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Viola Desmond (Canadian Civil Rights Movement)

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Viola Desmond (Canadian Civil Rights Movement)

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Racial segregation and Jim Crow laws existed in the U.S. after the Civil War. You've probably read about Rosa Parks and Ruby Bridges. They and others took stands against unjust treatment of Blacks. Their bravery helped bring attention to the civil rights movement. Let's learn together today about a woman in Canada who stood her ground-Viola Desmond.

Canada suffered from racial segregation. There weren't laws in place. The treatment of Blacks was just understood by everyone. Businesses set their own rules. Society expected Blacks to know the rules and follow them.

Viola Desmond was born in Halifax, Nova Scotia on July 6, 1914. Hard-working parents who were very active in their neighborhood raised Desmond. They were a married biracial couple when people did not like that idea. The black community was accepting of the couple and their 10 children.

Desmond started her working career as a teacher. She wanted to be a businesswoman and left teaching to attend Field Beauty Culture School in Montreal. It was one of the few beauty schools to accept Black students. She finished her training in New York and New Jersey before returning to Halifax. Desmond opened Vi's Studio of Beauty Culture in her hometown.

She became popular in Halifax, taking care of the local Black women's beauty needs. Desmond developed her own line of makeup products for Black women. She also started her own school, Desmond School of Beauty Culture. She taught other Black women and supported them in gaining jobs. Fifteen women earned their diplomas from the school each year.

On November 8, 1946, Viola Desmond was traveling for business. Her car broke down, stranding her in New Glasgow, Nova Scotia. While waiting for her car to be fixed, she went to the Roseland movie . Desmond asked for a ticket to the lower section. She didn't know that the Roseland was a segregated business. The expected Blacks to sit in the seats.

When Desmond went to a seat on the main level, the ticket taker told her she had the wrong ticket. Not understanding, she returned to the box office for another ticket. As the situation became clear that the was discriminating because of her skin color, she the rules. She sat down in the "whites only" seating. The manager called the police. The police and manager picked Desmond up to remove her. They injured her and took her to the police station. She had to stay in the jail overnight.

At her the next day, Desmond did not have a lawyer. Nor was she informed that she could have a lawyer. They charged her with defrauding the government. The court said she didn't pay an amusement . The was only the cent difference between a ticket for the and lower seats. Desmond argued she had offered to pay the extra cost. The ended with Desmond being charged a $26 fee.

Desmond sued the Roseland and its manager because of her injuries. They did not send the case to . In another try at , Desmond's lawyer appealed to the Nova Scotia Supreme Court to have her criminal charges dismissed. This also failed.

Desmond never made charges of . Her case brought attention to racial segregation. The Nova Scotia Association for the Advancement of Colored People raised money for Desmond. Black-owned newspaper The Clarion covered Desmond's story.

Many people today credit Desmond's actions as the beginning of the end of segregation in Nova Scotia. The practice legally ended in 1954. Desmond went through a divorce and moved to the U.S. after all her trouble. She died in New York on February 7, 1965.

After her death, Canada honored Desmond with her portrait on the ten-dollar bill. Nova Scotia's government her. A 2012 postage stamp featured her face.

Have you read about others whose small actions made big changes? Would you like to one day stand up for something you feel strongly about?

CCRA.R.1, CCRA.R.10, CCRA.L.3, CCRA.L.4, CCRA.L.5, CCRA.L.6, CCRA.R.3, CCRA.R.2, CCRA.R.4, CCRA.W.3, NCAS.PR.6, CCRA.R.5

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Racial segregation and Jim Crow laws existed in the U.S. after the Civil War. You've probably read about Rosa Parks and Ruby Bridges. They and others took stands against unjust treatment of Blacks. Their bravery helped bring attention to the civil rights movement. Let's learn together today about a woman in Canada who stood her ground-Viola Desmond.

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Grade Lee Boggs  (Asian American Leader in Civil Rights Activism)

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Grade Lee Boggs  (Asian American Leader in Civil Rights Activism)

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We learn in school about historic U.S. figures who fought for social and civil rights. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Angela Davis, Malcolm X, and Rosa Parks were all famous for their work. Join the Wonder team today as we study another important person and her -Grace Lee Boggs.

Grace Lee was a first generation Asian American. She was born June 27, 1915, in Rhode Island. Her parents were Chinese immigrants . She spent her childhood in Queens, New York. As a female and a , she experienced discrimination from an early age. This treatment motivated her to work for equal rights for everyone. She also credited her parents with sparking her .

Her mother never learned to read or write. A family member sold her into work, but she ran away. She left China while pregnant and gave birth in a ship's hold. Grace Lee's father had a successful restaurant. He provided opportunities and a comfortable life for his family.

