Black Women (and scientist too) inspire an Iron Man take over

I am still reflecting on my highlight reel of the many Black women competing during the Rio Olympics.  Today, I read an article regarding the next Iron Man installment, which will feature a new character called Ironheart. To be honest, I have never gotten into Iron Man. Clearly, it must be good as Hollywood has spent millions making the superhero’s films. So why did this catch my eye? Ironheart (Riri) is a 15-year African-American girl, a science intellectual attending MIT–who happened to reconfigure the Iron Man suit in her dorm room. Can you say #blackgirlsrock, #melaninmagic, etc … ding ding ding!

Rumor has it teen model/actress Skai Jackson was the visual inspiration behind this character. You know Skai, the one that has been on all the “petty” memes gone viral. How exciting to know movie executives sought out a very tangible influence to represent Riri.

This is a great contrast to how reality tv, in its various forms, influence now. No Mean Girls fighting and screaming at one another. No Basketball Wives jumping across restaurant tables with a wine bottle ready to crack your head open with it. No male rapper ignoring a women as she accuses him of cheating. There are so many others shows now, I cannot keep up. (Side note: I am not bashing any of the shows or expressing judgement towards the women who star on them.)

It’s time to show our young girls and ladies coming into adulthood that is is more than okay to be brown and beautiful with brains. Let us not forget some Black female scientist who inspired the fictional Riri:

• Marie Maynard Daly – first Black woman to earn a Ph.D. in chemistry
• Reatha Clark King – chemist and former president of General Mills Coroporation
• Ruth Ella Moore – first Black woman to earn a Ph.d. in natural science
• Euphemia Lofton Haynes – first Black woman to earn a Ph.D. in mathmatics
• Shirley Ann Jackson – first Black woman to earn a Ph.D. in physics
• Roger Arliner Young  – zoologist, biologics and marine biologist – first Black woman to receive a Ph.D. in Zoology
• Georgiana Rose Simpson – philologist and first woman Black woman to earn a Ph.D. in the United States
• Evelyn Boyd Granville – second black woman to earn a Ph.D. in mathematics and created computer software for NASA’s Project Vanguard and Project Mercury space programs.

A detailed list can be found here. Now I need to think of some hashtags to add to the list of the great ones already created…#blackfemalescientist #STEMforBlackFemales. As you can see I am no good at creating good ones. Now can someone please tell Brian Michael Bendis, the writer for Invincible Iron Man comic book, to hurry up and finish it so we can see Ironheart on the big screen. I would definitely go see this.