As our society faces a reckoning, I have been thinking a lot about history, advocacy and silence, so I decided to highlight five Black women in STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, Math). Their stories are critical, and sadly, not much has changed. Meet the pioneers.

Marie Maynard Daly (1921-2003) was an American biochemist and the first African American woman to obtain a Ph.D. in chemistry in the United States. Daly overcame the dual hurdles of racial + gender bias by conducting several important studies on cholesterol, sugars, and proteins.

Annie Easley (1933-2001) was an American computer scientist, mathematician & rocket scientist. She wrote the computer code for the Centaur rocket stage that was used in more than 220 launches. Easley's work influenced codes used in military, weather & #communications satellites.

Hattie Scott Peterson (1913–1993) was the first African-American woman to gain a bachelor's degree in civil engineering. Peterson joined the local U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in 1954, where she was the first woman engineer and encouraged #engineering as a profession for women.

Alma Woodsey Thomas (1891-1978) was an African-American painter & art educator best known for her abstract paintings. Her painting, Resurrection, was the first artwork by an African-American woman to hang in the public spaces of the @WhiteHouse and enter the permanent collection.

Dorothy Vaughan (1910-2008) was an American mathematician & computer programmer who made key contributions to the early years of the U.S. space program. She was the first African-American manager at the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics, which later became part of @NASA

Dr. Patricia Bath (1942-2019) is the first female African-American medical doctor to complete an ophthalmology residency + the first to receive a medical patent. She invented a device that improved laser cataract surgery & saved the sight of millions of patients around the world.

Melba Roy Mouton (1929-1990) was an African-American woman Mathematician & computer programmer who led a team of @NASA mathematicians (known as "computers") in tracking the orbit of Echo 1. Launched in 1960, Echo 1 was designed to explore the new field of communications via space

Time for another Black woman pioneer in STEM. Born in pre-colonial Nigeria, Queen Amina of Zaria (1533-1610) was known for her military strategy & engineering skills, erecting strong earthen walls, including the famous Zaria wall, which provided security, settlement & protections

Pamela Sunstrum (1980 to date) is a painter and #illustrator fascinated w/ ancient mythologies and #scientific theories. Her drawings shift between representational & fantastical paintings of volcanic, subterranean, cosmological & precipitous landscapes! #BlackWomanPioneerInSTEAM