By Jay B, Second Year, Sophomore As Black History Month 2021 comes to a close, I wanted to take this article to recognize an important thing that occurred this month. On February 18, 2021, NASA’s Perseverance Rover landed on Mars. You might think to yourself, “What does any of this have to do with Black History Month?” It has everything to do with Black History Month because a black woman played a pivotal role in the Perseverance’s landing. Breonna Ivey is a senior engineering major at Georgia Tech who got to intern with NASA last summer. As reported by news station WGXA, Ivey was on the mobility team who were responsible for the rover’s key functions. The mathematical work that Ivey did alongside other engineers at NASA helped in getting Perseverance to land. There is so much importance in what Breonna did. Earlier today, I got the opportunity to participate in a live discussion with other students that was hosted by Columbus, Georgia, Black Student Union. The overarching subject of this discussion was on black history in the conversation. There was one thing that one of my peers said to me that truly resonated with me. The student was talking about how students are not taught the wide range of things that black people have done throughout history. They used themselves as an example, saying that they were not aware that black people could have occupations, like Astrophysiology and Aerospace Engineer. This student’s statements resonated with me so much because I know that this is a truth that many black kids are taught in school. It is unfortunate that many black kids do not have the opportunity to see the wide range of things to do when they grow up. There is so much more to the talent and excellence of black people outside of the entertainment and sports industry, and black youth aren’t being taught this enough. The accomplishments of people like Breonna Ivey matter so much because of the lack of representation of black people in fields that a white male dominated, like STEM. Ivey’s role in the Perseverance landing is so important because there are many black kids out in the world who unfortunately do not know that there are black people contributing to studies on Mars. There are so many black children who do not know of the greatness of their people and the rich, deep history of black people. What Ivey did will be an inspiration to many. I am sure that somewhere out there, in this big wild world, there is a child who is saying, “Look, this person looks like me. This person is doing amazing things. Therefore, I can do amazing things too.” It is my belief that Black History Month is something that should go beyond the bounds of the shortest month of the year. Black History Month is only 1/12 of the year, black accomplishments are happening year round. It is important that we highlight the innovators, the people who are everyday pushing forward history. We must show the black leaders tomorrow that they can do it, and that anything they want to do is very much possible. Whether it be becoming the greatest entertainer of all time, creating the super soaker, or assisting in the calculation that brings Earth one step closer to the moon. It is all possible, anything is possible. Black history and black innovation is something worth celebrating yesterday, tomorrow, and forever. Happy Black History Month.
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AuthorThe CSP Blog is written by members of the CSP Media team, with guest blogs by alumni and other guests. Archives
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