Good Morning my lovelies!
More "tea spilling" is to come today as we discuss discrimination in the 20's and 30's involving the Space Race. You see, with the Russians essentially beating the US in space related matters, we were rushing to send a man up there. Many calculations had to be made, and back then, there were no fancy computers and calculators so instead there were "human computers". These "human computers" were women who worked to calculate all the data for the men working on the spacecraft and launch itself. According to this link, "these women were every bit as capable as men despite toiling under less-than-favorable conditions." This was even worse for the African American women or the "West Computers". Until women like Katherine Johnson made their way in with the white technicians, African-American women were expected to use separate dining and bathroom facilities. Not only this, but to get anywhere they had to retake college courses despite having the same education as the white women and men. In the film 'Hidden Figures' you have women like Katherine working in the building with the technicians who have to make quite the journey to use the restroom. They were looked down upon for not only being women, but for having a different skin colour. To the men it "affected how they learn" as shown in the film when a black woman joins an all-male college course.
These women were the reason we got a man safely to and from space. Without women like Katherine Johnson, Mary Jackson, and Dorothy Vaughan, we may never have done what we did with John Glenn. These overlooked women made their mark, and they started coming out of the shadows. Mary Jackson, with recommendation from Kazimierz Czarnecki, she worked to become an engineer herself. Johnson proved that a woman, not only that but an African-American woman, can succeed and be right where the white men are. She was the first African-American female engineer, so she was not a hidden figure anymore. She was working with the big boys and making her mark. I am so proud of these brave women and what they did to prove themselves to the doubting white man. They may have been hidden, but movies like this bring them into the light and show that men are not the only ones that can get things done. This women came home from work and tended to their children and husbands all in a day. Now that is what I call a strong woman. They shot for the stars and made it.
Unfortunately my dears this is my last blog. I truly hope you enjoyed my musings on discrimination throughout History. It has been a lovely tea party. Do come back again sometime. We are all mad here!
