HIDDEN FIGURES REVEALED AT CES 2017

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by Barbara Smith, photos by ESE

 

Connectivity was the watchword at CES 2017 and nowhere was this more in evidence than at the IBM-sponsored “Outthink Hidden” booth, where this new mobile app was launched to coincide with the opening of 20th Century Fox’s ground-breaking film “Hidden Figures.” Science, media, and education converged with demonstrations of the augmented reality (AR) app, which operates as a kind of virtual museum, allowing viewers the opportunity to see, with 3D graphics, text and video, the important and, until-now, untold story of a team of brilliant African American women in the 1960’s—Dorothy Vaughan, Katherine Johnson and Mary Jackson– whose contributions to the Space Race and astronaut John Glenn’s historic orbit of the earth, crossed gender and race lines.

 

Oscar-winning actress Octavia Spencer, who stars in the film as mathematician Dorothy Vaughan, was on hand at the IBM booth (IBM has partnered with T Brand Studio in unveiling the high tech app, which was inspired by the film) before taking part in a provocative panel discussion that highlighted these unsung heroes from history who persevered through adversity to make significant contributions within Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM).

 

Moderated by Soledad O’Brien, chairman of Starfish Media Group and former CNN commentator, panel participants included actress Spencer and the film’s director, Ted Melfi; Kristin Summers, Senior Managing Consultant, IBM; Rashid Davis, Founding Principal, P-TECH; Leah Gilliam, Vice President of Girls Who Code; Elizabeth Gabler, President of Fox 2000 Pictures; and Lindsay-Rae McIntyre, Chief Diversity Officer, IBM.

Said Spencer, “When I was told I was going to be in a movie about women mathematicians that helped get our astronauts in space in NASA, I thought it definitely has to be fiction because otherwise we would know about it. Then when I read the book [“Hidden Figures” by Margot Lee Shetterly] and found out it was true, I said, ‘Count me in.’”

With our modern perspective, we might wonder why a movie that celebrates the historic achievements of these remarkable women has not been told. Each of the panel members offered insights as to the importance of the story being told, and why it was not until now.

One reason, said director Melfi, is “We don’t have parades for mathematicians. This is exactly the kind of movie we’re told we could never do. It’s about math, it’s about science, a movie about women, about black women having tremendous success. It went against convention. It’s hard to make math cinematic,” he says, but by digging into the women’s lives and creating a setting at the intersection of the Cold War, the Space Race, the movement for gender equality, the Jim Crow South and the birth of the civil rights movement, we are drawn in.

From a storytelling perspective, the film has a powerful message. These women challenged ideas at that time about what it means to be black, to be American, to be a female, to be a scientist.  For Leah Gilliam, the message rings true today. As Vice President of Education, Strategy and Innovation at the non-profit Girls Who Code, much of Gilliam’s work is dedicated to closing the gender gap in technology. ”We help girls realize that they have capabilities. They learn what they are capable of, they learn sisterhood, and they see role models in careers that they have been excluded from in the past.” Added Rashid Davis, the film underscores the need for more outreach to African American and other underserved communities. At P-TECH (Pathways in Technology), where Davis serves as principal, students have the opportunity to move forward on high tech career paths. IBM has been a key supporter of the program, resulting in eight people under the age of 20 currently working at IBM now, says Davis. The challenge in middle school is to keep young people turned on to technology, he says, because, without outreach and mentoring, often girls don’t see this as something they’re good at. “They see the white guy in the hoodie in the basement as the computer scientist. They don’t imagine themselves there. And it impinges on their ability to be inspired when they don’t see someone from their neighborhood in these positions.”

Public and private partnerships provide essential links to enhance STEM in the schools, says director Melfi, and IBM’s commitment was evident at CES in their partnering with the “Hidden Figures” film to launch the “Outthink Hidden” app, which is free and downloadable from T Brand Studio. The app is well worth checking out before you see the movie, as it provides a wealth of information through AR renderings of such unsung heroes as Vaughan, Johnson, and Jackson of the film, as well as other lesser known but equally heroic figures such as physician Sara Josephine Baker, inventor Bessie Blount Griffin, and entomologist and scientific illustrator Maria Sibylla Merian.

“There is a historical context for women in STEM, said Lindsay-Rae McIntyre, IBM’s Diversity Chief.   “IBM’s forefathers hired the first black employee in 1899, the first female engineers in the 1930s, and the first female executive in 1943. For us, that creates a real organic commitment to diversity and inclusion and forces us to strive to do more.”

Besides Spencer, the film stars Taraji P. Henson as Katherine Johnson, and Janelle Monáe as Mary Jackson.

“I’m very excited about the way IBM has partnered with Fox to put scholarships out there for young women to gravitate toward the STEM program,” said actress Spencer. That is a big must—to have the resources in place to people who might not have the finances.” She adds, “One thing I love most about Dorothy Vaughan is…she understood that one person advancing meant that they all advance. So there was constantly putting the best person forward for each individual job and advocating for that. You see Kevin’s character [Kevin Costner plays NASA executive Al Harrison] advocating for Taraji’s character; you see John Glenn advocating for Katherine. So advocacy begins with you, the individual. And while this is not the model for a Hollywood block buster, we hope that with the support of all the people who not only want to see this history celebrated but see the diversity in the STEM fields, we can change that narrative and that this too can change the world.”