Hidden Figures Come Alive

Perhaps you have seen the movie Hidden Figures that was aired in 2016. This movie powerfully portrayed and exposed the accomplishments of some black female mathematicians who worked for NASA during the space race. The space race was an unspoken competition between the United States and the Soviet Union regarding who would be the first to achieve space flight capacity. One of these female mathematicians was a woman named Katherine Johnson, and she calculated the flight trajectory for the first human space flight program. The men who got into space got the credit, but it was women like Katherine Johnson who made the contribution. The men who flew into space based on the accuracy of these amazing women were called famous. The women well…..they were called hidden figures. I believe hidden figures are what the world is made of. They are the true world changers. Katherine Johnson and many other black mathematicians stepped out of the hidden shadows, touched the world and became known for their marvelous achievements.

Until his death, George Floyd lived his life as a hidden figure. Most of the world did not know that George Floyd was born October 14, 1973, in Fayetteville, North Carolina. Nor that he attended Yates High School, spent five years in prison and moved to Minneapolis to get a fresh start. The world at large knew nothing of the fact that George was a truck driver and part time security guard at the Conga Latin Bistro in Minneapolis. But George Floyd stepped out of the hidden shadows and was known to the whole world on May 25th when he was killed by a police officer on the streets of Minneapolis. His life was snuffed out over a $20 dollar bill misunderstanding. George Floyd will be known for his dying cry for air, “I Can’t Breathe”. Much of the world who saw the video of George Floyd, hand cuffed lying on his stomach, with the knee of an officer on his neck, resulted in protesting against the injustice of George Floyd and the injustices and civil unrest of Black people. No one should have to cry asking for their own breath from another man, when breath was given to man by God. Only God can give and take breath, so this situation bears major theological defects.

George Floyd is no longer a hidden figure. His death has brought life to the world. Change is in the making as black’s, white’s, Hispanic’s, young and old have publicly demanded changes in our police system, legal system, and any other system that is unfair in the recognition that Black Lives Matter. Bravo, to the hidden figures that help change the world. God has always used hidden figures. May hidden figures increase, be brave and continue to step out of the shadows and change the world.

xoxo

Michelle Obleton