"We have all heard about racial segregation in the United States around the 1960s. The African American population went from slavery (1619 -1865) to racial segregation and, as far as I can remember, has always been a victim of violence, humiliation, discrimination, and deprivation of human rights.
The film I will talk about, however, is an example of revenge and redemption, of freedom, equality, and justice.
It is a film that, when watched, inspires us and makes us proud of ourselves, of our intelligence, regardless of the color of our skin.
It is the story of the development of American aerospace technology and the fundamental role that 3 women of color contributed to NASA.
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Hidden Figures is a 2016 American film directed by Theodore Melfi. The film tells a true, often little-known story about three African American women who stood out for their intellectual abilities, and thanks to their sagacity, determination, and intelligence, they reached job positions that no woman of color had ever held before.
Katherine Johnson, Dorothy Vaughan, and Mary Jackson were three women of color who worked for NASA at a time when the space agency was still in its early stages and did not have electronic calculators.
With their contribution, they helped not only space technology but, above all, changed the way women of color were judged within the world of work.
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Katherine Johnson (played by Taraji P. Henson) was a mathematician who became a key figure in calculating space trajectories during the first human missions into space.
Dorothy Vaughan (played by Octavia Spencer) was a computer scientist: She was a pioneer in the use of the first electronic computers at NASA.
Mary Jackson: NASA's first African American female engineer.
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The film takes place in Hampton, Virginia, in 1961; This was a crucial period for NASA, which felt under pressure due to the significant advances that Russia was making in the space race.
'I need numbers that don't yet exist. Find me a mathematician before the Russians plant a flag on the moon.' - Al Harrison (played by Kevin Costner)
had the urgency to solve the problem of re-entry trajectories;
The mathematician who will join the team for the calculation of the orbits' trajectories will be her: Katherine Johnson.
There are two noteworthy scenes that struck me in the film: one concerns Katherine returning from the bathroom:
Al Harrison
'You're never where I need you! Where the hell do you go every day?' - Katherine 'The bathrooms for blacks are a kilometer away!' -
After this exchange,
Al Harrison takes a hammer and knocks down the sign 'COLORED LADIES ROOM'
then he turns to Katherine:
-'No more colored restrooms.
No more white restrooms.
Just plain old toilets.
Go wherever you damn well please.
Preferably closer to your desk.
Here at NASA, we all pee the same color.'-
The other scene takes place in court and involves Mary Jackson asking a Judge for the possibility, previously denied, to access the white-only engineering degree courses in aerospace engineering.
Mary: -'Your Honor, you of all people should understand the importance of being first.
The Judge: - 'How's that Mrs. Jackson?'-
Mary: -'You were the first in your family to serve in the armed forces. U.S. Navy.
The first to attend university.
George Mason.
And the first state judge to be recommissioned by three consecutive governors.'-
The Judge: -'You've done some research.
Mary: -'Yes, Sir'-
Judge: -'What's the point?'-
Mary: -'The point is, your Honor, no negro woman in the state of Virginia has ever attended an all-white high school.
It's unheard of.
Judge: -'Yeah. Unheard of.'
Mary: "And before Alan Shepard sat on top of a rocket, no other American had ever touched space. And now he will forever be remembered as the U.S. Navy man from New Hampshire, the first to touch the stars. And I, Sir, I plan on being an engineer at NASA, but I can't do that without taking those classes, at that all-white high school. And I can't change the color of my skin. So I have no choice but to be the first. Which I can't do without you, sir. Your honor... out of all the cases you're gonna hear today... which one is gonna matter 100 years from now? Which one is gonna make you the first?"
Judge: "Hmm... Only the night classes..."
Mary: "Yes, yes, yes, yes!!!!"
It's a very heartfelt and powerful moment, inspiring because it's full of passion.
For me, this movie captures the essence of humanity that we should strive to feel every day of our lives, never forgetting that we are on the same planet, children of the same earth, and drops from the same sea...
Thank you for reading.