Month: January 2017

“Hidden Figures, ”a motion picture directed by Theodore Melfi; screenplay by Melfi and Allison Schroeder. Starring Kevin Costner, Octavia Spencer, Taraji Henson and Janelle Monae; rated PG, 2 hours, 7 minutes.

by Murrel Bland

Every American should see the move “Hidden Figures” that is now playing at the AMC 14 Legends Theaters. It is an untold story of the group of black women who played a very significant role in the early days of space exploration.

Much of the movie is set at Langley Air Force Base, Va., in the early 1960s when the National Aeronautics and Space Administration was in a race with the Soviet Union to explore outer space. There was an immense pressure from the federal government in general, and President John F. Kennedy specifically, to be the first country to put a man on the moon.

The Soviet Union was the first to launch a satellite—Sputnik—in October of 1957. The first U.S. satellite—Explorer– wasn’t launched until January of 1958. The Soviet Union had the first man in space—Yuri Gagarin-in April 1961. Then about a month later, the first American in space was Alan Shepherd, a Mercury astronaut. The space race was moving ahead rapidly.

Kevin Costner portrays the supervising NASA engineer who was responsible for making certain that the Mercury (single-man) and Gemini (two-man) capsules were launched successfully. Katherine Johnson (portrayed by Taraji Henson) was the only woman and the only black person in a huge room at Langley to work on this project. Johnson quickly demonstrated mathematic skills that helped the success of the space venture.

Janelle Monae Robinson, a Kansas City, Kan., native, portrays Mary Jackson who had to go before a Virginia judge to get permission to attend an all-white high school where extension courses in aeronautical engineering from the University of Virginia were being taught. According to the movie, she was the first black woman in the United States to receive an aeronautical engineering degree. She joined NASA and played a very significant role.

The film is well acted and directed. It moves quickly and is particularly interesting for those of us who lived through this era. Most of those who attended the matinee performance Saturday, Jan. 7, probably would agree it is worth seeing, judging from the applause at the end of the movie.

Murrel Bland is the former editor of The Wyandotte West and The Piper Press.