Hidden Figures tells the story of a group of dedicated female mathematicians known as “human

computers” who used slide rules, adding machines, and pencils to calculate the numbers that would
launch rockets into space. These African American female problem solvers were some of the brightest
minds of their generation. Restricted to teaching math in the segregated schools of the South, they were
called upon during the labor shortages that occurred during World War II. The situation was so dire that
America’s aeronautics industry was willing to hire anyone, regardless of color, who had the right skills to
get the job done. Suddenly, these overlooked math geniuses had a chance at jobs worthy of their skills,
being asked to relocate to Hampton, Virginia and the fast-paced environment of the Langley Memorial
Aeronautical Laboratory.

Dorothy Vaughan, a highly intelligent black high school teacher applies for a position at Langley. She is
eventually hired at twice the pay of her teaching job. She and her family move to Newport News,
Virginia, and for the first time experience the segregated bus system. The local transit system is
inundated with new patrons due to the vast amount of people who have moved into the area to find
work. Dorothy begins her job alongside other black women at West Computing in Langley. Not only are
they segregated in their work, they are also expected to eat at a table marked “colored computers.” Their
manager, Miriam Mann, hides the table sign until management gives up and stops labeling the table.

At the same time Dorothy Vaughan is navigating her new life at Langley, Katherine Johnson (nee
Coleman) also comes to work at the facility for much the same reason. Katherine was an early high
school graduate who eventually went on to attend college on a scholarship. A bright and charismatic
young woman, she was chosen to be one of three black students to integrate into a white college.
Katherine married Jimmy Goble and was forced to drop out of the graduate program when she learned
she was pregnant.

The story shifts back to Dorothy Vaughan as she continues to build her life in Newport News. Although
engineering is still a male-dominated industry, researchers working to break the sound barrier need
women on the ground at the testing site to analyze the data. While several women in the West
Computing group go on to achieve great things, Dorothy eventually becomes the head of the group
when the former supervisor becomes ill and dies.

The third woman highlighted in the book is Mary Jackson. Mary, a math teacher who takes a job at the
USO during the war, is a humanitarian-minded individual who led the Girl Scout group at the school
where she taught. She impressed upon the girls under her tutelage not to put limits on themselves. She
begins working at Langley in a clerical position and eventually becomes a computer. The controversy
following the Rosenberg investigation creates a degree of racial tension at Langley, resulting in the firing
of a black woman. Civil rights leaders condemn the United States for attempting to make allies of “black
and brown countries” while discriminating against its own black citizens. As a result, President Truman
desegregates the armed forces and calls for the fair and equal treatment of black government workers.
As a result of this new government initiative, Mary Jackson is asked to work on a project on the East
Side. She is verbally abused and laughed at by the white computers when she inquires about a colored
bathroom. Jackson complains to her supervisor and is eventually moved to a different assignment.

The book jumps back to Katherine Johnson who, upon learning about jobs being made available to black
mathematicians, decides to move with her family to Newport News where she, too, begins working at
Langley as a computer. She is assigned a job at the Flight Research Division where, on her first day, she
encounters racism when a white computer whom she sat next to got up abruptly and went looking for
another seat. She decided not to take this action personally, which resulted in the two eventually
becoming friends.

Eventually, Katherine’s job seems on the verge of becoming permanent. Dorothy Vaughan is eventually
able to move the needle and get Katherine hired. Vaughan had approached Katherine’s supervisor with
an ultimatum: either give her a raise or send her back to West Computing. Katherine is eventually hired
permanently. One of her first assignments is to research the crash of a small plane. Her finding
subsequently leads to sweeping changes to air traffic control regulations to avoid wake turbulence
accidents. She is well liked and fits in adequately with the team. Although she is not immune to
segregation, her experiences are somewhat different given the more progressive nature of her
coworkers and, because she is light skinned, people are often uncertain of her heritage.

Eventually, Katherine goes on to assist with the calculations for John Glenn’s orbitwith this movie.

