Black Girls Rock



Michelle Howard: 1st African American Female Admiral(USN)



After reading Elaine Richardson’s “To Protect and Serve,” I was shocked, I was inspired, and I related.  What shocked me the most, and I think most of my classmates would agree, was when Richardson spoke of her findings after typing “young black girls” into the Yahoo search engine.  I found that to be completely degrading.  Curious to see about the other ethnicity, I typed in “young Asian girls” and surprised to find the headlines “Japanese porn,” and “Hot Asian Bikini Models.”  As stereotypical as it seems, I was expecting to find something about how Asians are so smart.  When I “Googled”  “young white girls,” I found nothing about pornography.  The headlines mentioned “missing white girl,” or ‘white girl raped.”  I feel like “white girls” are seen as the victims when that is not always true.

Mae Jemison
1st African American Female
in Space

As a mathematics major, I related to this article when Richardson spoke of how it is harder for black women in a STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) field.  Although I have not encountered any personal struggles so far, I do not think so anyway, it sort of gives me a heads up of what to expect in the future.  At the same time, many women have gone on to excel in those fields.  When Richardson mentioned the code switching, I laughed to myself because I knew exactly what she was talking about.  I remember countless times when my mother would be on the phone and she would speak more proper than she normally would, but I do understand that people speak in the language and dialect that they feel comfortable in.  Then you have your professional voice that is turned on and off when needed and I feel that there is nothing wrong with it. 

Overall this article opened my eyes to things that I did not know as well as reinforce the things that I already knew.  I really enjoyed this article and I enjoy reading about how black women are doing well in society.  As a member of Navy ROTC, protecting and serving is something that will forever be in my job description.    





Phylicia Rashad
"Claire Huxtable"