This year’s Black History Month theme—”A Century of Black History Commemorations”—reminds us to honor a full century of contributions while charting the path forward. For Black women in STEM, this century tells a story of groundbreaking achievement against extraordinary odds.
These women include the NASA mathematicians Katherine Johnson, Dorothy Vaughan, and Mary Jackson, whose calculations sent satellites and then astronauts into space (remember the movie “Hidden Figures”?). And then there is Mae C. Jemison, the first African-American woman space traveller. And Gladys West, whose modelling of the Earth’s shape was instrumental in the development of GPS technology (Global Positioning System), and of course, Dr. Kizzmekia Corbett-Helaire and her pivotal role in developing the COVID-19 vaccine. Black women have driven scientific progress for generations.
Today, Black women remain significantly underrepresented in STEM, making up just 2% of the science and engineering workforce. Yet their impact is immeasurable. When Black women are present in health research and medical innovation, they bring perspectives that lead to more equitable outcomes for everyone.
⚖️ This matters for health equity. Disparities affecting Black communities—including maternal mortality rates three times higher than white women, along with gaps in cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and cancer outcomes—are not inevitable. They result from systemic inequities, including historical exclusion from medical research and ongoing barriers to quality care. You can learn more about this in these posts by Nerdy Girl MacKenzie Isaac:
Birthing while black: a maternal health crisis
What do we need to know about Black Maternal Health?
Liberation and health equity go hand-in-hand. Here is how
⚖️ And here is another Health Equity Alert: Just last year, funding cuts at local, state, and federal levels led to Black women losing their jobs at 3x the rate of their non-Black counterparts. Many of these jobs were in the (health)care sector, where countless Black women champion health equity and improved quality-of-life outcomes as community health workers, social service professionals, and home health aides. Care workers are often the engines behind the delivery of health and scientific innovations at the neighborhood level, so if you know a Black woman who has worked/continues to work in this sector, think of a way to intentionally pour some appreciation into them this month and beyond!
This Black History Month, we invite you to commit to more than commemoration. Let’s support pathways that bring more Black women into STEM fields, fund research addressing health disparities, and create workplaces where Black women scientists can thrive. Health equity isn’t possible without their leadership and innovations.
This month, we’re also celebrating and uplifting trusted voices — clinicians and scientists doing this work every day:
To all Black women reading this: Even as we honor you as STEM trailblazers, advocacy blueprints, culture keepers, and all-around superheroes, please claim your right to rest! This February – and whenever else it’s needed – you can hang up your capes. We each carry the responsibility to stand in the gap with and for you, sustaining the momentum needed to realize a vision of true health justice.
Love,
Those Nerdy Girls
P.S.: In case you missed it, here you can read more about Those Nerdy Girls’ very own fabulous Black Nerds Kenzie, Kelly and Camille.
