If you haven’t seen the iconic film Hidden Figures, then you are truly missing out. The movie Hidden Figures not only outgrossed Rogue One in the box office, but also was number one for two weeks in a row. All of this information is great, but what is most important are the beautifully talented and influential African-American women on whome the movie is based.
If you haven’t seen Hidden Figures, here’s a quick overview. The film stars Taraji P. Henson as Katherine Johnson, Octavia Spencer as Dorothy Vaughan and Janelle Monáe as Mary Jackson, a group of women who portray three extraordinary African-American women who worked for NASA in the 50’s.
The name Hidden Figures correctly describe these amazing women. Hidden, not put out for the world to see, but now they are. I suggest you see Hidden Figures and read on about some other hidden figures.
Ann Cole Lowe
Just as the three women in Hidden Figures, Lowe had been hidden from the spotlight of the late First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy’s wedding details. In their coverage of the event, The New York Times wrote a detailed description of Lowe’s work but never mentioned her name. The unrecognition didn’t affect Lowe because she never wanted the fame or fortune. All she wanted to do was “to prove that Negro can become a major dress designer.”
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Adichie is a writer of beautiful work regarding her birthplace, Nigeria, and the problems that have affected it. Adichie primarily speaks about the struggles of Nigerian and immigration life in her novel The Thing Around Your Neck. In regards to gender and race, the two topics are not a problem for her. She makes that known in her “personal transcript” the book We Should All Be Feminist.
Ellen Johnson Sirleaf
A Liberian politician and economist, Sirleaf is the first women to be elected president of an African state and became a Noble Peace Prize winner for her pacifist commitment for male-female equality. Sirleaf said in her Harvard University Commencement address that “The size of your dreams must always exceed your current capacity to achieve them. If your dreams do not scare you, they are not big enough.” We can all agree with her on that one.
Angela Davis
Back in the 1960’s, Davis was a communist campaigner during the Civil Rights Movement, a member of the Black Panther Movement and a firm believer that race can only change when women and men are equal. She is now a professor at the University of California Santa Cruz, teaching courses on the history of consciousness.
Did you learn something today? Good. Black History Month is only 28 days out of the year, but that doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t recognize the accomplishments of African-American women and men year around. These hidden figures and many others in this world deserve to shine from the darkness.