Even though she earned a PhD in philosophy from Bryn Mawr College in 1940, Lee could not find work in New York. Potential employers turned her away because of her Asian identity and her gender. Lee moved to Chicago. There she got a low-paying job in a philosophy library. Her first apartment was free and rat-infested. When she saw over housing conditions, she joined the movement. Lee said this was her first time being in contact with the Black community.

Lee returned to New York. She became an activist for the rights of Black people, women, young people, and workers. She grew more interested in politics and the poor treatment of people of color.

In the early 1950s, Lee moved to Detroit. Detroit was actively involved in the labor movement. It was the center of the automobile industry, which had thousands of workers. Most of the workers were Black people who had migrated from the South. She joined the staff of a leftist paper, Correspondence. She used a pen name, Ria Stone, to protect her identity.

By 1953, Lee met and married James Boggs. Boggs was a Black man who was a member of the United Automobile Workers (UAW) union. He was active in protecting striking workers. Grace Lee and James Boggs' marriage created a powerful activist front.

Grace Lee Boggs worked during the 1960s for the Black Power movement. She organized marches in Detroit, where Malcolm X and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. gave important speeches. Grace Lee and James Boggs advocated for workers to self-organize. The pair wrote books and articles together and separately. She encouraged personal change as the basis of broader revolution .

Before James Boggs passed away in 1993, he and Grace Lee started a community movement called Detroit Summer. They invited all ages and cultures to join together to improve Detroit. Members planted community gardens in vacant lots. They renovated houses. Artists painted to improve the look of rundown areas.

As a widow, Grace Lee Boggs became more focused on Detroit . She worked to identify ways people in the city could survive and even thrive. The home she shared with her husband had always drawn revolutionary thinkers. They founded the James and Grace Lee Boggs Center to Nurture Community Leadership in 1995. The Boggs house is its headquarters.

Grace Lee Boggs passed away on October 5, 2015. She remained busy as an activist well into her 90s. Boggs helped launch a charter school that purposely centers curriculum on Detroit's history. She wrote weekly for the Michigan Citizen newspaper. The column advocated for ongoing reforms in the city. She and her life were the subject of a documentary .

Grace Lee Boggs and her work for women, Black people, Asian Americans, the elderly, and other underserved groups still inspires many people. Would you like to be an activist like Boggs? How would you like to follow in her footsteps?

CCRA.R.1, CCRA.R.2, CCRA.R.3, CCRA.R.8, CCRA.R.10, CCRA.L.3, CCRA.L.4, CCRA.L.5, CCRA.L.6, CCRA.W.3, NCAS.CR.1, SEL.3

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Today in Wonderopolis, learn more about activism with GRACE.

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Bayard Rustin  (key behind-the-scenes leader in Cvil Rights Movement)

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Bayard Rustin  (key behind-the-scenes leader in Cvil Rights Movement)

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Leaders Like Us: Bayard Rustin - Read Aloud

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Ella Baker (known as “The Mother of the Civil Rights Movement”)

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Ella Baker (known as “The Mother of the Civil Rights Movement”)

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For every high-profile leader, there are people doing essential work who are not as well known-making decisions, steering conversations, listening, problem-solving, organizing, and more. Ella Baker was one of those people. In fact, Baker is known as The Mother of the Civil Rights Movement because of her behind the scenes leadership.

Learn about Ella Baker's activism for African-American civil rights and human rights with this Black History in Two Minutes (or so) video. Harvard historian Henry Louis Gates Jr. hosts the video series.

The video also includes commentary from Columbia University professor Dr. Farrah Griffin, civil rights activist Diane Nash, and the late, great Representative John Lewis. A summary of Baker's work:

After graduating from Shaw University, Ella Baker moved to New York City and began her career as a grassroots organizer. Joining the NAACP in 1940, the Virginia native assisted in developing some of the brightest minds in the Civil Rights Movement.

Baker charged people like Rosa Parks to stand up and speak out. Through her organizing efforts, she assisted Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. with the creation of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, which was helping to build the Civil Rights Movement. After a string of sit-ins in the 1960s, she joined a group of students who would go on to form the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committe e. Baker ignited the fight in a generation of young Americans who would go on to risk their own freedom for the advancement and equality of all Black people.

Related reading at The Ella Baker Center for Human Rights and Time Mazagine's On MLK Day, Honor the Mother of the Civil Rights Movement, Too.

