There were, of course, some very considerable barriers she would have to overcome: in the early 60s, most African American women were still struggling to fulfill the promise of their newly endowed civil rights, fighting the notion that most would still have to toil away in the kitchens of white families, and forfeiting the possibility of self-actualization to the next generation. Though all the astronauts of that era were white and male, the double strike of being both black and female did not deter young Jemison, who vowed to carve her own path.
The social pressure to conform was considerable and began at an early age. She recalls, “In kindergarten, my teacher asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up. I told her, ‘A scientist!’ She said, ‘Don’t you mean a nurse?’ Now, there’s nothing wrong with being a nurse, but that’s not what I wanted to be.”
Perhaps the most important factor in forging her determination was the encouragement of her parents, who always stressed the importance of education and exploration. Jemison spent much of her childhood devouring any available information on astronomy and science, concurrently fostering her imagination through the stories of science-fiction novels and early images of space travel. Her parents, Charlie (a maintenance worker) and Dorothy (an elementary school teacher), maintained that their youngest child would triumph over what others had only dared to consider.
Jemison left Morgan Park High School in Chicago and moved on to Stanford University on a scholarship — at the age of 16. She double majored in chemical engineering and African and Afro-American studies. By the time she completed her degree, she had decided to take the various technical and cultural skills she had amassed and pursue medicine.
After obtaining her M.D. from Cornell University Medical College, Jemison spent a number of years working as a Peace Corps doctor in Sierra Leone, Liberia, and other parts of West Africa. In addition to providing medical care, she served as supervisor for the pharmacy, laboratory, and medical staff. She also managed to write self-care manuals for the patients she treated.
Once she had returned and established her own private practice in Los Angeles in 1985, she decided to reacquaint herself with engineering, enrolling in graduate courses. This decision proved pivotal in bringing her back to her childhood dreams of space exploration because it helped propel her to actively pursue a career as an astronaut. In 1983 Sally Ride became the first American woman to travel in space. Jemison felt that the time was ripe for her to get her foot in the door. She applied to NASA’s training program and was accepted in 1987.
On the realization that she has achieved her own dreams and has simultaneously served as an inspiration for millions of women (and men) worldwide, Jemison observes, “There have been lots of other women who had the talent and ability before me. I think this can be seen as an affirmation that we’re moving ahead. And I hope it means that I’m just the first in a long line.”
“More women should demand to be involved. It’s our right. This is one area where we can get in on the ground floor and possibly help to direct where space exploration will go in the future,” she adds.
On September 12, 1992, Jemison made it into orbit aboard the space shuttle Endeavor, making history as the first woman of color to go into space. Despite having achieved so many milestones, she is quick to counter the idea that she is primarily a trailblazer:
“There is a need for all people, not just blacks, to realize that people of color can excel in any area if given the chance. It’s important not only for a little black girl growing up to know [she] can become an astronaut because here’s Mae Jemison, but it’s important for older white males who sometimes make decisions on the careers of those little black girls.”
While in orbit, Jemison was designated a science mission specialist — the first in NASA’s history — on the STS-47 Spacelab-J flight, which was a joint mission sponsored by the U.S. and Japan. Her duties on this mission included conducting experiments in life and material sciences and serving as co-investigator for the Bone Cell Research Experiment. She officially left NASA in March of 1993.
In addition to engineering, medicine, and space exploration, Jemison has many other interests, including modern jazz, African dance, reading, language, aerobic exercise, weight training, and choreography. She has produced and choreographed several stage shows and is an avid collector of African art.
When she went on her first space mission, she took along a few mementos indicative of her personal interests, including a poster of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater and several small pieces of art from West African nations. She chose these items as symbolic of her dedication to the arts and creativity, as well as to make the statement that space travel is the privilege of all nations, not only industrialized empires with space programs.
Jemison continues to work to foster international relations in the hope that it will encourage smaller nations to develop their own space programs because “it is a birthright of everyone who is on this planet,” she says. “We need to get every group of people in the world involved because it is something that eventually we in the world community are going to have to share.”
Since leaving NASA, Jemison has dedicated herself to promoting the importance of science and technology in order to ensure that more women and minorities are attracted to scientific disciplines and become active in making valued contributions to the field. She also states that the image of the scientist must undergo a thorough transformation to attract these new recruits; she advocates a blend of social and hard science which promotes professionals who are aware not only of science but also of social issues impacted by scientific scholarship.
She is especially passionate about opening up the minds of young African American children to the wonders of math and science:
“Children have all the motivation, the energy, and the enthusiasm, but adults end up taking that away from them by saying, ‘You don’t know what that complicated piece of equipment is,’ all because we are afraid of it. It doesn’t have anything to do with the children’s abilities.”
Countering long-standing and backwards attitudes is something Jemison has had to confront throughout her career. She recounts that even after she completed her medical degree from Cornell, she was informed by the male principal of an elementary school that he planned to invite male teachers to explain the NASA space program because they would naturally be more knowledgeable about science by default of being male.
“You have to be very careful about the images you have about people. Some people say I don’t look like an astronaut. But that’s okay because I am,” she affirms.
Currently, Jemison lives in Houston, Texas, where she founded The Jemison Group Inc., which was set up to “research, develop, and implement advanced technologies suited to the social, political, cultural, and economic context of the individual, especially for the developing world.” Among the organization’s proposed projects are The Earth We Share, an international science camp for adolescents, and Alpha, a satellite-based telecommunication system designed to improve medical care in West Africa.
Expectedly, she has been the recipient of a slew of honors and awards, including the Johnson Publications Black Achievement Trailblazers Award, the Kilby Science Award, the National Medical Association Hall of Fame Award, selection as a Montgomery fellow at Dartmouth College, and induction into the National Women’s Hall of Fame and the Texas Science Hall of Fame.
She was also elected into the National Academy of Sciences’ Institute of Medicine and has served on the boards of directors for Scholastic Inc., Valspar Corporation, and the Texas Governor’s State Council on Science and Biotechnology Development. In addition, she has received Chicago’s ROTARY/One Award as well as a number of honorary doctorates from various prestigious higher education institutions, including Princeton University. In 1999 she was selected as one of the top seven women leaders in the White House Project’s presidential ballot national straw poll.
Furthermore, she has appeared in front of the United Nations to expound upon the uses of space technology, worked as host of and technical consultant for the Discovery Channel series World of Wonder from 1994 to 1995, and was documented in the PBS documentary The New Explorers. She is an honorary member of the Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority. The Mae C. Jemison Academy, an alternative public school in Detroit, was named in her honor after it was established in 1992.
Jemison’s advice to young people who hope to reach for the kind of path-breaking success she has enjoyed is simple:
“Don’t let anyone rob you of your imagination, your creativity, or your curiosity. It’s your place in the world; it’s your life. Go on and do all you can with it, and make it the life you want to live.”
