i am sassa

I spent all day with Katherine Johnson. I listened to interviews with her and watched the dedication ceremony of NASA Langley’s Katherine G. Johnson Computational Research Facility. I even watched (well, listened, mostly as I painted) the film Hidden Figures, about the contributions of Katherine and other black female mathematicians to our nations interstellar endeavors.

I got the overwhelming sense that Katherine wouldn’t have thought of herself as a badass. She was insanely humble, usually highlighting the accomplishments of others over her own. I heard her say in more than one interview, “I was just doing my job”. Even when that job was to double check the math done by the computer that would assure John Glenn’s safe return to Earth after we flung him into space. In fact, it was Glenn himself who requested that she specifically check it. Whether she’d accept the term or not, I’d be hard pressed to learn something more absolutely badass than the fact that a white male astronaut put his life in the hands of a black female mathematician in 1962.

And she’s from my home state! Holla!
She skipped ahead to high school at the tender age of thirteen, was the first black female to attend WVU, and was one of the first African American women to work as a NASA scientist. (Side note-I loved painting her tiny lil NASA pins. So cute). With so many firsts, not just as a woman, but as a black woman to boot, I cannot imagine the sexist and racist b.s. she must have dealt with in her life and work.

Here are some of the videos I painted along to today-and you MUST watch Hidden Figures if you haven’t seen it. I’m looking forward to giving it my full attention without a paintbrush in my hand.

Thank you, Katherine Johnson.