On February 9, 1995, Bernard A. Harris Jr. made history by becoming the first Black astronaut to perform a spacewalk. During the STS-63 mission aboard the Space Shuttle Discovery, Harris spent nearly five hours outside the spacecraft, marking a milestone that expanded representation in space exploration and inspired a new generation to reach beyond Earth’s limits.
On February 8, 1794, Dr. James Derham stood as a powerful testament to Black intellectual and professional excellence in early America. As the first recognized African American physician, Derham’s rise from enslavement to medical authority challenged the racial hierarchies of his time and marked a radical assertion of Black expertise within a nation still defined by bondage.
On February 9, 1995, Bernard A. Harris Jr. made history by becoming the first Black astronaut to perform a spacewalk. During the STS-63 mission aboard the Space Shuttle Discovery, Harris spent nearly five hours outside the spacecraft, marking a milestone that expanded representation in space exploration and inspired a new generation to reach beyond Earth’s limits.
