Hidden Figures

My wife and I just went to see "Hidden Figures," a movie based on the true story of three African American women marginalized as workers in NASA's "Colored Computer Department."  Each of these women were brilliant Anne one was pure genius but all were held to low-paying temporary number cruncher positions due to race and gender.

Against all odds and the racially bigoted social norms of the day they persevered, courageously  proving themselves worthy of a place beside and even ahead of white male and female counterparts. They held positions never held by a black woman before and became indispensable parts of our Space  Program taking our astronauts into orbit and back, and even to the moon.

They overcame the inequities of the day, not by the angry and even violent protests of today demanding something be given them. But rather with grace and quiet strength they proved themselves and turned not only hearts but turned a government agency on its ear, raising them to the positions in which they deserved to be.

They weren't loud and proud, in your face noise-makers, window-breakers and car burners I've watching on the news, they were quiet and humble forces of nature that would not accept the limits placed on them but steadily pushed the social boundaries, winning the respect of white counterparts and eroding the color and gender barrier of  1960s NASA.

As I think about these women, I am reminded of the words of Jesus: "For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted" (Matt 23:12); the non-violent movement of Martin Luther King, Jr. and the quiet strength of Mother Teresa. Jesus words were lived out in their lives, rocking the world and advancing real change.

The three women, upon which the movie was based, stand in that same square, becoming powerful forces effecting real and lasting change emulating the humble spirit of Christ found in heroes of faith and action like Martin and Teresa. I was humbled by their strength and their spirit. Jus' Say'n.