemotherapy,\u201d she developed treatment options for cancer patients, as well as techniques to help patients avoid surgery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Margaret Strickland Collins\u2014first African American entomologist, third female African American zoologist.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gladys West\u2014her research established what we now know today as the global positioning system (GPS).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Annie J. Easley\u2014rocket scientist and lead team member that designed the first high-energy, upper stage launch vehicle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Patricia Bath\u2014first African American doctor to be awarded a medical patent for her invention of the laserphaco, used to treat cataracts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alexa Irene Canady\u2014first African American woman to become a neurosurgeon in the U.S.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mae Jemison\u2014astronaut and first African American woman to go into space.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Renee Gordon\u2014STEM Program Director at Tallahassee Community College, she has a Ph.D. in mechanical engineering and was a Fulbright Fellowship recipient.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gina Presley\u2014forensic scientist, currently the Huntsville Regional DNA Technical Leader for the Alabama Department of Forensic Sciences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr. Pellum specializes in the history of \u201cwomen, Black colleges, and the struggle for African American freedom.\u201d She is a graduate of Howard University with her degree in U.S. history, teaching it as a college professor. I appreciate the fact that many of the women in her book were graduates of HBCUs, and the encouragement they received from their families to follow their passion. Indeed, her dedication to her mother Linda Grace Brown is testimony to the importance of strong and positive role models for young Black Women in Science<\/em> is available through Amazon and Rockridge Press.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thank you, Kimberly, for being the vehicle for these stories to be told. Our history is American history, and if we don\u2019t share our stories, who will?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

BLACK WOMEN IN SCIENCE By Kimberly Brown Pellum, Ph.D. The role of Black women in our nation\u2019s history can never be overstated. We have high-profile sistahs such as entertainment greats Aretha Franklin and Beyonce; civil rights leaders like Fannie Lou Hamer, Rosa Parks, and Coretta Scott King; sports figures like Althea Gibson, Serena Williams, and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"off","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[30,374,217],"class_list":["post-773","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-opinion","tag-black-women","tag-civil-rights-leaders","tag-science","et-doesnt-have-format-content","et_post_format-et-post-format-standard"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/apexsamplework.com\/insightnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/773","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/apexsamplework.com\/insightnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/apexsamplework.com\/insightnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/apexsamplework.com\/insightnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/apexsamplework.com\/insightnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=773"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/apexsamplework.com\/insightnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/773\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":774,"href":"https:\/\/apexsamplework.com\/insightnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/773\/revisions\/774"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/apexsamplework.com\/insightnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=773"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/apexsamplework.com\/insightnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=773"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/apexsamplework.com\/insightnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=773"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}