HoundingFake45Nov 24, 2022
Velocity22 🏴‍☠️

In 1959, police were called to a segregated library when a Black 9-year-old boy trying to check out books refused to leave, after being told the library was not for Black people.

The boy, Ronald McNair, went on to became an astronaut. The library is also now named after him

Nov 24, 2022 at 12:57amWeb
Show threadBillNov 24, 2022
@Velocity2222
He ultimately gave his life in the pursuit of furthering man's knowledge of the cosmos in the Challenger disaster of 1986. RIP, hero.
Show threadRomaqNov 24, 2022
Thank you for pointing that out, @Cvmarider20. I recall seeing his photo but I didn't place it with Challenger. I'm reading more in this thread that's way cool about him. Let this man be remembered and treasured! @Velocity2222
Show threadDavid Scott MoyerNov 24, 2022
@Cvmarider20 tragic.
Show threadJust IceNov 24, 2022
@Cvmarider20 @Velocity2222
🙏🏻💔 🕯️🕯️🕯️🕯️🕯️🕯️🕯️ 🌟
Show threadRuthlessBunnyNov 24, 2022

@Velocity2222

There’s a lovely animated story corps.

https://youtu.be/okF5UGpivR8

Eyes on the Stars

YouTube
Show threadBrain BugNov 24, 2022
@RuthlessBunny @Velocity2222 What a lovely Video, thanks for sharing!
Show threadDer böse Hexe Njähähä 🧙‍♀️🪄⚡️Nov 24, 2022
@RuthlessBunny @Velocity2222 This vid is beautiful... @junior42 and i stood in tears as we watched it this morning.
Show threadBrain BugNov 24, 2022
@moeria @RuthlessBunny @Velocity2222 🫂
Show threadJanaNov 24, 2022
@RuthlessBunny @Velocity2222 Well, this video almost made me cry...
Show threadWrathofJan 🌞🌻🌎🖖Nov 24, 2022

@RuthlessBunny @Velocity2222

What a great YouTube account. I subscribed to it.

Show threadJust IceNov 24, 2022
@JDignum @RuthlessBunny @Velocity2222
Me too... 🙏🏻
Show threadJust IceNov 24, 2022
@RuthlessBunny @Velocity2222
That's amazing... Both sad and inspiring. Thank you for sharing... 🙏🏻
Show threadhannahshouse2 🇺🇸 CaliforniaNov 24, 2022
@Velocity2222 Why isn't this taught in school? Thank you for educating me on #realhistory
Show threadAdult_Supervision_RequiredNov 24, 2022
@Velocity2222 - Thank you, Netflix, for showing me this piece of American history. And thank you @Velocity2222 for publishing this!
Show threadClavedocNov 24, 2022
@Velocity2222 I recall drinking coffee in tge early hours outside a lower 9th community centre in New Orleans (we were first to spend night there post hurricane). My friend pointed out when he first came to new Orleans he and travelling companion could only share coffee at greyhound bus station; only nonsegregated cafe. Amazing how this level of legal discrimination is within lived memory.
Show threadDonnaNov 24, 2022
@clavedoc @Velocity2222 - Ruby Bridges is 68, a few months older than me.
Show thread🚀 🧠 yeraldNov 24, 2022
@Velocity2222 @indubitablyodin McNair, who died in the 1986 explosion of the space shuttle Challenger, was also the first #Bahai in space (I believe still the only one), one of the first non-Christians overall & only the second African American in space!
Show threadHofoNov 24, 2022
@Velocity2222 a high school near me in Atlanta is named after him as well
Show threadBlackonese JesusNov 24, 2022
@Velocity2222 Love to see Karma in action, now all those haters can boil in anger that it’s his library now
Show threadWilsoNov 24, 2022
@Velocity2222 watched a mini-series about that mission just last weekend. He certainly achieved a lot. And it shouldn’t have happened
Show threadKirsten CorbyNov 24, 2022
@Velocity2222 Living well is the best revenge.
Show threadjstricklandNov 24, 2022
@Velocity2222 I went to his middle school
Show threadSebNov 24, 2022
@Velocity2222 apart from anything else, imagine being so threatened by a 9 year old wanting to take books out that you call the police.
Show threadSebNov 24, 2022
@Velocity2222 We need backup. We’ve got a juvenile with a pile of hard backs.
Show threadPamela EhnNov 24, 2022
@seb321 @Velocity2222 that’s probably going to be Florida again in the not-too-distant future
Show threadJust IceNov 24, 2022
@cadenza @seb321 @Velocity2222 😢
Show threadJcmacomberNov 24, 2022
@Velocity2222
Great story and man
Show threadBrain BugNov 24, 2022
@Velocity2222 Thanks so much for sharing. This made my day and just made me cry. Also thanks to all commenters for the additional info on this. ❤❤❤
Show threadIce BlueNov 24, 2022
@Velocity2222 Ahem. That's Doctor McNair to us. He also earned his PhD in physic from MIT.
Show threadPete DuffieldNov 24, 2022
@Velocity2222 Not the only thing named after him.
Show threadiamBraulioNov 24, 2022
@Velocity2222 IMPOSSIBLE IS (PROBABLY) NOTHING.!
Show threadBrian GrinterNov 24, 2022
@Velocity2222 what a legend
Show threadMark MifsudNov 24, 2022

