More Than Bessie Coleman: 7 Other Famous Black Female Pilots

dto2-willa-brownWilla Brown (Jan. 22, 1906 – July 18, 1992)

In 1936, Brown became the first woman to obtain a private pilot’s license in the U.S. She was part of the National Airmen’s Association of America in 1939 whose sole purpose was to integrate army so that Black pilots could get the chance to fly. In her military career, Brown was an advocate for all Black pilots male or female.  Brown became the  head of the Civilian Pilot Training Program in Chicago where Black pilots were selected for the Tuskegee training program. She went on to become a coordinator for the Civil Aeronautics Authority and a member of the Federal Aviation Administration’s Women’s Advisory Board.

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Janet Bragg (March 24, 1907 — April 11, 1993)

Bragg was the first woman admitted to Curtiss-Wright School of Aeronautics in Chicago in 1928 and to hold a commercial pilot’s license. Bragg was rejected from four different organizations based on race. This rejection may have lead to her second career path as a registered nurse. After graduating from Spelman College, Bragg went to Illinois and continued practicing as a nurse until becoming an insurance health inspector in 1941.

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Dorothy Layne McIntyre (b. Jan. 27, 1917)

At 22 years-old, Layne McIntyre became the first Black woman to earn a pilot’s license under the Civil Aeronautics Authority (CAA). She ended up going into aircraft mechanics at the Baltimore War Production school.

10 Great Black Photographers

cmw_01_bodyCarrie Mae Weems (b. April 20, 1953)

Weems has been a photographer and artist since the 1965 and her work has been featured in over 50 exhibits throughout her career. In 1983, she created her first collection of photographs and spoken word called, Family Pictures and Stories. Some of her other works include, Sea Island Series (1991-92), the Africa Series (1993), From Here I Saw What Happened and I Cried (1995-96), Who What When Where (1998), Ritual & Revolution (1998), the Louisiana Project (2003), Roaming (2006) and others. Weems has earned many awards for her work, including becoming a MacArthur Fellow in 2013.

James_Van_Der_ZeeJames Van Der Zee (June 29, 1886 – May 15, 1983)

Van Der Zee was a major artist in the Harlem Renaissance. During the 1920s, he documented some of the most famous Black people of the time, including Florence Mills, Hazel Scott, Marcus Garvey, Bill “Bojangles” Robinson, Countee Cullen and Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. Even though his work was popular, Van Der Zee never garnered major financial success. In the 1970s, he went back to portrait photography, photographing celebrities like Bill Cosby, Lou Rawls, Cicely Tyson and Jean-Michael Basquiat.

5 High-Quality Gaming Laptops Under $1,500

For the most dedicated gamers out there, a new gaming laptop can run from $1,500 to as much as $5,000. But having superior graphics and sound should not destroy you financially. Here are some high-quality gaming laptops that are under $1,500.
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ASUS ROG G751JL-DS71 17.3-Inch Gaming Laptop

Price: $1,199

Specifications: Latest NVIDIA GeForce GTX 965M, 2GB GDDR5 Discrete Graphics,
Intel Core i7-4720HQ, 2.6GHz (turbo to 3.6GHz), 16 GB RAM (upgradable to 32 GB),
1000 GB 7200 RPM Hard Drive (additional 2.5-inch bay to install secondary hard drive)

Why You Should Buy: This laptop has a sleek and clean design with a Blu-ray player, huge trackpad for your finger and game play, and a very high-quality ventilation system for long extended hours of play. Those looking for a high-quality laptop with high- and constant-resolution specs, this is a great buy.

5 Virtual Reality Headsets That Are Available Now for Under $100

In recent years, Virtual Reality has begun to dominate the tech and entertainment industry. For example, Oculus Rift has become a household name when it comes to VR, but it won’t hit shelves until next year. For those who can’t wait, there are cheaper and more accessible VR headsets. Here are a few.
61af0nYZ4oL._SL1128_Homido Virtual Reality Headset

Price: $79

Specifications: Virtual Reality VR Headset for 360 viewing and gaming, farsightedness and nearsightedness settings, optical settings adjustment 3D glasses, heavy duty design and compatible with most phones.

Why You Should Buy: The Homido Virtual Reality Headset is the most expensive headset on the list, mainly because it has the highest quality of design and durability. This headset comes with its own app made by the manufacturer, and has adjustable features that control the lenses. The great thing about this particular VR headset is that it can work with all other apps. Also, the high quality design has ventilation holes to help cool down your phone if overheated. For those who want a nice bridge to the Oculus Rift, the Homido Virtual Reality Headset is a great intermediary.

 

6 Major Announcements About Marvel’s ‘All New, All Different’ Relaunch That Has Fans Excited 

Beginning in September, Marvel will be relaunching and introducing new and diverse titles in an initiative it calls “All New, All Different.” The bulk of the new titles will be released in November, but in the next two months there will be some cool surprises to check out.

