A Personal Celebration of Black History

I attended an executive offsite with a segment focused on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, and the chief presenter gave a heartfelt testimony of her daughter enduring discrimination at a very young age by being told she couldn't be a comic book character, because the character wasn't a person of color, which moved the audience, and she then asked everyone present if they'd ever felt like they couldn't be where they are today. Almost every minority person in the room raised their hands. I looked down a lot as it went on and when it the session was over, as the everyone began to leave for their breakout sessions, the presenter asked if I had a moment and asked why I'd not participated.

I told her that I was moved by the retelling of the incident of her daughter and found it shameful and stated that one of the reasons I was glad to be in the position I was in was to help pave the way for others that might be turned away based on they way they look, their name, their beliefs, etc. What I didn't say to her, in the moment, was that I never felt that I couldn't be where I was because the woman who raised me was a technology leader, and most of my aunts an uncles were as well. When I began my career I was determined to "do things on my own" and actively avoided mentioning a truly astonishing group of people who've shaped what I understood I had it in myself to become. Many know of, or have heard, "I have a dream...", but I'd like to share a very personal spotlight of the people whose lives fueled mine.

My grandfather was a farmer, born in 1906, a sharecropper, from a very small town in GA ( I guarantee you haven't heard of it), who married my grandmother, a Native American and Black woman, with their first date in a horse and buggy. The two lovebirds had 10 kids over 20 years and never divorced, separating only by death when he passed around my 15th birthday. I never knew him as a younger man, but I remember him as a large physical and emotional presence growing up, even as I'd begun to head into my teenage years near the end of his life. With a cane, he stood 6'3" and was barrel chested like an old time strongman, however he moved very deliberately, was generally a man of few words, and spoke softly when he decided there was a need to. I'd been told he never had an education beyond 6th grade, having worked on the farm to help his father and take care of his siblings, but you wouldn't know by what he said; I have something planned for the many words of wisdom he told me as I grew up, but I'll share one of my favorite exchanges with him:

[Me sitting down on the couch]"Grandpa, I can't stand this person, we've been friends since 7th grade and now they're acting this way. I think I'm going to just not talk to them anymore. what do you think?"

[Grandpa sitting down in his rocking chair]"...Would you ever put money into a bank every day for years and decide you don't need whatever you put in there anymore?"

[Me]"No..."

[Grandpa getting up out of his chair and touching my shoulder]"Then why would you decide to do that with a person?"

He remains the benchmark of who I strive to be as a person (I'm getting closer, but still nowhere near him;)). And his influence extended to his children, the youngest being my mom, Peggie Koon Ph.D. , who's in the title photo. She's easily been the biggest influence on me, not because of who she was when I was growing up, but because of what she accomplished along the way before I was born; my mom, along with her older sister and brother, was in the first group of students selected to desegregate school systems in her town. From what I've heard, the experience was met with eggs and racial slurs being thrown at them; however, they continued their education, graduated, and each received scholarships to Smith College, Mercer University, and MIT, respectively, amid the civil unrest that enveloped the country at the time.

Mom and the sister she went through the experience with, Aunt Joann Ogburn , after graduating college, later landed jobs at a "little known place" called Rockwell International, working on different teams supporting the space shuttle- and other aviation/aeronautics- systems; Mom left after a few years to pursue other roles across Nuclear-, Automotive-, Manufacturing-, and Digital Media- industry segments, while her sister continued to greater heights within her original space become the Director of Engineering for critical systems and staff, with a 40 year tenure of leadership at what we now know as Boeing.

Their brother, Uncle Bennie Ward , after earning a dual Bachelors in Math and Physics at MIT, continued to earn his PhD in Physics from Princeton and became a world-renowned physicist and Distinguish Professor of Physics at Baylor University, with contributions to Silicon Valley, Academia, and numerous other scientific segments, and career-spanning contributions that've changed the way we understand, and interact with, the world around us. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bennie_Ward

As a result I was blessed with the opportunity to perceive the world in a relatively profound way growing up. When I saw Clark Kent's dad in Smallville, or a heartfelt movie with an older father figure taking care of a ranch, I immediately thought of my grandad, the man who's values and actions I understood then, and to this day, to be the purest of anyone I'd ever seen. When I saw a brilliant inventor or engineer in a movie or TV show, I'd often wonder why it wasn't an African American female because two of the most recognizable figures in my life, each a defining change agent and innovator in their spaces, matched that description. And when I saw the first episode of The Big Bang Theory, specifically Sheldon Cooper, I honestly thought it was produced by someone my uncle had worked with, or known, and that they'd simply swapped the physical attributes- and added fictional elements- around to maintain a level of anonymity. What if I also mentioned that the other seven children were all accomplished in their own rights?(It's true!)

I share this on the last day of Black History Month to do something that I don't think gets done enough- personalizing a history of African American excellence, resilience, and influence across generations in a, hopefully more, relatable way. I watched my mom, and Aunt, struggle with prejudices and grow over the years professionally to become who they were when I entered the industry, and they, along with other aunts and uncles, were the tribe that consistently nurtured my cousins and I through our own challenges to become who we are today. I wish that my grandparents could've lived to see how everything turned out. To them, and my very large Ward family, I thank you so much. It's because of everything you went through that I'm able to honor you in this small way.