@Velocity2222

That's an awesome #revenge

#respect 🙏

Show threadshyduroffNov 24, 2022
@Velocity2222 … +++ …
Show threadJPMasters🇦🇺🏳️‍🌈 DisabilityNov 24, 2022
@Velocity2222 I wonder if that will be allowed to be taught in USA school classrooms in history, science, politics etc. classes?
Show threadDavid Scott MoyerNov 24, 2022
@Velocity2222 I Love this!
Show threadnekoramengangNov 24, 2022
@Velocity2222 Dr. McNair was a brilliant saxophonist too!
Show threadTeen SleuthNov 24, 2022
@Velocity2222 met a tragic end
Show threadFrank AmariNov 24, 2022

@Velocity2222

The boy walked to the counter of the Lake City Public Library through a gantlet of stares in 1959.

Ronald E. McNair, then 9, wanted to check out books on advanced science and calculus, but the librarian wouldn’t release them.

“We don’t circulate books to Negroes,” she told him.

https://www.thestate.com/news/local/article225180690.html

Show threadElleNov 24, 2022
@Velocity2222 I never knew that story. His wife was my brother's first grade teacher. She was pregnant with their first child at the time too. Thank you for sharing this story.
Show threadJohn Erling BladNov 24, 2022
It is described in the Wikipedia entry. @Velocity2222 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ronald_McNair
Ronald McNair - Wikipedia

Show threadMichael FrazierNov 24, 2022
@Velocity2222 Not far from the Brooklyn Museum in Prospect Heights, he has a lovely namesake park accentuated by a bust of him on the southern end of the spade.
Show threadengineer6582Nov 24, 2022
@Velocity2222 How do we square this with parents who are upset that books with sexually explicit content are available in elementary school libraries?
Show threadLibrarytomatoNov 24, 2022
@Velocity2222 Excellent picture book based on this. It’s fictionalized but a great springboard
Show threadSteve - W8HFNov 24, 2022
@Velocity2222
Seeing your post today brought back sad memories. My wife and I met in college in Melbourne, Florida back in 1985. As we were leaving a physics class on January 28th, 1986 we witnessed the explosion of the Space Shuttle Challenger. It left a profound impact on both of us. My wife who was a space science major did get hired at NASA after graduating and still works for the agency as a now not so “hidden figure”.
Show threadDanNov 24, 2022

@Velocity2222 thank you so much for sharing! This was not a story that I knew, and this morning I learned that there was so much more:

https://hackaday.com/2020/09/03/the-astronomical-grit-of-ronald-mcnair/

The Astronomical Grit Of Ronald McNair

There is more than one way to lead a successful life. Some people have all the opportunity in the world laid out before them, and it never does them any good. Others have little more than the deter…

Hackaday
Show threadMirageeNov 24, 2022
@Velocity2222 There is a wonderful StoryCorp animated video about this. https://storycorps.org/animation/eyes-on-the-stars/
Eyes on the Stars - StoryCorps

On January 28, 1986, NASA Challenger mission STS-51-L ended in tragedy when the shuttle exploded 73 seconds after takeoff. On board was physicist Ronald E. McNair, who was the second African American person to enter space. But first, he was a kid with big dreams in Lake City, South Carolina. Para subtítulos en español, haga […]

StoryCorps
Show threadJbradyNov 24, 2022
@Velocity2222
Show threadColes Street PotholeNov 24, 2022
@Velocity2222 The high school one block over from me—where both my children went to school—is Dr. Ronald E. McNair Academic High School, in Jersey City.
Show threadE. Paul ZehrNov 24, 2022

@Velocity2222 he was a tremendously accomplished and influential person. I stumbled across some of his science while researching for Becoming Batman. Dr McNair was a karate black belt & coauthored one of the very first papers to study the physics of martial arts strikes.

https://www.blackhistory.mit.edu/publications/physics-karate-1979

The Physics of Karate, 1979

MIT Black History
Show threadTarheelPalmettoNov 24, 2022
@Velocity2222 Ron McNair was from the small town of Lake City, SC (pop. 6,700 about 25 miles down the road from me) which is where the facility in the photo is located. Lake City has a lovely, thriving downtown and is home to philanthropist Darla Moore. Every spring Lake City hosts ArtFields, a wonderful 9 day event celebrating artists. Come visit and tour the Dr. Ronald E. McNair Life History Center and enjoy outstanding art exhibits displayed throughout the town. artfieldssc.org
Show threadDay's not hereNov 24, 2022
@Velocity2222 that's right
Show threadBrody BergNov 24, 2022
@Velocity2222 an absolute legend. RIP
Show threadUrban_TribesmanNov 24, 2022
@Velocity2222 Is this Ron, the Saxophonist, who died on the Challenger accident? I remember him as he was due to play a duet with Jean-Michel Jarre on Earth while in orbit but sadly never had the chance. I believe it was called ‘Ron’s Piece’?
Show threadRichie HollandNov 24, 2022
@Velocity2222 I wonder what happened to the person that told him leave?
Show threadThe Sominex KingNov 24, 2022
@Velocity2222 a new middle school in my town is named after McNair. Such a great story.
Show threadKennethNov 24, 2022
@Velocity2222 @Tinu It's so great to see that the police did the right thing and renamed the library when they found out it was being discriminatory.