The First Annual #BlackinMathWeek Twitter Event
By Omayra Ortega, Assistant Professor of Mathematics and Statistics, Sonoma State University; and Noelle Sawyer, Assistant Professor of Mathematics, Southwestern University, @blkmathmagic
The First Annual #BlackinMathWeek Occurred During the Week of November 8-13, 2020.
This week was created to highlight the achievements of Black mathematicians, who are often undercounted and underestimated. More often than we would like, we find ourselves as the only Black person in our departments, and when meeting new people we hear things like, ‘I’ve never met a Black mathematician before!’ These types of reactions come from a lack of awareness of the many diverse Black mathematicians working in our field. Building off the work begun by platforms like the Mathematicians of the African Diaspora (MAD) Pages and Mathematically Gifted and Black, #BlackinMathWeek is a highly visible celebration of the legacy of meaningful contributions that Black people have made to the mathematical sciences.
This Twitter takeover was co-founded by Anna Gifty Opoku-Agyeman, Marissa Kawehi Loving, Omayra Ortega, Candice Price, Noelle Sawyer, Angela Tabiri, Michole Washington, and Dwight Williams II as a way to expand upon the success of #BlackinNeuro and #BlackandSTEM by focusing on mathematics and other quantitative sciences.
#BlackInMathWeek daily highlights.
Each day of the week, a different activity was highlighted. You can check out the happenings of each event by searching their associated hashtags on Twitter:
Sunday, Nov. 8: Black math Twitter identified and introduced themselves with the hashtag #BlackInMathRollCall
Monday, Nov. 9: Black mathematicians shared selfies with the hashtag #ILookLikeAMathematician
Tuesday, Nov. 10: The @BlackinMath account shared Black mathematicians appearing in articles, books, movies, and podcasts with the hashtag #BlackInMathMedia
Wednesday, Nov. 11: Black mathematicians shared advice to aspiring mathematicians and shared their stories with #MyBlackMathJourney
Thursday, Nov. 12: People shared Black math educators who were important to them with the hashtag #BlackInMathEd and there was a special Black in Math Week episode of the podcast Relatively Prime
Friday, Nov. 13: A movie night, watching Jingle Jangle on Netflix with the tag #JingleJangleMathJam
The 2020 #BlackinMathWeek shook the Twitter-verse with posts from hundreds of mathematicians, data scientists, math educators, computer scientists, statisticians, and applied mathematicians. #BlackinMathWeek was highlighted by @NatGeoEducation, MC Hammer, Global Math Department, and others throughout the event.
On Thursday, Michole Enjoli and Noelle Sawyer recorded a fantastic podcast episode of Relatively Prime, as part of their take over for Black in Math Week. They interviewed Brea Ratliff and José Vilson, two Black math educators. The four discussed what it’s like to be Black in math, what they would say to people making common false statements about Black students in math, and shared their hopes and dreams for Black students.
Drs. Sawyer, Ratliff, Vilson, and Ms. Enjoli talked a bit about Afrofuturism in the episode. Afrofuturism is a movement in literature, music, art, etc., featuring futuristic or science fiction themes which incorporate elements of Black history and culture. You can listen to this podcast here: https://soundcloud.com/acmescience/blackinmathweek
If you’re interested in checking out more on Afrofuturism, try SpaceBox, a STEM escape room to save astronauts from a virus, and this special minizine from Bitten Magazine!
Throughout the week, donors wishing to support this endeavor were encouraged to donate to the following organizations whose aims are in line with #BlackinMathWeek. To keep the momentum of #BlackinMathWeek going, we encourage those who can to continue giving to the following organizations:
Black Girl MATHgic is a subscription box curated to increase math confidence and decrease math anxiety in girls on a 3rd-8th grade math skill level. This box is curated for Black girls! You can buy one for yourself or donate the cost of shipping or a box + shipping at the link.
Mathematically Gifted and Black:
MGB highlights Black mathematicians. New honorees are added during Black History Month.
Cashapp: $mathgiftedblack
Venmo: Mathematically-GiftedAndBlack
Paypal: @mathgiftedblack
100% of the money goes toward supporting predoctoral mathematicians to pursue career goals related to math!
The Sadie Collective addresses the pipeline and pathway problem in economics, finance, data science, and public policy through curated content creation, programming, and mentorship. Donations go toward producing more programming and building the capacity of said programs!
The National Association of Mathematicians:
NAM seeks to promote excellence in the mathematical sciences for underrepresented American minorities in general and African-Americans in particular. Join the National Association of Mathematicians or make a donation at the link!
SpaceBox immerses players into a Black centered reality where they will think critically, problem solve, and explore science, technology, engineering, and mathematics in a fun way. Think of it like an escape room in a box! Order one of your own or donate to support the creatives on this endeavor at the link!