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‘Blade, The Hunter’

This new series will introduce the world to Blade’s AKA Eric Brooks’ daughter Fallon Grey. She is a 16-year-old high school student who lives in Oregon. She does not know that Blade is her dad until supernatural forces want to hunt her down. This title has been under the radar, compared to the other announcements, but sounds like a much-needed twist on Blade. Blade, The Hunter will be written by Tim Seeley, with art by Logan Faerber. The title will be on stands in October.  

Vulkan Is the Next Generation for High-Efficiency Graphics and Computing

Google wants the newest and latest API Vulkan in its new Android phones.

“Like the other low-overhead APIs, Vulkan promises to improve performance by providing more direct access to the GPU — developers can manage memory and multiple threads on their own rather than leaving it up to the driver, giving them more work to do but also providing more flexibility,” reports Andrew Cunningham for Arstechnica.com.

APIs is an abbreviation for application program interface. The API is responsible for memory and is a set of routines, protocols and tools used by developers to build software applications.

The Vulkan API was introduced in March by the Khronos Group. This system is similar to Metal and DirectX 12 in that it will require the use of an operating system and hardware support.

“Hardware and software companies need an open 3D API to maximize market reach and minimize porting costs, and Vulkan is being forged by a broad consortium of industry leaders to do exactly that,” said Khronos Group President Neil Trevett.

Google is still in the early stages of developing and implementing the new API. Best estimates have the API coming with the Android M by the end of the year. If history is any indication, Vulkan will have to be released when a new Android version is also released.

5 Actors Who Would Be a Perfect Fit to Play Miles Morales in the Upcoming Spider-Man Film

Earlier this year, Marvel Studios and Sony reached a deal that would allow Marvel to produce a Spider-Man film. This newfound hope sent the Internet into a frenzy with the idea that Peter Parker would be set aside for the first Black and Hispanic Spider-Man Miles Morales. Marvel cast young actor Tom Holland in the role of Peter Parker, continuing a long line of white Spider-Men; even though there have been many people — male, female, Black and Hispanic — who have taken up the mantle. If there is a Miles Morales Spider-Man film, here are some actors who should portray him.

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Donald Glover AKA Childish Gambino 

Actor and rapper Donald Glover is the only person on the list who has portrayed Miles Morales to date. In the current Disney XD animated series Ultimate Spider-Man, Glover was Morales during the Spider-verse event fighting alongside Peter Parker to bring down an inter-dimensional threat. He gained a cult following as Troy Barnes in the show Community (2009-14), which is his most famous acting role to date. Glover has the acting chops and comedic range for the role.  He will be in the upcoming Ridley Scott film The Martian (2015).

6 Amazing Facts About the Life of Physicist Herman Russell Branson

Celebrating the Life of Physicist Herman Russell Branson

(Aug. 14, 1914 – June 07, 1995)

The Beginning 

Branson was a physicist and chemist who was responsible for discovering the alpha-helix protein structure in biological systems. He was educated at Virginia State College in 1936 where he earned a bachelor’s in physics. After graduating, Branson went on to the University of Cincinnati to obtain his Ph.D. in physics. He studied under the direction of Boris Padowski in 1939 who was a confidant of Albert Einstein. Branson and Padowski wrote the research paper On the Quantization of Mass in 1940.

10 Black Comic Book Characters We Can’t Wait See Get Their Own Films

Revenger.1.prev2_-600x928Revenger (Independent) 

From writer and artist Charles Sanford Forsman, Revenger is about a woman that takes the cases of the downtrodden and helps them seek revenge. For comic book fans that enjoy tough female leads and some violence, this is a cool title to check out.

watsonWatson and Holmes (Independent) 

This series was created by comic writer Karl Bollers and artist Rick Leonardi. Watson and Holmes takes Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s famous detective series and transports John Watson and Sherlock Holmes to Harlem.

5 Facts About the First Black Female Physician, Dr. Rebecca Lee Crumpler

Cinemax’s The Knick shows the bloody and brutal history of 19th and early 20th century medicine in this country in graphic fashion. Algernon Edwards, portrayed by Andre Holland, is the first Black doctor at the New York knickerbocker hospital during a time of extreme lynching and post-reconstruction racism. He faces segregation, bureaucracy and an inhumane level of  social immobility but he continues to push through.

Now imagine if it was a Black woman making a name for herself in the 1800s as a medical doctor. You’d be accurate if you were imagining Rebecca Lee Crumpler— the first Black physician in America and the first Black woman to earn a medical degree.

g1_u60509_rebecca_crumplerHer Early Life

There is very little information about Crumpler (1831-1895). Documents and photos of her life have been lost to time except for a journal she kept.

Crumpler wanted to enter the medical field but had few opportunities. In the 19th century, being a nurse required little education and was a stepping stone for Black people. Before becoming a doctor, she worked as a nurse, starting in 1852. In order to find work, Crumpler  moved to Charlestown, Massachusetts, where she worked for the next eight years.