From A Hashtag To The White House

Black Space Week Roll Call has taken over X, showcasing Black professionals in the space industry, leading them to The White House.

Black In Astro

Each year, Black In Astro hosts a Black Space Week to celebrate the achievements of Black Americans in space-related fields.

The Black In Astro journey began in June 2020, in the wake of a series of violent police attacks against Black Americans.

Founded by Ashley Walker, a PhD student at Howard University, Black In Astro was designed to link together a community of Black scientists and engineers across the country at all stages of their careers.

In a field that has historically featured predominantly white voices, Black In Astro set out to celebrate the Black experience and provide a platform through which Black voices and scholarship can be amplified and uplifted.

From Hashtag To White House

The platform originally was born out of its X hashtag and continues to work largely through its online presence.

It was from these discussions that #BlackSpaceWeek was born which became an annual event series first organized in 2020.

The week provides a space for Black folks passionate about space to come together, share their experiences and engage in discussions about all things space.

Each year, the Black Space Week is kicked off with a X roll call, hashtagged as #BSWRollCall.

“We’re starting off #BlackSpaceWeek 2024 as per usual with our roll call,” Black Astro posted on X.

“If you’re a Black person who does Space-related things, introduce yourself and tell us what cool things you do using the hashtag.”

This year, Bill Nelson announced that he was joining the White House National Space Council to kick of Black Space Week 2024.

“Hear from astronauts, innovators, policymakers, and more to celebrate the contributions of Black Americans to space exploration,” he wrote on X.

NASA is also collaborated with the National Space Council for the Beyond the Color Lines: From Science to Science Fact forum that happened on Monday 17 June.

Feature Image Credit: Overlook Horizon