On Our Minds Black History Month: People We Look Up to for Everyday Inspiration Mohamed Hamad On Our Minds 6 mins read 2 years ago The last year has been relentless, in every sense. At every turn, we all faced a new challenge that has reshaped our fundamental outlook on life. Our continuous navigation through the ever present COVID-19 isolation has provided us with more time to learn, reflect and acquire a new understanding of the significance of Black History Month, as well as see how far we’ve come and the amount of work that still lies ahead. This year, we were brought back to ONE of 2020’s most transformative events: The Black Lives Matter movement. At Third Wunder, we had an open and honest discussion about the events unfolding. While there was a lot to say, we felt it was more important than ever to listen to those speaking and expressing what they were going through. To give them the space to tell their story, and if anything, to amplify their voices by sharing those stories. Not just stories of injustices that satiate our doom scrolling, but stories of everyday Black people in our community, of their success, and stories of Black excellence. While the general tradition of Black History Month is to reflect on Black figures of the past, this year, the team had another chat about 2020, and decided to amplify more recent stories of the Black folks we admire and connected with. Here are our choices. Marques Brownlee Marques Brownlee (MKBHD) is a popular American YouTuber who’s known for posting tech-focused videos on his channel MKBHD, which has over 13 million subscribers. Although he started his YouTube channel in high school, it was only after graduating Stevens Institute of Technology that his channel really took off, being featured on sites like Forbes and Time Magazine. Today, he reviews everything from the latest smart technology to new innovations like Tesla’s Cybertruck and Boston Dynamics’ Robot Dog, and has interviewed the likes of Elon Musk, Bill Gates and President Obama. Rachel Cargle Rachel Cargle is a powerhouse activist and lecturer who has built a philanthropic enterprise by publicly calling out bullshit in white feminist circles. She doesn’t shy away from sensitive topics, and speaks frequently and openly about black lives, bodies, and experiences with the grace, love, and rage these subjects deserve. She gained popularity and notoriety during the Women’s March movement in 2017 for her commentary on the importance (and lack of) intersectionality in feminist circles, and channeled her viral success into further unpacking the rampant issues within feminist discourse and racial politics. (Un)learning how to set boundaries, push buttons, and show up. Rachel’s approach is unapologetic—some might even say uncomfortable, but she argues that the discomfort is the point. She uses her social platform to speak directly to white fragility with a lot of tough love, often calling out both public figures and personal connections in laughable, contemptible, but always teachable moments. Her core message is a call to arms for radical empathy, and a firm rejection of platitudes. She is not here to entertain, she is not here to empower, she is here to educate. “Here’s how you can show up, […] Knowledge plus empathy plus action. If you take any one away, you’re performing.” Rachel Cargle, “Race 101” lecture at American University Janelle Monáe Janelle Monáe (she/they) is one of the most unique and powerful artists of my generation. She’s vibrant, unapologetically queer, and understands how important her platform is as an Award-winning artist. She uses every aspect of her artistic expression to continue dialogue around race, sexuality, gender, and has been a huge inspiration for me for years. Inspired by authenticity “As a human, as an android, as somebody who has felt othered in this society — I speak up for myself, and for folks that I feel like look like me that may not have the platform. It’s just about sharing the mic.” Monáe in an interview for Variety Phil Carpenter Phil Carpenter is a visual storytelling guru. He’s been a successful freelance photojournalist for over 20 years, a video journalist for Global News for more than 4, and has won several awards for his inspiring work in an otherwise white-dominated industry. Visual storytelling that inspires in more ways than one A member of the Royal Canadian Navy stands in the cold on sentry duty during a Remembrance Day ceremony at Mc Gill University in Montreal, Sunday November 11, 2012. Ceremonies were held across the country and in various parts of the British Commonwealth to honour soldiers who perished in both World Wars and other conflicts since then. ( Phil Carpenter/ THE GAZETTE). Mary Jackson Mary Jackson was an American mathematician and aerospace engineer at NASA. In 1951, when she was hired by NASA’s predecessor agency, the NACA, she was the first and one of the only black female aeronautical engineers in the field. Paving the way for women of colour in science A/Prof. Nada Hamad Dr Nada Hamad, haematologist at Sydney’s St. Vincent’s Hospital, photographed by Matthew Abbott A/Prof. Nada Hamad is a bone marrow transplant (BMT) and cell therapy hematologist and director of haematology clinical trials at St Vincent’s Hospital in Sydney, and president of the Australia & New Zealand Transplant & Cellular Therapies (ANZTCT) society. She’s also an adjunct associate professor at the University of Notre Dame in Sydney, Australia. She has a passion for gender equity, diversity and inclusion in all aspects of medicine to improve clinical research and both patient and clinician experiences. A/Prof. Nada Hamad was recently featured in Vogue Australia for her contributions on the front lines of the fight against COVID-19, and is the current Lancet Haematology Journal equity and diversity column lead.. Share This Article Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email