Valerie L. Thomas (born February 8, 1943) is an American scientist and inventor. Thomas was interested in science as a child, after observing her father tinkering with the television and seeing the mechanical parts inside. Thomas did not have a lot of support as a young child; her parents did not fight for her right to study a STEM curriculum,…
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In celebration of Black History Month, NASA astronaut Victor Glover welcomed Vice President Kamala Harris to the International Space Station for a virtual chat. In the video recorded Feb. 24 and shared Saturday, the conversation ranged from the legacy of human spaceflight to observing Earth from the vantage of the space station, Glover’s history-making stay aboard the orbiting…
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On Friday, NASA celebrated the agency’s first African American female engineer, Mary W. Jackson, with a ceremony formally naming the agency’s headquarters building in Washington in her honor. Jackson began working at the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) – the forerunner of NASA – in April 1951. From her initial role as a “human computer” within the segregated…
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Lawrence Douglas Wilder (born January 17, 1931) is an American lawyer and politician who served as the 66th Governor of Virginia from 1990 to 1994. He was the first African-American to serve as governor of a U.S. state since the Reconstruction era, and the first elected African-American governor.[a] Born in Richmond, Virginia, Wilder graduated from Virginia Union University and served in the United States Army during the Korean War. He established a…
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Free Small Business Program Provides Black Business Owners with Personalized Support This Black History Month, SCORE, the nation’s largest network of volunteer, expert business mentors, launched SCORE for Black Entrepreneurs. This program addresses the unique needs of Black entrepreneurs and provides our nation’s Black-owned small businesses with the resources and support they need to thrive during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond. “Black…
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Thurgood Marshall (July 2, 1908 – January 24, 1993) was an American lawyer and civil rights activist who served as Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from October 1967 until October 1991. Marshall was the Court’s first African-American justice. Prior to his judicial service, he successfully argued several cases before the Supreme Court, including Brown v. Board of Education. Born in Baltimore,…
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The contributions of the Black Panther Party will be celebrated in Oakland throughout the month of February as part of Black History Month. Among the highlights will be a street naming initiative on February 17th spearheaded by Fredrika Newton, Black Panther alumna and life partner of co-founder Dr. Huey P. Newton. The commemorative name change of 9th Street to “Dr. Huey P. Newton Way“ stretches a three-block section in West Oakland;…
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Patricia Era Bath (November 4, 1942 – May 30, 2019) was an American ophthalmologist, inventor, humanitarian, and academic. She was an early pioneer of laser cataract surgery. She also became first woman member of the Jules Stein Eye Institute, first woman to lead a post-graduate training program in ophthalmology, and first woman elected to the honorary staff of the UCLA Medical Center. Bath was…
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Bounce and Brown Sugar, which honors the African-American community every day of the year, will present specially-curated movies, documentaries and specials that recognizes the sacrifice, resilience and contributions of African Americans for Black History Month 2021. Among Bounce’s Black History Month schedule: With Drawn Arms – The critically-acclaimed and compelling documentary that explores the impact and the legacy of U.S. Olympian Tommie Smith’s then-shocking symbol of protest against…
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Rosa Louise McCauley Parks (February 4, 1913 – October 24, 2005) was an American activist in the civil rights movement best known for her pivotal role in the Montgomery bus boycott. The United States Congress has called her “the first lady of civil rights” and “the mother of the freedom movement”.[1] On December 1, 1955, in Montgomery, Alabama, Parks rejected bus driver James F. Blake‘s order to vacate…
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