1 00:00:00,030 --> 00:00:05,620 All members of the public should have an equal chance to vote for public officials, 2 00:00:05,620 --> 00:00:11,820 and to send their children to good public schools and to contribute their talents to 3 00:00:11,820 --> 00:00:12,820 the public good 4 00:00:12,820 --> 00:00:24,930 [Music] 5 00:00:40,140 --> 00:00:28,890 I am NASA I am NASA 6 00:00:40,140 --> 00:00:44,829 I am the National Aeronautics and Space Administration 7 00:00:44,829 --> 00:00:51,809 I started here at JPL NASA in nineteen eighty-nine, January nineteen eighty nine so I've been 8 00:00:51,809 --> 00:00:54,649 here about 25 years now. 9 00:00:54,649 --> 00:01:02,219 I began working for NASA at Johnson Space Center...in gosh in nineteen sixty-nine. 10 00:01:02,219 --> 00:01:05,339 I first came to NASA the summer of nineteen eighty. 11 00:01:05,339 --> 00:01:08,360 When I was selected second group of space shuttle astronauts 12 00:01:08,360 --> 00:01:13,100 I started working at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in nineteen sixty four 13 00:01:13,100 --> 00:01:19,810 I started working for NASA at the John F. Kennedy Space Center in September of nineteen 14 00:01:19,810 --> 00:01:21,520 seventy three 15 00:01:21,520 --> 00:01:27,110 I started working for NASA at the Johnson Space Center in Houston Texas in nineteen 16 00:01:27,110 --> 00:01:28,110 eighty one 17 00:01:28,110 --> 00:01:32,759 I've had numerous jobs and numerous activities that have supported in the last twenty-five 18 00:01:32,759 --> 00:01:39,090 years or so I began as a thermal analysts looking at going 19 00:01:39,090 --> 00:01:40,890 to Mars back in nineteen ninety 20 00:01:40,890 --> 00:01:44,240 Working for NASA has kinda always been a dream of mine. 21 00:01:44,240 --> 00:01:49,310 I'd study distant galaxies using the Hubble telescope and so to be able to Goddard and 22 00:01:49,310 --> 00:01:50,690 work there. 23 00:01:50,690 --> 00:01:55,520 not only in studying astronomy but also in working on the James Webb Space Telescope 24 00:01:55,520 --> 00:01:56,679 has been really great 25 00:01:56,679 --> 00:02:06,729 When I came to KSC there were very few African Americans employees of any sort, the Civil 26 00:02:06,729 --> 00:02:13,110 Rights Act of nineteen sixty four was rather new on the horizon of course as with any new 27 00:02:13,110 --> 00:02:16,310 legislation there was some resistance to it. 28 00:02:16,310 --> 00:02:24,680 When I first started you have to realize that was when the Civil Rights Act was first enacted 29 00:02:24,680 --> 00:02:29,790 and things were different at that time like in the sixties things were much different. 30 00:02:29,790 --> 00:02:34,490 At that time minorities specifically African Americans were the ones that were included 31 00:02:34,490 --> 00:02:42,150 in the Civil Rights Act of nineteen sixty four it was later on that amended to include 32 00:02:42,150 --> 00:02:47,530 other minorities groups Asians, Hispanic Americans and women 33 00:02:47,530 --> 00:02:54,530 There was quite a jump in the number women in the professional areas around nineteen 34 00:02:54,530 --> 00:02:55,750 sixty-five. 35 00:02:55,750 --> 00:03:02,040 NASA... was part of the Women's Movement generally and made a determined effort to bring in more 36 00:03:02,040 --> 00:03:03,599 women professionals 37 00:03:03,599 --> 00:03:13,379 When I started working for NASA I was the only engineer in our division that was female 38 00:03:13,379 --> 00:03:21,400 and one of the few blacks and it was really funny because the fellas didn't know quite 39 00:03:21,400 --> 00:03:24,850 know exactly what to do with the one woman in the group 40 00:03:24,850 --> 00:03:32,269 I started off in electrical engineering and moved into mechanical engineering unknowing 41 00:03:32,269 --> 00:03:35,189 that I was a minority at the time. 42 00:03:35,189 --> 00:03:41,350 I guess I didn't discover that until I started working here at Glenn Research Centers that 43 00:03:41,350 --> 00:03:47,379 being a Native American woman engineer was a minority 44 00:03:47,379 --> 00:03:53,920 Discrimination is where a person is ostracized and marginalized or just is not treated fairly. 