Thursday, September 16, 2021

Dr. Sian Proctor is the First Black Woman to Pilot a Space Mission

Dr. Sian Proctor Photo Credit SpaceX
For Elon Musk and the SpaceX team, Wednesday's successful launch of its first rocket into orbit — manned by four people who aren't professional astronauts — was just the next step in delivering on their promise of opening up space travel to the common man.  

For geoscientist Sian Proctor, however, it was a chance to make a different kind of history.

"There have been three Black female astronauts that have made it to space, and knowing that I'm going to be the fourth means that I have this opportunity to not only accomplish my dream, but also inspire the next generation of women of color and girls of color and really get them to think about reaching for the stars and what that means," Proctor said at a press conference Tuesday.

Wednesday, the 51-year-old South Mountain Community College professor became the first-ever Black female spacecraft pilot, as the SpaceX Inspiration4 mission launched successfully from Pad 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 7:02 p.m. CDT.

The crew will enjoy zero gravity and panoramic views in their capsule as it orbits Earth at around 17,500 miles per hour — circling the planet once every 90 minutes —before splashing down off the coast of Florida Saturday. 

Proctor, who is also the oldest Black woman to reach space, has already decided how she plans to use her time.

"I'm gonna sit in our cupola and write poetry as I look back at our amazing planet," Proctor — who brought some of her students’ art, as well as materials to create her own poetry and art on the mission —  said. 

The journey is the final step in a dream that began for Proctor as a child. Her father, Edward Langley Proctor Jr., worked for NASA and tracked Apollo program flights.

Having caught the space bug early, Proctor endeavored to reach it on her own, eventually becoming a finalist in NASA's 2009 astronaut candidate program. While she didn't make the final cut, she is a licensed pilot and has completed four astronaut training simulations sponsored by NASA, including a four-month mission to Mars.

She was chosen through an online business contest conducted by Shift4 Payments as part of the Inspiration4 crew selection.  Proctor competed against entrepreneurs across the country to bring in donations for St. Jude, before being chosen to fly on the mission. St. Jude is the charitable beneficiary of Inspiration4. Its goal is to raise $200 million for kids with cancer and other life-threatening diseases. Read more about the all-civilian mission to space and how it came to be here.

 

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Wednesday, September 15, 2021

Nicki Minaj's Cousin's Friend Can't Blame Bloated Balls on Covid Vaccine According to Fauci

Photo Credit @nickiminaj
Since the beginning of the global Covid-19 pandemic, misinformation has plagued efforts to keep the disease in check, especially when it comes to the vaccines that experts across the world have lauded as our best chance to control infection rates, reduce mortality and get the different strains in check.

Myths have spread across the internet like wildfire about them and in some cases have been perpetrated by its biggest personalities — including celebrities,  pundits, politicians and other influencers with large followings.

Former presidential candidate Kanye West called a coronavirus vaccine “the mark of the beast” in an interview with Forbes and said those pushing it “want to put chips inside of us, they want to do all kinds of things, to make it where we can’t cross the gates of heaven.” 

Freshman Rep. Madison Cawthorn, (R-N.C.) implied the vaccine effort was a way to build the infrastructure to confiscate people's guns and Bibles.

But recently rapper Nicki Minaj, whose previous attempt to "break the internet" fell somewhat shy of the mark, tweeted something so egregious about the covid vaccines currently in production, that it forced the nation’s leading infectious disease expert, Dr. Anthony Fauci, to come out and personally debunk it Tuesday in an interview on CNN:

Internet experts and other bystanders quickly piled on to the statement by the "Chun Li" rapper who had been explaining to fans why she didn't plan to attend Monday's star-studded Met Gala previously in the thread.

They want you to get vaccinated for the Met. if I get vaccinated it won’t for the Met. It’ll be once I feel I’ve done enough research. I’m working on that now. In the meantime my loves, be safe. Wear the mask with 2 strings that grips your head & face. Not that loose one,” she tweeted, before recommending that people get vaccinated and saying she would eventually do the same because she has to go on tour.

