Katherine Coleman Goble Johnson (born August 26, 1918) is an African-American physicist, space scientist, and mathematician. She made fundamental contributions to the United States' aeronautics and space programs with the early application of digital electronic computers at NASA. Known for accuracy in computerized celestial navigation, her technical leadership work at NASA … [Read more...] about Wednesday Open Thread: The scientists, mathematicians and engineers of NASA
Wednesday Open Thread
Wednesday Open Thread: Authors of Slave Narratives
Fountain Hughes (1848 — 1957) was born a slave in Charlottesville, Virginia in the United States and freed in 1865 after the American Civil War. He worked as a laborer for most of his life, moving in 1881 from Virginia to Baltimore, Maryland. He was interviewed in June 1949 about his life by the Library of Congress as part of the Federal Writers' Project of former slaves' oral … [Read more...] about Wednesday Open Thread: Authors of Slave Narratives
Wednesday Open Thread: Historical and Modern People and Figures Who Are Black
Anatole Paul Broyard (July 16, 1920 – October 11, 1990) was an American writer, literary critic and editor born in New Orleans who wrote for The New York Times. In addition to his many reviews and columns, he published short stories, essays, and two books during his lifetime. His autobiographical works, Intoxicated by My Illness (1992) and Kafka Was the Rage: A Greenwich … [Read more...] about Wednesday Open Thread: Historical and Modern People and Figures Who Are Black
Wednesday Open Thread: African-American Architects
A new generation of young African American female architects are on the horizon. These architects have enthusiastic ties to their communities, and they understand the need to reassess architectural practices and the existing built environment that affect people, neighborhoods, domestic housing and public spaces in order to create integrated functional design. June Grant … [Read more...] about Wednesday Open Thread: African-American Architects
Wednesday Open Thread: Africa’s Worst Dictators
Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo (born 5 June 1942) is an Equatoguinean politician who has been President of Equatorial Guinea since 1979. He ousted his uncle, Francisco Macías Nguema, in an August 1979 military coup and has overseen Equatorial Guinea's emergence as an important oil producer, beginning in the 1990's. Obiang was Chairperson of the African Union from … [Read more...] about Wednesday Open Thread: Africa’s Worst Dictators