Watch these related civics and civil rights videos next:
* Shirley Chisholm, the First Black Congresswoman
* Rosa Parks, her story as a lifelong civil rights activist
* The 1913 women's suffrage march on Washington D.C.
* Marian Anderson's 'defiant performance' at the Lincoln Memorial
* The Fight for Fair Housing in Milwaukee: Vel Phillips and James Groppi

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Ella Baker, The Mother of the Civil Rights Movement | The Kid Should See This

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For every high-profile leader, there are people doing essential work who are not as well known-making decisions, steering conversations, listening, problem-solving, organizing, and more. Ella Baker was one of those people. In fact, Baker is known as The Mother of the Civil Rights Movement because of her behind the scenes leadership.

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Barbara Henry and Ruby Bridges (stood up against segregation in schools)

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Barbara Henry and Ruby Bridges (stood up against segregation in schools)

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https://thekidshouldseethis.com/post/barbara-henry-ruby-bridges-video

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“The story begins in the mid-20th century, a time when racial segregation was enforced by laws and practices across much of the United States in schools,

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Jackie Robinson (Baseball player and Civil Rights Activist)

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Jackie Robinson (Baseball player and Civil Rights Activist)

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Who was Jackie Robinson - Black American World Changers - Made for kids, by kids

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Jesse Owens (Track and Field Athlete and Olympic gold medalist)

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Jesse Owens (Track and Field Athlete and Olympic gold medalist)

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illinois.pbslearningmedia.org/resource/jesse-owens-video/yellowhammer-history-hunt/?student=true

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Jesse Owens | Yellowhammer History Hunt | PBS LearningMedia

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Jesse Owens was born in Alabama in 1913 to poor Black sharecroppers. In 1936 he won four gold medals at the Olympics in Germany and showed Hitler and the world that athletic skill, not race, makes winners. Though he was world-renowned after the Olympics, but Owens still faced racism and prejudice.
NOTE: Spanish captions are also available. The video associated with this resource is also available as a Descriptive Video for visually-impaired users. All student and teacher support materials meet PDF accessibility guidelines.

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https://youtu.be/xCnQhpVvm44?si=i5EFhof4BJW-s9XZ

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Educational Videos for Students (Cartoons on Bullying, Leadership & More)

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Serena Williams (Biography): Women in History (Educational Videos for Students)

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Gabby Douglas: Going for Gold | Your 🔥 Job

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Gabby Douglas is the first American gymnast to win both solo and all-around gold medals at one Olympics.

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Sometimes, your dream job is not the one you expected.

When Gil Bransford was a kid, he dreamed of being a sports announcer at ESPN. "I wanted to be in front of the camera," he says. "Growing up in Flint, Michigan, I was a big Detroit Pistons fan. I'd watch George Blaha announce games and hear the excitement in his voice. That was what I was drawn to."

Bransford achieved his dream of working at ESPN, but not as an announcer. He's a sports statistician, one of the people working behind the camera during live broadcasts or sports-news programs like SportsCenter. The statistics that appear onscreen during a game, or the numbers cited by an announcer or show host-those come from Bransford's research. His job is to study the numbers and tell a story with text or graphics. Growing up, he says, he never imagined that such a job existed: "I didn't know there were people behind the scenes who helped enhance what sportscasters were talking about."

There was no clear path to Bransford's current job when he was a student at Ferris State University, in Michigan. He majored in communications, in hopes of landing a job in television. Along the way, he acquired skills in journalism, sports science, business and marketing, and media production.

In his senior year, Bransford went to a job fair organized by the National Association of Black Journalists, in Chicago. He interviewed for a job in sports research. He took a test in basic sports math, graphics building, and writing, and did well. In the second round of interviews, Bransford, a big basketball and football fan, was asked to name the last 10 winners at Wimbledon. He was stumped. "I wish I knew a few tennis players," he remembers thinking. The interviewers said he didn't have the sports-history knowledge required for a research position.

But his statistics skills were enough for ESPN to hire him for a position in statistics and analysis. Bransford did sports-data entry, created schedules and rosters, and, at the end of the night, scrubbed box scores, or made sure ESPN's numbers matched official numbers. "We were the last line of defense in making sure the stats on ESPN.com were accurate," Bransford says. It wasn't the job he applied for, but he was happy to be at ESPN.

Bransford worked in that position for 10 years, gaining the knowledge required to become a researcher. After another two years, he was promoted to senior researcher.

Now, in addition to studio shows, Bransford works on live broadcasts such as College GameDay. During college football and basketball seasons, he can be on the road for weeks. Even live shows are planned in advance. Bransford pitches ideas for graphics at the beginning of the week, and over the next few days, his team creates a script. He builds the graphics and writes any text that will appear onscreen. His work might include full-screen graphics that appear while the hosts are talking, timelines of players' careers, and flashbacks to memorable moments.