Who Were the Hidden Figures?

Hidden Figures is inspired by the real life stories of three African American women—Katherine Johnson,
Dorothy Vaughan, and Mary Jackson—who literally changed the face of NASA, the United States of
America, and indeed history.

Throughout the movie, the all-star cast led by Academy award winner, Octavia Spencer (Dorothy
Vaughan); an Academy nominee, Taraji P. Henson (Katherine Johnson); and Grammy nominee Janelle
Monáe (Mary Jackson) approach the challenges of being black and woman with a great deal of intellect,
grace, and even some wit. It addition to telling this great American story and introducing many of us to
these American sheroes, the movie provides a history lesson and a glimpse into some of the systemic
injustices that remain hidden and why.

Hidden Figures is a history lesson into systemic injustices and why they remain hidden. CLICK TO TWEET

Let me begin here: When watching a movie that is based on or inspired by a true story, it is sometimes
difficult to determine how much of the movie is historically accurate and how much filler is required to
effectively bring the story to light.

We know from reading the Bible that a narrative can begin in one place only to have the story pick up in
another place. When that happens, we long to know the in-between (like what transitioned in Jesus’
human life between the time that his parent’s lost him and he was “about his father’s business” in the
temple, until the time that he began his earthly ministry in his early thirties). Sometime we are just left
wondering. At other times, we try to fill in the gaps as best we can with the information that we do
know.

In this instance, there is much to know about these women themselves (especially since Katherine
Johnson is still alive), the federal government system in which they were required to operate, and the
time period that they grew up in to fill in the unknown gaps with some integrity.

The time period was the early 1960s in America. The focus of NASA and the federal government was the
Space Race (how Americans could get into space first). The Russians beat us by successfully having the
first human journey into outer space in the spring of 1961. This defeat—what American government
leaders saw as humiliation on the world’s stage—along with our concern for national security and distain
for Russia was the catalyst that changed the personal and professional lives of these courageous women.

Three Injustices Demonstrated in Hidden Figures

Injustice #1: Black Women and their Hidden Issues

The movie gives a behind the scenes look into the successful launch of John Glenn. The first American
into orbit. We know his name. Katherine Johnson was the brains who calculated the math to successfully
bring Marine Corps Colonel Glenn back home.

Because of this movie, we now know Mrs. Katherine Johnson as the mathematician who made
significant contributions to several of NASA’s aeronautics and space programs, including the Apollo 11
flight to the moon. Katherine first joined the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) team
as a human “computer,” and transitioned to Langley Research Center’s Guidance and Navigation
Department to do and check the math of her white male colleagues. Her academic depth and brilliance
could not be denied.

In the movie, however, that did not stop her peers from trying to marginalize her in other ways. Since
she was the only black person in the office, they made sure to provide her with a “colored” coffee pot
which they did not fill with coffee. The most blatant injustice displayed on the screen was the simple fact
that she lost hours of work (nearly 40 minutes at a time) to literally run back and forth to the only
“colored” restroom on the entire NASA campus.

This was an invisible issue to her colleagues because it was not their reality, and the lack of having a
restroom near their desk did not negatively impact them. It was not until she was questioned about her
regular “absence” that she was able to raise the issue with her supervisors and confront her peers. It
took her raising the issue, making a “hidden” issue visible, for real change to take place.

The movie did not indicate that her senior advisor was motivated by a moral code or civil rights, he just
believed that changes were needed because collectively they are not getting the job done. They were
not the best—coming in second place to Russia, but Katherine could help them be the best, and to do
that, she needed to work effectively. Sometimes that is all that’s required—someone who is willing to
call out an injustice and someone in a position of authority who can articulate how that injustice is
negatively impacting everybody.

Sometimes all that’s required is an authority who articulates how injustice impacts everybody. CLICK TO
TWEET

Injustice #2: When Black Women do the Work, but others get the Title, Recognition, and Pay

This is a reality that Katherine, Mary, and Doro