I discovered over the years that I’m not as rare as I once thought. There are many people who are interested in science and art and are not quite sure how to combine them. I wrote this for people who have more than one interest, maybe more than two, and are not sure what to do about it. I wrote it for people who think it’s too late to have the life or career they wanted because of personal, financial or logistical challenges. As an older returning student, I would have thought, “It’s too late to get a PhD. When I graduate, I will be 40.” Then I realized that – hopefully – I’m going to be 40 anyway, so if I wanted a PhD, I might as well get it.
And I wrote it for people of color who live primarily in white spaces so they know they’re not alone and that there are ways to navigate and thrive in these spaces, and to be their own role models.
Even in 2023, astronomy in the US remains overwhelmingly white and women of color are still rare in the field. Can you talk about how you reflect on your experience as a black woman in astronomy in your book?
It’s certainly been easy for me to feel different, because in many ways I am. And certainly with those three different issues — being a black woman in a mostly white space, being an older returning student, being a classically trained actor — I had all the ingredients for imposter syndrome. But I’ve also found allies across color lines. It’s that searching for the communities, black communities as well as other communities of color, and being open to finding allies in the majority communities that allows me to see myself, rather than as someone who is the result of a systemic problem, to see myself as a change agent. By simply existing in the space I exist in, I effect change.
It has also allowed me to take care of myself in ways I might not have otherwise. Women of color in these predominantly white spaces, we’re asked to do a lot, we’re invited to sit on committees and to be the diversity whatever, and it’s affected my sense of responsibility: I have to be that person for the next generation. But what I understand is, simply by taking care of myself, physically, mentally, emotionally – that’s change. That is allowing myself to do what I need to do to be an example, to be in this field long enough for me to effect even more change. If I give so much of myself that I have nothing left, it can damage the whole environment and landscape with which I hope to change positively. It’s a balancing act.
In your experience, has much changed for black women — or people of color in general — over the course of your career?
The stats are different for different communities of color. In physics and astronomy, we see a much greater improvement for Latinx women compared to African American women. Unfortunately, the numbers for African-American women in physics and astronomy are quite static and date back to the early 1990s.
And that’s for bachelor’s degrees. When you graduate, the numbers are still quite low. We have a website that was started by Jami Valentine and other physicists and astronomers, and I’m one of 26 black women, ever, who received his PhD in an astro-related discipline. So there is still a long way to go.
But what I see in recent years, especially since the Black Lives Matter movement emerged in a new way, is that there is more support than ever. For example, we have Black in Astro, communities on Facebook, organizations and programs in the American Astronomical Society, the American Institute of Physics. We have mandates supported by our national organizations, our professional organizations, to dedicate resources to supporting the participation of historically marginalized communities in astronomy. And more support networks. There are programs that didn’t exist when I got my PhD that first time, in 1997, and they do now. So that makes me hopeful about the increasing participation of women of color, and especially black women, in this area.