Bransford might also do quick calculations to make sure that statistics appearing onscreen are up to date. During the halftime show, he supplies information to help the host transition out of segments. "A show producer might want to give viewers a look at how the first half of a game played out," Bransford says. "And they kind of look to us to give them the best angle."

No two games are the same. This, Bransford says, keeps his job interesting: "With each game, there's a different story to tell."

But just as important as the work itself are the relationships he has formed. "I love working with professionals like [host of College GameDay] Rece Davis and other members of the talent team," Bransford says. "I get to pick their brains. Pitching my ideas to talent, seeing their buy-in, mapping it out, and seeing my work make air-that's kind of big."

Bransford advises young people interested in this work to seek out relationships early on. By attending conferences, for instance. And while you may not land the job you want right away, you can still acquire the skills you need for that job. "I had to take a different path to becoming a researcher," Bransford says, recalling his first position at ESPN. "I had to learn how to be a researcher before actually [holding the title of] researcher."

The point is to remember what you're aiming for, and to take advantage of the opportunities that come up. "There's no template," Bransford says. "If you're interested in a specific job, you might have to take a different pathway to get there."

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Gil Bransford, a sports statistician for ESPN, works to shape a sports broadcast from behind the scenes.

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History of Maya Angelou for Kids | Bedtime History

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Do you enjoy writing? Keep a journal of your thoughts? Maybe you write plays with your friends. If poetry is more your style, you might be like the subject of today's Wonder-Paul Laurence Dunbar.

Many call Paul Laurence Dunbar the poet laureate of African Americans. He wrote novels, short stories, essays, news stories, and lyrics for and musicals. He was the first African-American man to be paid for writing poetry.

Dunbar's parents, Joshua and Matilda, were born enslaved in Kentucky. Joshua escaped his and fled to Canada. He came back to the United States to fight in the Civil War. Matilda was freed and went to live with her mother in Dayton, Ohio. Joshua and Matilda met, married, and had two children. Paul Laurence Dunbar was born June 27, 1872, in Dayton. After only a few years, Dunbar's parents divorced. Matilda raised Paul while doing laundry for the Wright family. Two of the Wright children, Orville and Wilbur, gained fame in the early 1900s as pioneers of aviation.

Matilda instilled a love of reading and poetry in Paul. During her enslavement, she did not receive formal education. As an adult, she took night classes to improve her literacy. She taught Paul to read before he entered school. He wrote his first poem at age six.

Paul attended Dayton's public schools. He was the only Black student in Central High School. In high school he was class poet, a member of the debate group, and president of the school's literary society. He also edited the school's newspaper. With the support of classmate Orville Wright, Dunbar published and wrote a short-lived newspaper for the Black community, the "Dayton Tattler."

Even though he was very smart and graduated from high school, Dunbar didn't have the money to attend college. He hoped to study journalism or law. Because there were few jobs for Black men, he took a job as an in a Dayton office building. This job gave Dunbar the time to write often.

He self- published his first poetry book, "Oak and Ivy." He sold copies of his book to people who rode on the with him. Dunbar wrote poetry in both standard English and in . His poetry became the most well-known.

As Dunbar started his writing career, several well-known people read his work and heard him speak. Poet James Whitcomb Riley and abolitionist Frederick Douglass supported Dunbar. With their help, Dunbar traveled and outside Ohio for the first time.

Dunbar wrote about the experience of African Americans during and after the Civil War. He wrote of their dreams and feelings. He also told of their hardships and racist treatment.

In 1897, the Library of Congress hired Dunbar as a researcher. He moved to Washington DC. While working there, he became increasingly more ill. He thought his coughing was because of the dust from the Library's books.

Dunbar married fellow writer Alice Ruth Moore in 1898. Dunbar wrote to his future wife after reading her poetry in a magazine. They shared letters for two years before meeting and eloping.

Alice and Paul's marriage only lasted four years. They broke up in 1902 but never divorced. His health was much worse by this time. Doctors found out he had tuberculosis . There was no medical cure. Dunbar began drinking heavily to his cough.

Dunbar and his mother, who had lived with him and Alice, traveled to New York and Colorado. Doctors thought this might help his health. Eventually, he bought a house for the two of them in Dayton. He died there on February 6, 1906. Matilda kept Paul's rooms as he left them. The house is now a museum.

Though only 33 when he died, Dunbar left a legacy. Several Black poets of the Harlem Renaissance were inspired by Dunbar. Dunbar's name is on schools across the United States to serve as motivation for what students can achieve.