45 00:03:53,920 --> 00:04:01,500 The common theme is, they're treated differently because of reasons beyond their control. 46 00:04:01,500 --> 00:04:10,519 The focusing was initially on African American there were very few African Americans at KSC 47 00:04:10,519 --> 00:04:19,680 at the time and those who were here were consecrated in clerical positions and administrative position 48 00:04:19,680 --> 00:04:21,850 there were very few engineers 49 00:04:21,850 --> 00:04:28,320 Everything's changed I mean American cultures change, NASA cultures change it's funny when 50 00:04:28,320 --> 00:04:34,430 you see those movies about Apollo 13 and see a bunch of white guys in white shirts smoke 51 00:04:34,430 --> 00:04:36,530 cigarettes sitting in the control room... 52 00:04:36,530 --> 00:04:42,090 From the time that i first knew about NASA it has changed exceptionally dramatically 53 00:04:42,090 --> 00:04:46,580 because when I first learned about NASA in the days of Mercury, Gemini and Apollo it 54 00:04:46,580 --> 00:04:51,040 was almost all white at least that was the only part of NASA anybody saw. 55 00:04:51,040 --> 00:04:59,190 I believe that there was a time when people of color color or ethnic diversity was were 56 00:04:59,190 --> 00:05:07,300 not believed to have the leadership skills believe to not be intelligent enough or organize 57 00:05:07,300 --> 00:05:09,720 enough do those things. 58 00:05:09,720 --> 00:05:19,050 there was resistance because there had been no African Americans and in the space program 59 00:05:19,050 --> 00:05:30,120 and of course they weren't greeted openly they were perceived as a necessary evil in 60 00:05:30,120 --> 00:05:34,580 order to comply with the Civil Rights Act of nineteen six four 61 00:05:34,580 --> 00:05:37,081 So I had a few strokes against me here. 62 00:05:37,081 --> 00:05:42,330 I was too young to be a principal investigator, I was too brown to be a principal investigator 63 00:05:42,330 --> 00:05:46,130 and I was way too female to be principal investigator. 64 00:05:46,130 --> 00:05:51,220 Well I figured the age thing would go away with time and it sorta did. 65 00:05:51,220 --> 00:05:56,319 I'm still a woman and I'm still brown woman black woman. 66 00:05:56,319 --> 00:06:04,050 At first I was sort of a curiosity people would invite me to parties "Look we have one" 67 00:06:04,050 --> 00:06:11,979 and that sorta thing but there were people who were genuinely sure 68 00:06:11,979 --> 00:06:16,250 that I didn't belong there that I didn't deserve to be there 69 00:06:16,250 --> 00:06:22,180 so I kinda made it my duty to prove that I did deserve to be there by doing good work. 70 00:06:22,180 --> 00:06:29,009 You know there's really three pieces to change the first one of course is legal 71 00:06:29,009 --> 00:06:33,490 Legal changes the Civil Rights Act again is fifty years ago. 72 00:06:33,490 --> 00:06:39,960 The second is diversity, which is having a very diverse work that represents the diversity 73 00:06:39,960 --> 00:06:41,110 that's in America 74 00:06:41,110 --> 00:06:48,050 We have changed a lot in that sense it mean in the nineteen sixties they were mostly white 75 00:06:48,050 --> 00:06:52,289 males now we're much more diverse workforce 76 00:06:52,289 --> 00:06:58,300 However there are still changes to be made in the third area which is inclusion we're 77 00:06:58,300 --> 00:07:01,770 beginning to be more inclusive but we have a lot more work to be done in that area. 78 00:07:01,770 --> 00:07:08,860 Gender equality is a big issue and equal pay and all the complex