In the spirit of Women’s History Month, I thought highlighting a few of the many Black female inventors would be a good idea.
Many inventions that we often take for granted were created by Black inventors. There was a time when the U.S. patent office would not recognize inventions created by Blacks, allowing whites to take credit for Black inventions. Women inventors not only had to deal with racism, but they also had to contend with male chauvinism.
Sarah Goode was the first African American female to receive a U.S. patent in 1885. Born into slavery, Goode and her husband moved to Chicago after the Civil War to open a furniture store. Many of her customers lived in very small apartments. Mrs. Good invented a folding cabinet bed, which could be converted into a cabinet desk when not in use. The invention was the forerunner of the Murphy and sofa bed.
Mariam Benjamin was the second African American female to receive a U.S. patent in 1888 for inventing the Gong and signal chair. This type of chair allowed hotel guests to push a button to request waiter service. The United States House of Representatives later adopted this invention. Benjamin’s design became a precursor to the signaling systems used by airlines that allow passengers to reach flight attendants for service.
Dr. Patricia Bath was the first African American woman to receive a patent for a medical purpose in 1988 for her invention, the Laserphaco Probe, a medical device that uses a laser to remove cataracts quickly and nearly without pain.
Marie Van Brittan invented the first close-circuit TV security system in 1969. Born and raised in Jamaica, Queens, Van Brittan and her husband Albert Brown, who worked as an electronics technician, installed the first home audio and video security system in their home at 151-58 135th Avenue Jamaica, New York.
Dr. Hadiyah Nicole Green, who lost an aunt and uncle to cancer, was motivated by these tragedies to become a distinguished physicist. Dr. Green’s groundbreaking research of using laser technology to insert nanoparticles to kill cancer cells has great promise.
Black female inventors and scientists continue to develop ways to improve the quality of life in our world while making history. Dr. Kizzmekia “Kizzy” Corbett led the Vaccine Research Center’s {VRC} team that developed the COVID-19 Vaccine, and Dr. Gladys B. West, a major contributor to the development of the GPS directional system, are fine examples of hidden Black female figures in science.
Black female inventors are getting younger. At 7, Zora Bell became the youngest person to create a mobile app video game. The first grader from West Philadelphia presented her full version mobile game at the University of Pennsylvania’s Bootstrap Expo in 2012.
We are who we think we are. Never allow fear and doubt to keep you from being all that you can be.

Content retrieved from: https://www.harlemcommunitynews.com/urbanology-black-female-inventors-then-and-now-by-w-a-rogers/.

We have just celebrated Black History Month, and I would like to call this annual February celebration African Awareness Month. We are now celebrating Women’s History Month, and in the spirit of this celebration, I would like to acknowledge four history-making female leaders of color in Higher Education.
Dr. Claudine Gay is the President-Elect of Harvard University. Dr. Gay will become the first Black president of the oldest Institution in America. Harvard was established in 1636 and will celebrate its 387th year when Dr. Gay becomes the 30th president and the second female to lead this prestigious Ivy League university. Dr. Gay is the daughter of Haitian immigrants. She received her bachelor’s degree from Stanford University and her Ph.D. from Harvard.
Dr. Joyce Brown is the first Black and woman to be appointed president of New York’s Fashion Institution of Technology {FIT}. Dr. Brown was appointed president of the 79-year-old institution in 1998 and has provided leadership for the Institute for close to a quarter of a century.
Before taking over the helm at FIT, Dr. Brown served as vice chancellor for Student and Urban Affairs at CUNY. She was the acting president of Bernard Baruch College and Deputy Mayor for Public and Community Affairs in the Dinkins administration.
Rev. Dr. Lakeesha Warlord is the first Black woman to be appointed president of the New York Theological Seminary {NYTS}. Rev. Dr. Warlord came to NYTS from the First Corinthian Baptist Church, one of Harlem’s historic religious institutions serving that community for over 90 years. Dr. Warlord is a graduate of Spelman College. She received a Master of Divinity from Union Theological Seminary. Dr. Warlord earned a Doctor of Philosophy from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Dr. Nemat Minouche Shafik is the incoming President of Columbia University; she will become the university’s first woman and African-born president. The Egyptian-born economist will take over the leadership responsibility of the 268-year-old Harlem Institution for higher learning on July 1st. Dr. Shafik is a brilliant economist. She was the youngest person to serve as vice president of The World Bank. She also served as the deputy managing director for the International Monetary Fund.
Dr. Shafik graduated summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa from The University of Massachusetts-Amherst and earned a Master of Science in Economics from the London School of Economics and a Doctor of Philosophy from Oxford University.
This coming Fall, six of the eight private Ivy League research universities will have female presidents: Harvard, Columbia, Cornell, Brown, Pennsylvania, and Dartmouth.
There was a time in American history when women could not vote or attend Ivy League universities. Now, we have a Female Vice President of the United States and six female Ivy League university presidents. Hats off to the current and future women leaders in higher education and the world.

Content retrieved from: https://www.harlemcommunitynews.com/urbanology-women-leaders-in-higher-education-by-w-a-rogers/.