“Lost in Space” and Obama’s Vision for Space Exploration

“Lost in Space” and Obama’s Vision for Space ExplorationAllen Herbert, Vice President, JAKA Consulting Group

Many African Americans will remember the scene from the hit film, The Original Kings of Comedy, in which royal stand-up comedian Cedric the Entertainer lampoons the stereotype that black people don’t do space and white Americans have a greater affinity for the Moon and Mars. In his patented style, Cedric quickly puts that line of thinking in check by letting them know, “ya’ll move to the moon…we coming to the moon – oh we’ll be right behind ya’ll in space shuttles with Cadillac grilles.” And if that didn’t clear it up, Ced pours it on heavy by physically illustrating the vision of a cool brother laid back, with one hand on the steering wheel, cigarette in the other, in a 1972 Deuce-and-a-Quarter space shuttle with an all bass sound system listening to “Cutie Pie” by the early 80’s funk/R&B band One Way – cruising around outer space. You get the picture.

As farfetched and comically humorous as that may sound, the idea of all Americans not having the opportunity to participate in the 21st Century race to space is a very real possibility. There is very little public data available on African American attitudes and thoughts on NASA and space exploration in general. That which does exists paints a very complicated picture for black folks. Take for instance a 2003 public poll by Zogby International which discovered that African Americans were about 14% less likely to support NASA’s human space program than Whites and only 24% less so than Hispanics. That’s enough to make you wonder why President Obama is facing such harsh criticism of his approach to space exploration. As is the case in most scientific advances, African Americans stand the most to lose in opportunities to participate at the front end especially in an area where neither race has the monopoly, yet – the next frontiers in space.

In September 2009, The Jurban Group a Google Lunar XPRIZE participant and JAKA Consulting along with the Congressional Black Caucus, collaborated on the first ever “Space Entrepreneurship Forum” to kick-off the CBC’s Annual Legislative Conference weekend. During the forum NASA Administrator Charles Bolden stated:

“We believe that the development of commercial space is a great future Frontier of American economic growth. It offers to African-American risk takers, men and women with ideas and the courage to pursue them, a place at the table not just at NASA, but also on the space frontier. One of my jobs as Administrator is to welcome these new ideas and find ways to take advantage of this entrepreneurial spirit. That spirit – of risk bringing rewards; of creativity and innovation – is the spirit that America will need now more than ever to strengthen our economy and remain competitive in the global marketplace. But this is not just about selling to NASA – actually it’s not even about NASA. It is about finding your place in this industry, whether inside the government or out.”

There are very important and wide-reaching effects a commercialized space industry will have on the African American community. The Zogby poll oddly suggests that African Americans are probably the racial group more likely (by 17%) than any other to support NASA’s efforts, yet least likely to know about the agency and the benefits and affects of its research on their everyday lives. And that’s mostly attributable to blacks having less knowledge than other groups about what NASA actually does. With the President’s shift in the direction of how manned space development takes place, opportunities for minorities to know about and engage with NASA will drastically move to the private sector along with the changes that may go on inside NASA.

Now is the time for those interested to get in on the ground floor and gain understanding of how the Obama Administration’s vision for spaceflight and the aerospace industry will affect the African American community. There are many questions remaining to be answered. What will come out of all of this in five, ten or twenty years? Will this mean new industry for cities with major black populations on the verge of more job loss like Detroit or other cities with high unemployment such like Baltimore, Cleveland, and Newark? What kind of incentives will be offered and used to attract these new commercial interests? How will President Obama, Administrator Bolden and CBC members and others come to a negotiated end to ensure minority inclusion in this bold new venture? Will African Americans be at the table or will be as Cedric the Entertainer says left following the majority or like The Robot “Warning! Warning!” Lost in Space?

Allen Herbert, Vice President, JAKA Consulting Group. Allen is a graduate of University of Southern California in Los Angeles, CA, with a Bachelor of Science degree in Aero-space Engineering, and a Government Relations/Business Development executive with 20+ years experience in business development, strategic planning, international business and technology projects.