Black History Month: Recognizing Patricia Bath

Patricia E. Bath, an ophthalmologist and laser scientist, is an innovative research scientist and advocate for blindness prevention, treatment, and cure. Her accomplishments include the invention of a new device and technique for cataract surgery known as laserphaco, the creation of a new discipline known as "community ophthalmology," and appointment as the first woman chair of ophthalmology in the United States, at Drew-UCLA in 1983.



Interested? Read more about Patricia Bath here
And remember folks, it's not just Black History, it's American History


Photo and article snippet from
http://www.nlm.nih.gov

Black History Month: Recognizing Dr. Benjamin Carson Sr

In 1987, Carson made medical history with an operation to separate a pair of Siamese twins. The Binder twins were born joined at the back of the head. Operations to separate twins joined in this way had always failed, resulting in the death of one or both of the infants. Carson agreed to undertake the operation. A 70-member surgical team, led by Dr. Carson, worked for 22 hours. At the end, the twins were successfully separated and can now survive independently.
Carson's other surgical innovations have included the first intra-uterine procedure to relieve pressure on the brain of a hydrocephalic fetal twin, and a hemispherectomy, in which an infant suffering from uncontrollable seizures has half of its brain removed.




Interested? Read more about Dr. Benjamin Carson Sr. here
And remember folks, it's not just Black History, it's American History




Photo from http://afam.nts.jhu.edu
Article Snippet from http://www.achievement.org

Black History Month: Recognizing Mae Jemison

When Jemison was chosen on June 4, 1987, she became the first African American woman ever admitted into the astronaut training program. After more than a year of training, she became an astronaut with the title of science-mission specialist, a job which would make her responsible for conducting crew-related scientific experiments on the space shuttle. On September 12, 1992, Jemison finally flew into space with six other astronauts aboard the Endeavour on mission STS-47. During her eight days in space, she conducted experiments on weightlessness and motion sickness on the crew and herself. Altogether, she spent slightly over 190 hours in space before returning to Earth on September 20. Following her historic flight, Jemison noted that society should recognize how much both women and members of other minority groups can contribute if given the opportunity.


Interested? Read more about Mae Jemison here
And remember folks, it's not just Black History, it's American History


Photo from http://www.blackpast.org
Article snippet from
BOOKRAGS STAFF. "Mae C. Jemison". 2005. February 23 2009. http://www.bookrags.com/biography/mae-c-jemison

Black History Month: Remembering Otis F. Boykin

African-American inventor Otis F. Boykin's work on improved electrical resistors made possible the steady workings of a variety of now-ubiquitous electronic devices. Variations of his resistor models are used around the world today in televisions, computers and radios. Most notably, however, his work enabled control functions for the first successful, implantable pacemaker.
Boykin was born in Dallas, Texas, on August 29, 1920 to parents of modest means. His mother was a homemaker and his father was a carpenter. He graduated from Fisk University in 1941 and got a job as a laboratory assistant, testing automatic aircraft controls.


Interested? Read more about Otis F. Boykin here
And remember folks, it's not just Black History, it's American History




Photo from http://www.blackinventor.com
Article snippet from http://web.mit.edu/invent/iow/boykin.html

Black History Month: Remembering Mary McLeod Bethune

Born the 15th of 17 children of former slaves in Maysville, South Carolina, Mary Jane McLeod Bethune eventually became a prominent educator, presidential advisor and political activist. As a child, Bethune quickly discovered education’s relationship to political and economic freedom through reading and writing. She was once ordered by a white child to put down a book after insisting that she could not read. Unlike her parents and siblings, Bethune was born free and was fortunate to be formally educated at the Maysville School, a missionary school for African Americans. Shortly after graduating from the Maysville School, Bethune continued her education on a scholarship at the Scotia Seminary for Girls in Concord, North Carolina. After graduating from Scotia, Bethune initially wanted to be a Christian missionary in Africa. After teaching and working among blacks she realized that “Africans in America needed Christ and school just as much as Negroes in Africa…My life work lay not in Africa but in my own country.”

Interested? Read more about Mary McLeod Bethune here
And remember folks, it's not just Black History, it's American History



Article snippet and photo from http://www.blackpast.org

Black History Month: Remembering Vivien Thomas

In Nashville, TN, this high school honors graduate dreamed of becoming a physician. Thomas, a skilled carpenter, saved for seven years to pay for his education. However, he lost his savings during the Great Depression. In 1930, he was hired as a janitor in the laboratory at Vanderbilt University. There he met Dr. Alfred Blalock, a white physician who became a pioneer in cardiac surgery. Blalock mentored Thomas and taught him to conduct experiments.
In 1941, Blalock transferred to Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and asked Thomas to transfer as well. While at Hopkins, they developed a procedure to save “blue babies” afflicted with congenital heart defects.

Interested? Read more about Vivien Thomas here
And remember folks, it's not just Black History, it's American History



Article snippet and photo from http://www.blackpast.org

Just Because

What do you get when you ask an almost 2 year old to put on his PJ's?

How can you tell when your toddler might be hungry?

Who loves to lie in the floor with his favorite blanket after a bath?