Women’s History Month: Spotlight on Katherine Johnson

Katherine Johnson – The Human Computer Who Launched Us to the Stars
Born: August 26, 1918
Died: February 24, 2020

“We will always have STEM with us. Some things will drop out of the public eye and go away, but there will always be science, engineering, and technology. And there will always be mathematics.” — Katherine Johnson

Today’s spotlight for Women’s History Month is Katherine Johnson, chosen on a day where I learned that the Trump regime in the US has just begun to scrub the names of all women from the aerospace program. https://www.yahoo.com/news/trump-orders-nasa-purge-mentions-120008493.html

Katherine’s quote seems fragile, and I pray that none of the STEM endeavors will disappear from the “public eye.” Wherever you stand on the political spectrum, I’m thinking we all agree that to “scrub” history of relevant information is just not okay. This post is a small attempt to keep the truth known. The world was not built strictly by white men. And we need to preserve the real story, particularly since the truth is so much richer than the whitewash….

Katherine Johnson was a brilliant NASA mathematician whose calculations were crucial to the success of early U.S. space missions—including John Glenn’s orbit of the Earth. Despite the racial and gender barriers of her time, she became a pioneering force in STEM, proving that intelligence and determination break down walls.

Why She Inspires Us Today
Katherine reminds us that brilliance knows no race or gender. She challenges us to take up space in fields where we are underrepresented and trust in our own genius.

Today, give yourself permission to own at least one thing about yourself that makes you special. What is your true genius? What are you proud of? Celebrate it.