In recognition of Black History Month and Women's History Month, the February Dean's List Dinner was a night of discussion and a night to highlight Black women's influence on history. The night was hosted by Director of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Initiatives, Kendall Trammell which included special guests Brittany Mayes, Social Issues Reporter for The Washington Post and Jewel Wicker, an Award-Winning Freelance Reporter. Within the discussion, The Dean’s List also highlighted some amazing Black women and their accomplishments throughout history. Meet five of the women within A Black Woman Did That:
Alice H. Parker
Alice H. Parker grew up in the early 20th century in Morristown, New Jersey. Growing up in the cold northeast proved to be a turning point for not only Parker but the rest of American society as it is what she claimed as the inspiration for inventing passion. After graduating with honors from Howard University she felt the need to improve the current heating solutions throughout the U.S. as she is known to have created her own heating system known as a gas furnace.
Claudette Colvin
Claudette Colvin was born in Montgomery, Alabama in 1939 and was known to be a key part of the Civil Rights movement from a very young age. Colvin was arrested at the early age of 15 because of not giving up her seat on the bus to a white woman, which actually occurred before the more well-known incident with Rosa Parks. Colvin was one in five plaintiffs in the federal court case Browder v. Gayle in 1956, which ended up going to the Supreme Court and ultimately ended bus segregation in the state of Alabama.
Debi Thomas
Debra Thomas was born in Poughkeepsie, New York in 1967 and knew from a very early age she would be a star skater. Thomas quickly became the first African-American woman to hold U.S. National Titles in ladies' singles figure skating in 1986 at age eighteen. All the while maintaining her college career as a pre-med student at Stanford University and training for the 1988 Olympic games where she landed a bronze medal.
Indya Moore
Indya Moore a native of the Bronx in New York is a model, actor and was named one of the Time magazine's most influential people in 2019. Moore began their career as a model very early on due to their parent's not being accepting of them coming out as transgender and non-binary at the age of 15. Since then, Moore has worked with fashion icons such as Gucci, Dior, Vogue Magazine and landed an acting role on the FX television series "Pose."
Amanda Gorman
Amanda Gorman is a face anyone who watched the presidential inauguration this year should know. The Los Angeles native is the youngest inaugural poet in U.S. history and the first person to be named National Youth Poet Laureate. In her work, she writes on feminism, race and marginalization — Gorman has also published three books discussing these topics. To view Gorman's inauguration reading of "The Hill We Climb," click the video below.