CCRA.R.1, CCRA.R.2, CCRA.R.3, CCRA.R.7, CCRA.R.10, CCRA.L.1, CCRA.L.3, CCRA.L.4, CCRA.L.5, CCRA.L.6, CCRA.W.4, CCRA.W.5, CCRA.SL.6

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Today's Wonder tells the history of a famous turn-of-the-century writer who influenced generations.

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How Misty Copeland Made History as a Black Ballerina

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Ava DuVernay  (U.S. film and television writer, producer, and director) 

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Ava DuVernay  (U.S. film and television writer, producer, and director) 

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In 2008 DuVernay began writing, producing, and directing films. This Is the Life (2008) was her first film to gain critical attention. It follows the creation of the hip hop movement in Los Angeles in the 1990s. In 2010 DuVernay founded the African-American Film Festival Releasing Movement (now Array). The organization promotes women and people of color in the film industry. Her other early films included I Will Follow (2010) and The Middle of Nowhere (2012).

The historical drama Selma (2014) brought DuVernay's work to a wider audience. The film addresses the civil rights battle over voting rights for African Americans in 1965. In addition to the Golden Globe nomination, the film was also nominated for an Academy Award for best picture.

In 2016 DuVernay released the documentary 13th, about racial inequalities within the American prison system. The film was nominated for an Academy Award for best documentary. She then directed a multicultural cast in A Wrinkle in Time (2018). The film was based on a book by Madeleine L'Engle.

DuVernay also worked in television. She was known for creating the series Queen Sugar in 2016. The drama, set in Louisiana, follows the lives of three siblings.

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In 2008 DuVernay began writing, producing, and directing films. This Is the Life (2008) was her first film to gain critical attention. It follows the creation of the hip hop movement in Los Angeles in the 1990s. In 2010 DuVernay founded the African-American Film Festival Releasing Movement (now Array).

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Basquiat grew up in household that valued culture and creativity. His Puerto Rican mother was a graphic design artist who encouraged her son to draw and inspired his artistic interest with regular trips to art museums. Basquiat's Haitian father was an avid music fan who spent a lot of time listening to music with him.

The art practice that first got Basquiat noticed however, were passages of graffiti sprayed around Brooklyn under the alter-ego SAMO. These spray painted texts made comment on social and political issues of the day. Basquiat also made homemade postcards and t-shirts that he sold to friends and those who liked his art. This soon led to large scale paintings that caught the eye of art critics and dealers.

Basquiat's first solo exhibition was held in Italy in 1981. Soon after, his style of art neo expressionism became renowned in the art world with people paying attention to how he painted abstract portraits in bright, bold colors that expressed his feelings about the subject matter rather than offering an accurate likeness of them.

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The Brilliance of Basquiat - Art History Kids

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by Shiona Herbert American artist Jean-Michel Basquiat has inspired thousands if not millions of creatives around the world with his art. At first glance, his paintings look like simple compositions of shapes, lines and words, but upon extended viewing, these artworks convey complex layers of thou

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Poitier's first film was No Way Out (1950). He received an Academy award nomination for his role in The Defiant Ones (1958). While he was making films, he also performed in live theater. He was nominated for a Tony award for his work in A Raisin in the Sun (1959). He also starred in the 1961 film version of the play. Three of his most popular films- In the Heat of the Night; To Sir, with Love; and Guess Who's Coming to Dinner -all came out in 1967.

In 1969 Poitier cofounded First Artists Production Company. He also directed movies, beginning with Buck and the Preacher in 1972.

Poitier received many honors over the years. In addition to his acting awards, he received the Cecil B. DeMille Award. The award honors film artists for their outstanding contributions to entertainment. In 1995 he received a Kennedy Center Honor. Poitier also received lifetime achievement awards from both the American Film Institute (1992) and the Screen Actors Guild (2000). He was given an honorary Oscar in 2002 for his "extraordinary performances and unique presence on the screen." In 2009 he received the U.S. Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Poitier was a citizen of both the United States and the Bahamas. In 1997 he was appointed as the Bahamian ambassador to Japan. He published an autobiography in 2000 and won a Grammy Award for an audio version of that book. Poitier died on January 6, 2022.

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Poitier's first film was No Way Out (1950). He received an Academy award nomination for his role in The Defiant Ones (1958). While he was making films, he also performed in live theater. He was nominated for a Tony award for his work in A Raisin in the Sun (1959).

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Have you ever been to see an art ? Did you see figures that looked like you and your community? Let's learn together today about an artist who painted important pictures of Black life and history.

Jacob Armstead Lawrence was born on September 7, 1917, in Atlantic City, NJ. Lawrence was one of the most important Black artists of the 20th century. He spent a lot of his youth and young adulthood in Harlem. The period known as the Harlem Renaissance influenced him.

