Social Media was a buzz yesterday when Mattel announced that they will sell a doll that looks like Katherine Johnson, the NASA mathematician and physicist. Not only is this a triumph for women, but one for the Black community. This is an opportunity for young women to have a positive image of history with the notion that they can do and be anything. If you don’t know the story and still are confused about the significance of this moment, then I urge you to stop what you are doing and get to researching.
Katherine Johnson was an expert in math and known as the human computer. Her numbers were so exact that she would have to double-check the computers output. Johnson’s skills led her to calculate the trajectory of NASA’s first American-manned flight into space. Though she may have been a great mathematician her biggest challenge was overcoming racial prejudice and segregation.
The doll not only celebrates the great accomplishments of a once hidden figure, but the celebration of sisterhood with respects to Johnson’s membership in Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority. The doll is dressed in a pink dress, black-rimmed glasses, a NASA badge, and a pearl necklace a true symbol of the pretty ladies of AKA.
I don’t have a feeling of inferiority. Never had. I’m as good as anybody, but no better. – Katherine Johnson
As our “Hidden Figures” are trending again, make sure you are ready to purchase this collector item, which is set to go on sale May 10, 2018. Today we celebrate whats trending as this historical figure is hidden no more.
mOOd: Katherine Johnson you ROCK!
SayWhatNOW?!?! 