Several commenters claimed that her cousin's friend had most likely injured himself and or contracted a venereal disease. 

MSNBC's Joy Reid  was more direct, scolding the star for putting out spurious theories to her fan base.

You have a platform, sister, that is 22 million followers, OK? I have 2 million followers. You have 22 million followers on Twitter," Reid told Minaj. "For you to use your platform to encourage our community to not protect themselves and save their lives, my God sister, you can do better than that! You got that platform -- it's a blessing that you got that! The people listen to you -- and they listen to you more than they listen to me!"

"For you to use your platform to put people in the position of dying from a disease they don't have to die from, oh my God, sister. As a fan, as a hip-hop fan, as somebody who is your fan, I'm so sad that you did that, so sad that you did that, sister. Oh, my God," Reid added.  

So, what did Dr. Fauci have to say about the veracity of Minaj's claims? Replying to CNN's Jake Tapper who asked him “Is there any evidence that the Pfizer, the Moderna, or the J&J vaccines cause any reproductive issues in men or women?” The doctor said, “There’s no evidence that it happens, nor is there any mechanistic reason to imagine that it would happen. So the answer to your question is no.”

So, it appears for now at least that everyone who had concerns raised by Minaj's story can relax, well perhaps except for her cousin's friend and his now very famous balls. 

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Tuesday, September 14, 2021

Jordan Brand Pledges $1 Million Dollars to UNC's Ida B. Wells Society to Support Diversity in Newsrooms

Michael Jordan Photo Courtesy Nike

NBA legend Michael Jordan may have a degree in geography, but in the wake of George Floyd's 2020 murder by Minneapolis Police and the ensuing chaos and societal strife generated by it the basketball player turned billionaire businessman believes that it is organizations dedicated to ensuring racial equality, social justice and greater access to education that will determine the direction of the future.

So, instead of increasing its map budget or funding a professorship, the University of North Carolina alumnus, who returned to get his degree following his hall-of-fame career, announced that he and his eponymous Jordan Brand will donate $1 million to UNC's Ida B. Wells Society for Investigative Reporting to help diversify newsrooms. 

In a press release shared by the school this past Thursday, it says the grant originally announced in May, will boost the program's efforts to increase diversity in the field of investigative journalism with outreach efforts aimed at aspiring young journalists of color: 

With the help of the Black Community Commitment grant, the Society intends to expand its existing internship program for college students and recent college graduates, partnering budding talent with major news organizations like The New York Times, the Miami Herald, ProPublica, the Associated Press and the USA Today Network around the United States.

The Society also plans to launch an All-Star Investigative Summer J-Camp, starting in July of 2022, that will bring students from majority-Black and Latino and historically disadvantaged schools together for an immersive, multidisciplinary training program in partnership with an historically Black college. 

Diversifying Investigative Reporting - Ida B. Wells Society + Jordan Brand from Here At UNC on Vimeo.

The school is just the latest recipient of a windfall from Jordan Brand, since the star who famously avoided controversy throughout his career made a pledge to make a commitment to the black community part of his company's DNA.

It was an action taken in direct reflection on the George Floyd case as well as the Black Lives Matter movement. 

I am deeply saddened, truly pained and plain angry,” said an unusually outspoken Jordan in a statement following Floyd's death. “I see and feel everyone’s pain, outrage and frustration. I stand with those who are calling out the ingrained racism and violence toward people of color in our country. We have had enough.

“I don’t have the answers, but our collective voices show strength and the inability to be divided by others. We must listen to each other, show compassion and empathy and never turn our backs on senseless brutality. We need to continue peaceful expressions against injustice and demand accountability. Our unified voice needs to put pressure on our leaders to change our laws, or else we need to use our vote to create systemic change. Every one of us needs to be a part of the solution, and we must work together to ensure justice for all.

“My heart goes out to the family of George Floyd and to the countless others whose lives have been brutally and senselessly taken through acts of racism and injustice.

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