Lawrence's parents were part of the Great (1910-1970). African Americans fled southern U.S. states for the north as a reaction to Jim Crow laws. In Harlem, he studied at an art school with well-known artist Charles H. Alston. Alston introduced Lawrence to important Harlem Renaissance figures, including Langston Hughes and Augusta Savage. Studying under Alston allowed Lawrence to create art for a public works project in the 1930s. This is how he met his wife, fellow artist Gwendolyn Knight.

A grant funded a 60-panel of paintings. "The of the Negro" tells stories of African American life from that time. New York City's Downtown Gallery displayed the . Lawrence's career took off. He was 23 years old.

His work shows everyday events he saw. He observed that schools ignored Black history. He painted important events and social figures to help correct that. for his art came from his research.

The Coast Guard drafted Lawrence during World War II. He created art during his service. None of that work still exists. In 1944, the of Modern Art (MoMA) hosted an of Lawrence's post-wartime work and "The of the Negro" . It was the first time an African American artist had a at the famous. Lawrence's work also was the first African American art purchased by MoMA.

Several schools invited Lawrence to teach. He taught at Black Mountain College in North Carolina. To travel south, Lawrence and Knight commissioned their own railroad car. They wanted to avoid having to be moved to a Blacks-only car when crossing the Mason-Dixon line. They stayed on the college's rather than in the segregated community.

Knight and Lawrence traveled to Nigeria in 1962 and 1964 to teach and create. A successful of the happened on the 1962 trip. The 1964 trip lasted nine months. Lawrence painted scenes of Nigeria's culture. He enjoyed visiting the marketplace. His work of that time explored his connections to local people and artists.

He taught in Washington state from the 1970s until he retired. Several Seattle buildings and museums feature Lawrence's art. Many artists credit Lawrence as a major influence. He was a member of the board that founded Washington, DC's of African Art.

Lawrence and Knight had no children. They founded the Jacob and Gwendolyn Lawrence Foundation to benefit and support American artists. Lawrence died June 9, 2000. He created art until a short time before his death.

Would you like to paint events in history? Maybe you could make brightly colored like Jacob Lawrence!

CCRA.R.1, CCRA.R.10, CCRA.L.3, CCRA.L.4, CCRA.L.5, CCRA.L.6, CCRA.W.3, CCRA.W.6, CCRA.W.9

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Join the Wonder team today to learn about an artist who drew his work from history!

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Have you ever dreamed of going to space? If so, you may already know all about the International Space Station and other missions. Maybe you'd like to live on another planet or in an O'Neill Colony one day.

Does that sound like you? If so, the name in the title of this Wonder of the Day might ring a bell. She's a gifted doctor who became the first Black woman in space in 1992. That's right! We're talking about Dr. Mae Jemison.

Dr. Jemison was born in Decatur, Alabama, and grew up in Chicago, Illinois. Her interest in science started at an early age. Dr. Jemison even told her kindergarten teacher that she wanted to become a scientist! She also took part in theater and dance.

As a kid, Dr. Jemison watched the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s . At age 12, she was frightened by the military in her community. National Guardsmen had arrived to stop over racial inequality . The experience also made her even more determined to work toward her goals. She reminded herself that she "was as much a part of this United States as the Guardsmen."

At age 16, Dr. Jemison graduated from high school. She enrolled at Stanford University. There, she earned in chemical engineering and African American studies. She also led the Black Student Union. After graduation, Dr. Jemison went to Cornell Medical School.

Dr. Jemison also learned to speak Russian, Japanese, and Swahili. After medical school, she joined the Peace Corps. Dr. Jemison spent two years as a medical officer in Sierra Leone and Liberia. Then, she came back to America and opened her own office.

How did Dr. Jemison go from being a medical doctor to an astronaut? She had always been interested in space and science. In 1983, she watched America send its first woman astronaut, Sally Ride, into space. Dr. Jemison saw her chance. She applied to become an astronaut in 1985 and again in 1987. She was chosen from a pool of 2,000 applicants and joined NASA Astronaut Group 12.

On September 12, 1992, Dr. Jemison became the first Black woman in space. She was a Mission Specialist aboard the space shuttle Endeavour. On this trip, Dr. Jemison and her crew the Earth 127 times.

Dr. Mae Jemison left NASA in 1993. Since then, she has worked in many fields. She was a professor at Dartmouth and Cornell. She also a nonprofit called the Jemison Group. Dr. Jemison even appeared on an episode of "Star Trek: The Next Generation." Today, she leads the 100 Year Starship project. It aims to help humans travel outside our solar system in the next 100 years.

Would you like to follow in Dr. Mae Jemison's footsteps? Maybe you'll even be one of the first people to leave the solar system. With the speed at which technology is growing, anything is possible!