issues that go along with 79 00:07:08,860 --> 00:07:09,860 it 80 00:07:09,860 --> 00:07:13,460 Those are difficult issues but NASA is really good at doing difficult things 81 00:07:13,460 --> 00:07:20,910 When we talk about things like diversity and discrimination and things like that sometimes 82 00:07:20,910 --> 00:07:25,890 we lose sight of the bigger picture that we're all in this together 83 00:07:25,890 --> 00:07:31,020 Who are we to judge other people we should humble our self and understand each other 84 00:07:31,020 --> 00:07:39,259 and try to come to a common ground respect our differences and build on our commonalities 85 00:07:39,259 --> 00:07:45,190 and that's what really make us a whole as a better community a better society a better 86 00:07:45,190 --> 00:07:46,190 nation of course. 87 00:07:46,190 --> 00:07:51,970 When you start to create you want to have those multiple perspectives to give the concept 88 00:07:51,970 --> 00:07:59,900 to give the the program you're working on a wide variety of looks so that it can have 89 00:07:59,900 --> 00:08:02,740 it's best chance of being successful. 90 00:08:02,740 --> 00:08:10,210 Women make up half the population or so and there certainly as intelligent as men so why 91 00:08:10,210 --> 00:08:12,650 shouldn't it be half the working force. 92 00:08:12,650 --> 00:08:17,729 I still believe NASA and when ever I have a student in my lab they leave believing in 93 00:08:17,729 --> 00:08:19,069 NASA too. 94 00:08:19,069 --> 00:08:24,800 NASA is a wonderful example of civil rights in action at Goddard Space Flight Center we 95 00:08:24,800 --> 00:08:30,850 have advisory councils for every organization or every group of people that is discriminated 96 00:08:30,850 --> 00:08:31,850 against. 97 00:08:31,850 --> 00:08:34,510 NASA has done things right. 98 00:08:34,510 --> 00:08:38,040 The way NASA has approached this has been really good so far. 99 00:08:38,040 --> 00:08:44,280 I'm excited to see the future to see more women coming up and into employment at NASA 100 00:08:44,280 --> 00:08:48,630 and coming up through the fellowship programs and just working their way up. 101 00:08:48,630 --> 00:08:55,050 It's not unnoticed we have we've now added several center directors who has been women 102 00:08:55,050 --> 00:08:58,420 we have had African American center directors. 103 00:08:58,420 --> 00:09:03,540 so the diversity in the senior leadership in the agency 104 00:09:03,540 --> 00:09:05,570 I'm here 105 00:09:05,570 --> 00:09:10,860 Speaks I think speaks loads to the way NASA in many ways has lead other organizations 106 00:09:10,860 --> 00:09:17,840 I grew up in Alabama where we had separate but unequal 107 00:09:17,840 --> 00:09:23,590 I don't think those students those civil rights leaders and those activists if they were to 108 00:09:23,590 --> 00:09:28,160 look now fast forward They'd never some of them who didn't get to 109 00:09:28,160 --> 00:09:32,610 see the fruits of their labors. 110 00:09:32,610 --> 00:09:39,340 Civil rights is for all of us not just one set of us I think in order to have a sense 111 00:09:39,340 --> 00:09:46,910 of fairness it's that we all recognize that regardless of color or creed or religion and 112 00:09:46,910 --> 00:09:55,210 others we have an obligation to support the civil rights acts of nineteen sixty four 113 00:09:55,210 --> 00:10:00,520 We are senior research scientists We are mechanical engineers 114 00:10:00,520 --> 00:10:05,570 We are administrators We are the engineers of NASA 115 00:10:05,570 --> 00:10:09,670 We are human capital experts We are researchers 116 00:10:09,670 --> 00:10:13,250 We are astronomers We are center directors 117 00:10:13,250 --> 00:10:16,780 We are scientists We are Mathematicians 118 00:10:16,780 --> 00:10:19,640 We are Astronauts We we are 119 00:10:19,640 --> 00:10:23,690 We are we are We are we are NASA