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May 6, Discussion Board Thread: First Impressions of Hidden Figures - Start by  Yujie Zhu 

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May 6, Discussion Board Thread: First Impressions of Hidden Figures - Start by  Yujie Zhu 

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Yujie Zhu:

Hey all! I started reading Hidden Figures and I’m already super impressed by how much these women had to go through just to get basic respect…

Also, it is crazy to think that even though they were doing top-level math, they were still treated UNFAIRLY because of their race and gender. 😢

Yujie Zhu:

And I liked the author does a great job showing how strong these women were without making it sound like a history textbook!

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May 6, Discussion Board Thread: First Impressions of Hidden Figures 

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May 6, Discussion Board Thread: First Impressions of Hidden Figures 

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Emilia Gao:

Hi guys, this is a really interesting book to read!

Just like you guys have mentioned, these women are incredibly gifted and intelligent. Recently, my US history talk about the period of racial segregation and civil right movement, I know is really too hard for these Black Women working in a segregated world that limited their opportunities.

Agree to Janice’s point, the using of “colored” bathroom in the texts, are really the issues they faced everyday, being unable to access the normal bathroom becomes a problem.🚾

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May 9, Discussion Board Thread: Focus Question - Start by  Yujie Zhu 

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May 9, Discussion Board Thread: Focus Question - Start by  Yujie Zhu 

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Yujie Zhu:

Hey everyone, I believe we need to have the same focus question. Here is mine: "How can perseverance and excellence be used to challenge discrimination and make overlooked voices seen and heard?"

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May 13, Discussion Board Thread: Continue to Yujie’s Focus question

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May 13, Discussion Board Thread: Continue to Yujie’s Focus question

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Emilia Gao:

Hey, this is Emilia, I really like Yujie’s point. After reading from chapter one to chapter five. I realize this is a common and helpless situation during the plot. These women are incredibly talented, however know one really cares about their status.

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May 14,  Discussion Board Thread: Book Club Meeting #1 - Start by Yujie Zhu

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May 14,  Discussion Board Thread: Book Club Meeting #1 - Start by Yujie Zhu

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Yujie Zhu:

Hey everyone, sorry I will be absent on Wednesday, but this is my Notebook Pages and the following paragraph is about them. There are three symbols in Hidden Figures that I focused on: a bird in an open cage, a candle burning in a dark room, and a worm name tag with the ink rubbed off. The bird in the cage represents how the black women were limited by segregation, but their thoughts and talents soundly be trapped-like when Shettdrly writes, their “minds were not confined by walls.” The candle in the dark shows how their brilliance brought light and hope to places that tried to keep them invisible. The worm name tag shows how their work was used and trusted, but they didn’t always get credit-like when Katherine”s math helped launch a rocket, but her name wasn’t on the report. These symbols helped me understand how these powerful black women resisted discrimination quietly, but powerfully through their excellence and determination.

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May 14,  Discussion Board Thread: Book Club Meeting #1 In class

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May 14,  Discussion Board Thread: Book Club Meeting #1 In class

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Emilia Gao:

Hey this is Emilia, since we are missing a couple of people today. I will share my notebook page on the discussion board with all of us.

Connecting to Yujie’s focus question, I create my notebook page along with the idea of “How does perseverance be used to challenge discrimination and overthrow authority to be successfully heard.”

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*Today, Dr. Dunne asked us to write a topic question to discuss with the class in a college seminar style of discussion.

Me (Janice Zhu) and Emilia came up with this: Do the barriers in society benefit the individual who is struggling with societal discrimination.

It could be beneficial, people are more tends to make friends who got the same

Place as a big factor, while it bring similar people together (same preferences)

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May 27, Final Book Club’s Prompt - Started By Yujie Zhu

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May 27, Final Book Club’s Prompt - Started By Yujie Zhu

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Yujie Zhu:

Hey everyone, I believe we need to have the same focus question. Here is mine “How can breaking barriers in one field inspire future generations to push for equality in other areas of society.”

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Janice Zhu (Wednesday, March 21) on Chapters 17-20

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Janice Zhu (Wednesday, March 21) on Chapters 17-20

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In Chapters 17-20 of Hidden Figures, I was struck by the increasing visibility of Katherine Johnson’s work, even as systemic discrimination remained present. One thing that stood out was how her perseverance slowly began to shift the culture of NASA—her name might not have been included in reports, but her presence in high-level meetings and her indispensable math began to challenge the status quo.

A moment that really resonated with me was when she fought to be included in the Pentagon briefing. It wasn’t just about one woman being included—it symbolized a deeper resistance against the expectations that black women should remain silent or invisible in scientific spaces. This reminded me of our class discussion question: Do the barriers in society benefit the individual who is struggling with societal discrimination? In some ways, these chapters suggest that the struggle itself sharpened Katherine and made her achievements more powerful, but it also shows the system was unjust to begin with (which should not require a fight to be recognized)