C3.D2.His.2, CCRA.R.1, CCRA.R.2, CCRA.R.4, CCRA.R.10, CCRA.SL.1, CCRA.SL.2, CCRA.W.2, CCRA.W.9, CCRA.L.1, CCRA.L.2

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We think you MAE really enjoy today's Wonder of the Day!

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Making History: African American Pioneers of Science

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Making History: African American Pioneers of Science

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Scientists, engineers, and inventors find the solutions to the world's problems. Learn about the work that these Black scientists and inventors have accomplished that make our lives better.

George Washington Carver was an agricultural chemist who gained acclaim for his discovery of alternative farming methods. Carver is best known for his discovery of uses for the peanut. Among the products Carver developed from peanuts were soap, face powder, mayonnaise, shampoo, metal polish, and adhesives-but he did not invent peanut butter.

Known as a "human computer," Dorothy Johnson Vaughan was part of a team that did mathematical calculations to help launch satellites-and later humans-into space. The group used math to help engineers figure out how wind and gravity affects aircrafts.

When she was first hired to work on the space program, Vaughan's department was segregated, or separated, by race. She and the other African-American women in her unit used separate dining areas and bathrooms. Six years after she was hired, Vaughan became the manager of her division and its first Black supervisor.

A decade later, the agency desegregated and she joined the Analysis and Computation division, where she learned computer programming and worked on the program that launched John Glenn and other astronauts into space for the first time. The accomplishments of Vaughan and other female African-American mathematicians was the focus of the book and movie Hidden Figures.

Mark E. Dean is one of the top engineering minds at the International Business Machines (IBM) Corporation. He made his first mark in the industry in the early 1980s, when he and a colleague developed a system that allowed computers to communicate with printers and other devices. Every time you print something, you can thank Dean.

In all, Dean holds 20 patents, and was honored as one of the "50 Most Important African Americans in Technology" by the California African-American Museum in 2000. Dean wants to help increase awareness of the contributions of Black engineers to both the engineering industry and the African-American community.

Before her 30th birthday, Mae C. Jemison had received two undergraduate degrees and a medical degree, served two years as a Peace Corps medical officer in West Africa, and was selected to join the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's astronaut training program. Her eight-day space flight aboard the space shuttle Endeavour in 1992 established Jemison as the United States' first female African-American space traveler.

Percy L. Julian is known as the "soybean chemist," for his extraordinary success in developing innovative drugs and industrial chemicals from natural soya products. The firefighting solution he devised, known as "bean soup," helped save the lives of thousands of sailors and naval airmen during World War II. His discoveries earned him more than 130 chemical patents and many professional awards.

His spirit lives on in dozens of lifesaving discoveries, as well as in the halls of Percy L. Julian Junior High School in Oak Park, Illinois. Julian was quoted as saying, "I have had one goal in my life, that of playing some role in making life a little easier for the persons who come after me."

Sarah Breedlove Walker was an inventor and businesswoman, and became one of the largest employers of African-American women of her time.

Often know as Madame C.J. Walker, she manufactured beauty products for other African-American women using formulas she developed after working for a pharmacist who taught her chemistry. Her popular hair-softening cream and shampoo helped heal dry skin and other itchy annoyances that were common in the early 1900s because indoor plumbing wasn't widely available.

Walker's company hired and trained thousands of Black women to sell her hair-care products in shops, by mail, and door-to-door. This helped many become more independent during a time when job opportunities for women were limited.

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Black Scientists and Inventors | Black History Month

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Learn about these inspiring men and women.

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GRANVILLE T WOODS (Inventor) - Black History Month

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MADAM CJ WALKER (Haircare Inventor) - Black History Month

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Educational Videos for Students (Cartoons on Bullying, Leadership & More)

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Who is the First Lady of Jazz? Ella Fitzgerald! Watch a Biography about her life (Black History)

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Louis Armstrong: Broke Down Barriers for African American Artists | Biography

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Educational Videos for Students (Cartoons on Bullying, Leadership & More)

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Celebrate Black History Month: Louis Armstrong Biography (Black History Educational Videos)

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At the age of 18, Franklin switched from religious music to secular (nonreligious) music. She moved to New York, New York, where she signed with Columbia Records. She released a number of recordings, singing everything from Broadway ballads to rhythm and blues. However, Franklin did not achieve great success until after she signed with Atlantic Records and famed producer Jerry Wexler in 1966.

At Atlantic, Franklin returned to her gospel-blues roots. She refined a style associated with Ray Charles -a mixture of gospel and rhythm and blues-and raised it to new heights. Her first song to sell a million copies was "I Never Loved a Man (the Way I Love You)" (1967). The same year she released "Respect", which became an anthem on personal and racial levels. Franklin continued to release hit songs over the next five years.

