by William Jackson and Breyonna Fox
#MyQuestToTeach
Student attending Edward Waters College
Hidden Figures demonstrates the need for the intellectual
development of children of color in Science Technology
Engineering Mathematics STEM. There are many kids that love
STEM, but they are afraid to show this because of fears of
being bullied, harassed, cast out and even physical
violence used against them.
The potential of Black children cannot be lost to
influences that kill the creative spirit, the talents and
abilities. There are growing smart creatives that are
changing where this world is moving because of their
intelligence. Innovation, creativity and the engineering
spirit are alive in children and adults of color and
culture. Teachers, educators, and even administrators
must protect these students from their peers that do not
share the same values because the idea of being smart
and Black should be an honor not a liability.
Children of color should be running to join science clubs,
agricultural groups, photography clubs, computer groups,
seeking mentors to be the doctors, lawyers, engineers,
scientist and even artist and writers they dream to be.
Children of color should be taking trips to the library,
because today they cannot be turned away as was done in
Hidden Figures. The fact is that years ago Blacks had to
steal books to read because the ones they had were old and
outdated or just were not available. Jim Crow laws and
the mentality towards Blacks was of a lesser people that
did not deserve and education. Learning was beyond and
above them. This is far from being true.
The legacy of the time of Hidden Figures was of discovery
and innovation, creativity and paradigm change. NASA created
the need for intellectuals and innovators, that is still
needed today and children of color need to see why they
should be honor students, not numbers in special education
classes or in-school suspension programs or stuck in the
Juvenile Justice System where they are numbers and casualties
of economic dispare or parental neglect. Why carry guns
when books create a future of growth and life. Parents
set the tone for their children and should understand
that education changes life for the better.
In the movie Hidden Figures the women were called
“computers” because of their intelligence and the
analytical abilities they had. I remember my mother taking
me and my brother and sister to the library, it was
a wondrous thing because of the chance to learn new
things that maybe no one else knew, to open my mind
to new discoveries and learn new things about myself.
Books were taught by my mother to help me to be the
best that I can be and not to allow anyone to make
me feel inferior. This needs to be shared nationally,
today kids are put in front of the idiot box (television),
gaming systems to learn new ways to kill, steal and
destroy. Where is the inspiration to discover the world,
the oceans and space? There is no cultural significance
of intellectual empowerment.
Unless parents understand what STEM is and will continue
to influence the world around them and get their children
reading and build comprehension skills, children of color
and culture will continue to struggle and the education
gap will grow. The economic gap will widen and the political
gap will result in people of color having no power,
no voice and forgotten in a global economy.
Hidden Figures can be seen as a wake-up call to future
generations to prepare children for new careers, new
ways of learning and to build communities that are
torn apart by the lack of educational resources and
even parental priority. The seeds of jealousy and envy
and the lack of community and cultural pride
continue to grow, this hurts Black communities because
education is not a competition it is a way for completion
of life, dreams and goals. “Education should be used to
complete lives, not used to compete against each other.”
Prof. William Jackson, My Quest To Teach
Parents need to understand that their children’s education
prepares them for the work force that requires smart creatives
and innovators, what is in your mind is valuable. Those that
lack education will be a causality in a society of
thought leadership and information access.
Children of color and culture have awesome powers of
intellectual magic that needs to be strengthened and
applied to make society a more inclusive and accepting
society of diversity. Those in power are seeking to separate
and categorize people, making them feel they have to be
against each other to survive and thrive. Education and
learning are the keys to improving any society and history
shows this.
“Blacks need to stop thinking of each other as competition,
start looking at each other as collaborations to build
stable infrastructures so children can grow without the fear
of being hated because of their color and their intellectual
abilities.” Prof. William Jackson, My Quest To Teach
