Goddard Observes Black History Month

Dr. Charley Flint gave overview of how social status, with a focus on race, become reflected in the criminal justice system.

Upcoming Events:

The Bowie State University Concert Choir will perform, and a film: "The Murder of Emmitt Till" will be shown.
Wed., Feb. 19, 2003 in the bldg. 8 Auditorium from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Very powerful documentary film footage and commentary ... graphic language and visuals. It's 1955, and this unbelievably brutal lynching in Money, Mississippi, of a 13 year old Chicago child, is probably the catalyst and spark for the Civil Rights struggles nationwide that followed ... starting exactly 100 days afterward!

His courageous mother, Ms. Mamie Till-Mobley personally crusaded to stop these types of murders; she is recently deceased. Well worth watching. There will be a brief opportunity for reaction and discussion after the viewing.

Dr. Freeman Hrabowski, III - President, University of Maryland - Baltimore County
Thurs., Feb. 20, 2003 in the bldg. 3 Goett Auditorium - 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.

Dr. Freeman Hrabowski, III will speak on nurturing a new generation of engineers and scientists. He is a consultant to the National Science Foundation and the National Academy of Sciences. Dr. Hrabowski was instrumental in forming the Governor's Academy for Mathematics, Science, and Technology and is the successful co-author of Overcoming the Odds: Raising Academically Successful African American Women and Beating the Odds: Raising Academically Successful African American Males.

Ms. Jacqueline Galloway-Blake, MA School Failure and the African-American Boy - Causes and Cures
Wed., Feb. 26, 2003 in bldg. 26/205 Conference Room from 11a.m. to 1 p.m.

This workshop examines how African influences and the slavery experiences have shaped the learning styles of African-American children. It shows how American schools have failed the African-American boy and outlines how school educators and administrators can work with parents to improve the immediate and long-term academic success for African-American boys.

Why are so many African American boys placed in special education classes in America's schools? Has the African-American boy failed at school or has the school failed the African-American boy? Looking inside the typical American school and we can view the policies, practices and attitudes that work against this learning style and the African-American boy. Let's find new ways to bring educational successes to the African-American boy! Specific suggestions for meeting the educational needs of young Black males are discussed.

State Representative Rufus Straughter (51st Dist. - Miss.) Presents "We've Made It, In Spite Of ..."
Thurs., Feb 27, 2003 in bldg. 3 Goett Auditorium - 11a.m. to 2 p.m.

The history of Mississippi is a microcosm of the history of African-Americans and Euro-Americans in the United States. As recently as the public embarrassment and outcry resulting from Mississippi Senator Trent Lott's public speech alluding to a "different and better America had Strom Thurmond won the presidency" as an independent running on a platform of segregation, the social and political history of the "Mississippi Delta" has impacted and shaped the larger United States political landscape.

As Chairman of the Mississippi Legislative Black Caucus, Rep. Straughter has pressed for increased financial investment in state universities ($500 M), unlimited access for African-American businesses to private and state sponsored investment opportunities, like the new Nissan Assembly and Development plants - the largest in the country. His goals are to overcome the trangressions and bigotries of the past and strive for all to embody excellence and high standards of insight and achievement.

For more info: Leonard Brown on 6-5424, the EOPO 6-7348, or visit the EOPO website at: http://eeo.gsfc.nasa.gov/events.html

Black History Fact:

Benjamin Banneker
mathematician, astronomer, surveyor

Born: 11/9/1731
Birthplace: Ellicott's Mills, Md.

Benjamin Banneker has been called the first African American intellectual. Self-taught, after studying the inner workings of a friend's watch, he made one of wood that accurately kept time for more than 40 years. Banneker taught himself astronomy well enough to correctly predict a solar eclipse in 1789. From 1791 to 1802 he published the Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia Almanac and Ephemeris, which contained tide tables, future eclipses, and medicinal formulas. It is believed to be the first scientific book published by an African American. Also a surveyor and mathematician, Banneker was appointed by President George Washington to the District of Columbia Commission, which was responsible for the survey work that established the city's original boundaries. When the chairman of the committee, Pierre Charles L'Enfant, suddenly resigned and left, taking the plans with him, Banneker reproduced the plans from memory, saving valuable time. A staunch opponent of slavery, Banneker sent a copy of his first almanac to then-Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson to counter Jefferson's belief in the intellectual inferiority of blacks.

Died: 10/9/1806