In the early 1970s Franklin triumphed on tours of Europe and Latin America. She released Amazing Grace (1972), a live recording of her performance with a choir at a Baptist church in Los Angeles, California. Amazing Grace is considered one of the greatest gospel albums of any era and remains the best-selling live gospel recording. Her popularity dipped in the late 1970s, but she scored hits with "Jump to It" (1982) and "Freeway of Love" (1985). Her later albums included A Rose Is Still a Rose (1998) and A Woman Falling Out of Love (2011).

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At the age of 18, Franklin switched from religious music to secular (nonreligious) music. She moved to New York, New York, where she signed with Columbia Records. She released a number of recordings, singing everything from Broadway ballads to rhythm and blues.

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Odetta: "The Voice of the Civil Rights Movement

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Odetta: "The Voice of the Civil Rights Movement

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Are there certain songs that you love? Tunes that remind you of a certain person, time, or place? Some people call these special songs "the soundtrack of your life."

Typically, a soundtrack is a collection of music that goes with a movie or show. However, people also use the word to talk about music that goes along with a certain in history. Today's Wonder is about Odetta-a singer who played an important part in the soundtrack for the Civil Rights Movement.

Odetta Holmes was born in Alabama in 1930. It was the end of the Great Depression. She heard the songs workers sang while they in the fields. When she was six years old, her family moved to Los Angeles, California. At home, her mother listened to on the radio. Her stepfather tuned in to country music from the Grand Ole Opry on Saturday nights.

As she grew older, Odetta studied music. She took piano and voice lessons. Then she went to Los Angeles City College. There she earned a in music.

Odetta often spoke about how these different experiences with music shaped her. But on a trip to San Francisco after college, she found the music that spoke to her- folk music. Odetta said that folk music taught her about the human spirit. She thought the songs told about loneliness, anger, fear, and sadness.

Odetta began performing folk songs in coffeehouses. She learned to play the guitar. She even started writing some of her own songs. In 1953, Odetta moved to New York City.

In 1956, she released her first album, "Odetta Sings Ballads and Blues." The songs on it included "Muleskinner Blues" and "Jack 'o Diamonds." She released a second album, "At the Gate of Horn," the next year.

Her songs mixed the sounds of spirituals, blues, jazz, and music into folk music. She also included bits of recordings that she found in the Library of Congress. People describe these songs as both personal and .

Her music was the perfect soundtrack for the Civil Rights Movement. Her songs told of protest and resistance. Odetta took part in the march in Selma, Alabama. Then in 1963, Odetta joined Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in the March on Washington. From the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, she sang "Oh Freedom" and "I'm On My Way" for the crowd of protestors .

Over time, folk music became less popular, but Odetta continued to perform. She did concerts at folk festivals and Carnegie Hall In New York City. In 1993, she received the National Medal of the Arts-the highest art award given in the United States.

Odetta and her music gave voice to the Civil Rights Movement. What other musicians contributed to that soundtrack? What singers are performing protest music today?

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In today's Wonder, read about a singer who was considered the voice of the Civil Rights Movement.

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Stevie Wonder - Musician & Music Producer | Mini Bio | BIO

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By 1997 the band was called Destiny's Child, and they signed a contract with Columbia Records. They produced their first album, Destiny's Child in 1998. Beyoncé also began to write and produce music. She helped write the band's famous songs "Bootylicious" and "Independent Women."

In the early 2000s the band broke up. In 2003 Beyoncé helped to write her first solo album, Dangerously in Love. The album was successful and topped the charts.

The Destiny's Child band members decided to get together again in 2004. They released a successful album called Destiny Fulfilled. During a world tour in 2005, however, they announced that they would officially end their band.

In 2008 Beyoncé released a double album called I Am...Sasha Fierce. The album was a big hit and helped Beyoncé win several Grammy Awards in 2010. The awards she received included song of the year, best female pop vocal performance, and best contemporary R&B album.

Beyoncé had acting roles in several films, including Dreamgirls (2006) and Cadillac Records (2008). She was the voice of a forest queen in the cartoon Epic (2013).

In 2008 Beyoncé married rapper Jay Z. Their daughter Blue Ivy was born in 2012, and twins Sir and Rumi were born in 2017.

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By 1997 the band was called Destiny's Child, and they signed a contract with Columbia Records. They produced their first album, Destiny's Child in 1998. Beyoncé also began to write and produce music. She helped write the band's famous songs "Bootylicious" and "Independent Women." In the early 2000s the band broke up.