21st-century-african-american-scientists

"Energy Trading and Risk Management is a great resource to help grapple with the very interesting but oftentimes complex issues that arise in energy trading and risk management."

"It's a bit surreal what we are experiencing today: loss of billions of dollars in Harvard's endowment, a global recession, high unemployment, millions of home foreclosures, IRS auditing Harvard, etc. – all due to the use of financial WMDs [Weapons of Mass Destruction]!""

"In the challenging world of energy trading, fortune favours the prepared. Whether one is brave enough (or not) comes second and not having a clear strategy would be borderline foolishness."

"Growing up in Chicago, I was always interested in being a scientist. I'm not entirely sure why. But my mother was always very interested in the sky. She was used to seeing a dark sky, and so she was really interested in the space program. So I just became really interested in astronomy and the stars, and I didn't necessarily want to be an astronomer. I wanted to be an astronaut and I wanted to do science."

"We help the broad astronomy community use both the telescopes and data"

"In other science fields, you can set up an experiment, or you can get samples of rocks or samples of other things to bring back to your lab and analyze them. But for astronomers, all you get is the light that comes back from galaxies or stars."

"With that light, you have to try to figure out the mass of that star or the mass of that galaxy, what the temperature is."

"My job includes staring off into space. How awesome is that?!"

"To look through the 16-inch telescope at Jupiter was literally life-changing for me. I just remember thinking that Jupiter actually looks like it does in the books—spot, bands, albeit in more of a gray scale."

"I think one of the biggest problems we have yet to solve is how to truly make sure that the science and technology ecosystem is open, welcoming, and accessible to all"

"When I came home from school as a girl and said I wanted to study astrophysics, my mother convinced me it was not a ludicrous goal, that in fact I could do it, and she would help me get there."

"I love space, period. Hands down, I think the night sky is one of the most beautiful things in the universe. Learning about space was sort of the thing that I did when I was a kid. And then I found black holes, and life was different."

"Having left various roles and come into different roles, I pride myself on being a good leaver. I just left Duke University, which I loved and still love, and I don’t allow anybody to talk to me about anything there."

"If I was talking to someone I mentor, I would say to make sure that you’re comfortable in your own skin. I don’t care what job you have. You need to know who you are, and then you look for a place that wants who you are. Then you go and do the best you can, being who you are authentically. And I think that’ll work."

"It is a privilege to be in leadership, and we are indeed in service to people."

"We will advance knowledge, economic prosperity and social justice by welcoming and inspiring inquisitive minds from all backgrounds."

"Many of us who are underrepresented in STEM have taken on the responsibility of spearheading institutional change toward more just, equitable, and inclusive working environments as a form of survival, I'm putting in more work on top of the research I do because I recognize that I do better research if I feel supported and if I feel like I can bring my whole self to my job. My hope is that one day Black and brown women and gender-queer folks interested in science can pursue just that and not have to fight for their right to be a scientist or defend that they are worthy of doing science."

"We want to make a cultural shift in physics, and we have laid out seven strategic goals. They include hiring Black scientists, restructuring leadership and decision-making entities, and investing in Black communities."

"I think there was a lack of understanding around the police killings and how they mentally and emotionally affect Black people. But I think my colleagues are listening and want to learn, and the lab is responsive."

"Jedidah Isler visited Syracuse, and she reached out to me to have lunch. I wasn't doing well—I had failed my quals—but the fact that this prestigious Black woman physicist reached out to me made an impression. I was embarrassed to go, but her candor and vulnerability about going through these spaces that were not built for us helped me understand that it was not my fault that I didn't fit in. Meeting with her validated my feelings. We discussed impostor syndrome. We discussed finances."

"People say the South is racist, but it wasn't until I moved north that I was really barraged with microaggressions on a daily basis. One instance was when I was sick and missed a couple of days of classes. This was reported to my adviser as my having missed weeks of coursework. When I was in class I was ignored, but when I was not there I stuck out like a sore thumb. It's hard to separate your microaggressions when you deal with intersecting minoritized identities. Was it because I was the only woman? The only Black person? The only Mexican? The only lesbian?"

"For me, physics isn't physics without outreach."

"You learn as you go, and I think the most important thing to remember is that you are not your failures. That was a hard pill for me to swallow and something I'm still working through but the scientific process is built on failing! We have a theory, we test it, and a lot of the times that theory is wrong. That doesn't mean you aren't smart or you shouldn't continue testing other theories! Scientific exploration would come to a screeching halt if at every failed theory a scientist would quit."

"As a lesbian, seeing Fermilab make such a visible and intentional stand for LGBTQIA+ physicists, technicians, and engineers at the lab is just another way of fostering an inclusive work environment."

"While to a certain extent, I do agree that organizations will thrive with a more diverse workforce due to the difference in experience and the ways in which we all think, we not only have to focus efforts on recruitment but also retention, and to do the latter, there needs to be a cultural shift at the organizational level."

"To me, community outreach has two major benefits: to promote scientific literacy and the importance of physics research, and to foster a curiosity and passion for physics. One of the many barriers I've encountered in my decades worth of outreach experience is the lack of trust society has towards physicists. This in part has to do with the lack of diversity in physics. There have been many instances in history where scientists have used a biased view of science as a tool of oppression, racism, and sexism. By including a more diverse cross-section of the population in physics studies, the public interest and trust in physics and physicists will increase as well. That's why I believe community outreach and increasing diversity in physics are symbiotic. By focusing efforts on outreach, especially to underrepresented minorities, you foster excitement in physics that leads to a future of diverse physicists that can then better encompass the interests of society as a whole, which in turn makes community outreach more accessible to a diverse population."

"That number is still so jarring to me. I found out that there were only about 150 black women with a PhD in physics while in graduate school. I was on the verge of quitting. I was having such a hard time keeping up with my studies and just belonging. I was the only black, Latina, and lesbian in my classes. I stood out like a sore thumb, and I felt isolated. I also didn't feel a sense of belonging at the university or city level. The micro-aggressions I encountered, not only in the classroom but going to the mall or getting groceries, were so exhausting!"

"The secrets of our universe don't discriminate, these secrets can and should be unraveled by all those who wish to embark on that journey, and my aim is to clear as many barriers and leave these physics spaces better than I entered them."

"Once I got to college and took my first college-level course, I knew that physics was what I wanted to study. I learned about quantum superposition and Schrodinger's cat. It blew my mind, and as they say, the rest is history!"