Thread by @DNLee5

A love letter to jr Black Women in STEM, from middle career Black Woman...aka - note to my younger self

Hey Love,

It’s been a tough time; and we haven’t really talked much lately.

(Long pause)

A lot has been going on. A LOT.

But I’ve been checking you..check ing you out and checking on you, too.

You’ve been working so hard. Burning the candle at both ends and the middle.
You are doing all of the things. I see you. I’m rooting for you to win so hard.
So hard. That may be hard to believe, but I am. You have no idea how many moves I make behind the veil with you in mind

It’s just...I thought or at least hoped by now most of the battles you are fighting now wouldn’t have been settled.

I know it’s hard and infuriating.
Because it is. It is hard.

And also not new. Black Lady Scientists from 100 yrs ago were battling the same struggles

When when I was in grad school...I didn’t realize it. I was the only one in my program. That aloneness and pioneering makes you gritty. Grit helps you hang in there; but it also keeps you from becoming polished. It’s a trade off I never wanted you to experience, too

I envisioned you getting to experience all the things I didn’t get to feel:
Focusing your energy on your science
Pursuing collaborations without anxiety of outside perception
Finding and experiencing healthy love & relationships OUTSIDE of academia w/o feeling guilty or stretched

You have something I never had: cadre of sisters, dozens of other Black people, BLACK WOMEN/ENBYs in STEM on this journey with you. Heck, some of y’all actually work in the same subdisciplines in the same region/departments. So lucky

This critical mass is a gift. My heart swells to know you all have each other and these tools to help y’all connect and collaborate in real time.
The world is taking notice. You are amazing

Also know that you have other Black Women STEM professionals - middle career and senior careers...in academia - faculty, staff, and admin, in industry, in public and private sector.
We are here.
We hear you.
We celebrate you.
We fight for you.
Daily. Even before we knew you

There are bridges and ladders and bypasses and wormholes and secret passages that exist..well worn paths and wisdom of survival and collaboration, networks of success and activism longer and older than you or me

Our Academic Foremothers dreamed of this- and I am glad may of them are still with us to witness.
They can literally look out and see - for the 1st time - an uninterrupted line of Black Women STEM scholars.

Imagine if we were holding hands. Hundreds of us touching and agreeing, both reaching back into the past and forward to the future, out to you and to young girls who look up to you as inspiration and role model and mentor.

We are Legion.
We are here now, past, future. Across time,space, geography, culture, & discipline.
Your success is my objective. Please rest up and know I’m here. You don’t have to pioneer alone, reinvent the wheel or go in blind. We are our own brain trust.
Call on me ANY Time