Why wasn't I told
I spent an exciting evening on our weekly Friday date night a couple of weeks ago. My wife and I went to see “Hidden Figures.” I remember that time in history very well I was 8 years old I was fascinated by the space program I had model aircraft and books about space travel. I remember a lot of things from that time except for one thing. I wasn’t told of the contributions of my people in their participation in the space program. I was an impressionable child only heard how I could not do a thing because it was “not for me” at that time I had a love for mathematics that died on the vine as it was not nurtured and watered. Playing ball was encouraged, music was encouraged, but academic study was not. At least not by anyone to whom I could relate. My parents were not highly educated, they were strong in common sense, but not “book learning” as my father was taken out of school in the 3rd grade to help the family work to survive. My brothers and I were the 1st to go to eventually go to college, and I was one of the few that finished.
I left the theater with a sense of anger and outrage. Why was it essential to withhold that particular piece of information from me? Why did I have to wait for another 54 years to learn of the accomplishments of the black women of NASA? I know the Langley NASA research center area well. My 1st military duty station was at Langley AFB VA. I drove near that area every week doing dailies on my generators near the perimeter of that facility. I would routinely look at the buildings and some of the test equipment from a distance and wondered what they would develop next.
As stated earlier I had a keen interest in things related to flight and space travel. As an impressionable child of 8, I could see the direction of my life taking another branch on the road not traveled. Another lost opportunity; the kicker is that I did not know it was lost until late 2016 or early 2017. I ask why, but I understand why. It’s because the heroes of that period were black, yes it was racism, not the watered down diluted “this offends me” racism of the 21st century it was the real honest to God unadulterated, undiluted racism that my mother and father warned me about back then and the racism I learned to deal with in my youth and still do to a lesser extent today. It however still exists. I still remember the Democratic Governor of Alabama “standing in the schoolhouse door” I also remember Lester Maddox wielding a baseball bat running a man out of his restaurant on national television.
I actually know why I wasn’t told; it was because any semblance of hope for a positive future given to a younger generation would be turned to power; educational power and achievement, political power and the ability not to be fooled by silly unfounded lies and half-truths, and economic power. The only thing that racists fear more than the gun. The achievements of these women not only were above their peers but exceeded the ability of their “so-called betters” These women played the game by the existing rules until those rules stood in the way of the mission getting a man into space. This level of courage is nonexistent these days. Today’s courage is the courage of the anonymous. Today’s courage hides behind the false bravado of the internet with its mask of secrecy reminiscent of the KKK. It is actually cowardice of the highest level hiding behind the home router firewall to spew that vitriolic poison on normal people. It is the same courage that started a fire in Berkeley University to silence someone in which they disagreed. I did not agree with the speaker as well, but I prefer to use the quote from the Rameses in the movie the 10 Commandments “Let him rave on so all may know him mad.”
A special acknowledgment goes to the person or persons in the shadows that finance that type of suppression. How many scholarships could be funded as opposed to funding mayhem? I felt myself falling into the abyss of bitterness, but then I remembered the words of Psalms 73: 2-17[i]
I also remember the kindness that I have been shown in those years. I fully recall the encouragement that I have received and still receive from my family both natural and extended; these are My Bro’s, and Sister’s the surrogate mothers and fathers that I have been blessed with knowing all these years. I remember great meals, the warm rooms in the back when I had no place to go. I am also grateful for the few times I received stern guidance that has proven to be invaluable over the years.
It is my mission today to be that mentor as I was mentored. Passing down the knowledge and wisdom I have received through hard experience. It is a good thing that the truth was finally told. It is my greatest hope some 8 year old grabs that truth and holds on to it for dear life and uses it as fuel for their future. Oh there will be one that will and I guarantee you will hear from them
