Black History Month Spotlight: Mae Jemison
By: Ledesi Nkpigi, Diana Prudius, and Misha Speede
2/12/2021
In honor of Black History Month, Glasgow students celebrate people who have impacted the world in which we live. Spotlight #4 is Mae Jemison, the first Black woman to be admitted into NASA’s astronaut training program (June 4, 1987), and later, the first Black woman to enter space (September 12, 1992).
Mae Jemison is a woman of many talents. She’s a doctor, a NASA engineer, an author, and an actress. She has written many books about space travel, our solar system, and our galaxy. Mae Jemison has won many well-deserved awards, but her greatest achievement is that she is the first black woman to be admitted into NASA’s astronaut training program.
In college, she was one of the only African American students in her class and faced discrimination. She graduated with a degree in Chemical Engineering and African American studies. She went to space in the shuttle “Endeavor”, serving as an astronaut for about six years total. In an interview in MAKERS, she said, “There is an African Proverb that says, ‘No one shows a child the sky.’” She started foundations like the Jemison Foundation, an advocate for science literacy, and DARPA, a project working to eventually send humans to another star and planetary system.
Mae Jemison broke barriers, letting no obstacles get in her way. Not only is she an amazing astronaut and astrophysicist, but an inspiration to others.
Credits:
PBS – Mae Jemison, First African-American Woman in Space
Meet the First Black Woman in Space Mae C. Jemison | NowThis
Mae Jemison On Being The First Female Astronaut Of Color
Meet Mae Jemison, a Super Scientist | NASA: Challenging the Space Frontier
Ledesi Nkpigi grew up in Arlington VA and wants to be a software engineer. He likes Anime and Basketball. He is a leaper. He is in the 7th Grade. This is Ledesi's second year writing for the Panther Post. He enjoys writing about social justice and gaming.
Diana Prudius, she/her, is an 8th Grader at Glasgow Middle School. Her whole family is from Moldova, but she was born in the United States. At home she speaks English and Romanian. She loves everything about the arts, playing piano, alto saxophone, writing music, singing, writing poetry, and dancing ballet. Math is her favorite subject, and she enjoys reading about black holes and dark matter. The Umbrella Academy is Diana’s favorite tv show by far.
Misha Speede is an 8th grader in Glasgow Middle School. She is currently growing up in a very diverse and multicultural family; her mother is Chinese and she is African American. She can speak Cantonese and Mandarin, and she really enjoys eating all of the Chinese delicacies. Besides speaking three languages, she also enjoys writing, especially poetry and fantasy. She also really like reading, if she could live in a book fandom, she would live at Camp Half Blood. She is also in orchestra at Glasgow, and she plays the violin.
