Alena Analeigh & Mae Jemison | The 2022 MAKERS Conference
Alena Analeigh & Mae Jemison at the 2022 MAKERS Conference.
Video Transcript
MAE JEMISON: Now, ladies, please welcome Alena Analeigh McQuarter.
[APPLAUSE]
Good morning.
ALENA ANALEIGH MCQUARTER: Good morning.
MAE JEMISON: It's really exciting to be with you here today.
ALENA ANALEIGH MCQUARTER: It's an honor.
MAE JEMISON: It's so exciting. And let me tell you why it's exciting-- because I have an opportunity to spend some time with someone who, just like me, when they were growing up, did the things-- went ahead and did the things that they wanted to do, despite what others might have said. So I'm really excited about that.
[CHEERING AND APPLAUSE]
ALENA ANALEIGH MCQUARTER: Me too.
MAE JEMISON: So can you tell me a little bit about why you like science? Why was science one of the things that captured your imagination at such an early age?
ALENA ANALEIGH MCQUARTER: I think I love science because it's just my passion. It's everything that I've loved since I was three years old. And it's just, it's so big. It's something that you can be so creative in. And I've loved STEM. STEM is where it all started. I've gone to almost [INAUDIBLE], and I've done things in science that most people say I couldn't do it, at the age of-- who knows? 13 and 12, because that's just what I loved to do.
MAE JEMISON: So I want to get back, and I want you to tell me some of the things that you've talked about, that you've done in science. But first, I want you to just share with us a little bit about how you maintained your determination to do things even when people told you no.
ALENA ANALEIGH MCQUARTER: Well, there are many times that little things can get to me. But I never let that get in the way, because I'm headed for my future. And I'm doing the things that I love, and I'm bringing others with me while I'm doing it. And there are--
[CHEERING AND APPLAUSE]
MAE JEMISON: And what do you see that future as? What-- if you were to, like, open it up and say, here's what I want to do in the future, what would that be? You can-- it doesn't have to be a single thing. It can be a bunch of things, too.
ALENA ANALEIGH MCQUARTER: Yeah. Well, the future for me-- med school because I want to become a doctor. I want to do research abroad. And I want to-- I don't know. I want to open a school of STEM for girls of color all over the world. I want to graduate college because that's the first on my list.
[LAUGHTER]
MAE JEMISON: Look, but you've already done two degrees, right?
ALENA ANALEIGH MCQUARTER: Right.
MAE JEMISON: Can you tell the audience a bit about the degrees you did and the work that went behind that?
ALENA ANALEIGH MCQUARTER: Well, right now, I'm pursuing two degrees in biological sciences at Arizona State University and Oakwood.
[CHEERING AND APPLAUSE]
MAE JEMISON: So at Arizona State and Oakwood College in Alabama.
ALENA ANALEIGH MCQUARTER: Yeah.
MAE JEMISON: OK.
ALENA ANALEIGH MCQUARTER: And right now, I'm going through all of my upper-division courses, and I'm in my last year. It's all moving by so quickly, but it's fun while I'm doing it. And it's just, it's an amazing experience because I'm doing what I love. And I'm going through school like-- it's just me going through life while I'm doing things that I'm passionate about, because, you know, graduating at 12-- I never thought that would happen. But it did. And now I'm in college. And--
[LAUGHTER]
--in the future, I want to pursue research. I want to find cures for diseases all over the world that-- you knows? I might be the first person to do it.
[CHEERING AND APPLAUSE]
MAE JEMISON: So I'm trying to understand how you got to college at 12. So I heard that there was something-- that you took a really nontraditional path?
ALENA ANALEIGH MCQUARTER: Yeah.
MAE JEMISON: And you had a name for that?
ALENA ANALEIGH MCQUARTER: Yeah. Well, you tell it.
MAE JEMISON: Tell them what the name was.
ALENA ANALEIGH MCQUARTER: Yeah.
MAE JEMISON: They want to see-- they want you to tell them the name. What did you call it?
ALENA ANALEIGH MCQUARTER: Called it outschooling.
MAE JEMISON: What?
ALENA ANALEIGH MCQUARTER: Outschooling. I wasn't in school. It was more-- it was homeschool for me.
MAE JEMISON: OK.
ALENA ANALEIGH MCQUARTER: It was outschooling. It was something different because I did many different things. I was homeschooled. I was world-schooled in Amman, Jordan. And I wasn't stuck in a classroom. I was able to move on my own terms and do everything that I wanted to do while also learning.
So it was just kind of like me and my mom's own way of learning, our own way of schooling. It was amazing 'cause I got to do what I loved. I got to pursue STEM and also learn the basics. I got to do all the extra courses, and I was like, I'm done with this. I want to do this. And my mom knew when I was ready. And she moved me along as I was going. She was my biggest supporter through everything.
MAE JEMISON: So I just want to do a shout-out for moms and parents.
[CHEERING AND APPLAUSE]
There's a Yoruba proverb that says, even the sharpest blade can't cut its own handle. So we know that you obviously are incredibly talented, incredibly intelligent. But we need someone to help us get there, right?
ALENA ANALEIGH MCQUARTER: Right.
MAE JEMISON: Was there a story about you being in public school and proctoring a test, and your mom had to intervene? Can you share with that?
ALENA ANALEIGH MCQUARTER: Well, I can't give the exact age, 'cause I don't remember the exact age. But while I was in public school, I had a principal that-- she didn't really believe that girls of color could do anything STEM-related. And she accused me of cheating on an exam because I was--
MAE JEMISON: Because you did what? Really, really well?
ALENA ANALEIGH MCQUARTER: 'Cause I did well and I was a young girl of color. And at that moment, I didn't really know what that meant, because, you know, I was young. I was just going through school and getting good grades.
But now I know that-- what that meant and what she was trying to say, that young girls of color-- you don't see young girls of color getting those good grades. You don't see them moving, excelling in STEM or anything that is in the science-related field. And now I know that that was just something that was trying to pull me down. But I used that to keep going. And now I'm here.
[CHEERING AND APPLAUSE]
MAE JEMISON: But there's something really interesting that happened. After they accused you of that, your mother didn't let them get away with that. What happened?
ALENA ANALEIGH MCQUARTER: So--
MAE JEMISON: I got to get-- I got to do the shout-out 'cause this is like-- I feel like I'm channeling my mother.
ALENA ANALEIGH MCQUARTER: My mom is the superhero. She swung in. And she's like, why? Why can't my little Black girl do these things? And she's like, you have no right to accuse my little girl of doing something when you have no proof. She was being proctored. And it doesn't matter that she's a Black girl. She can do anything that she puts her mind to. She gave me all of those opportunities.
MAE JEMISON: And then they retested you with somebody in the room, and you did what to the test?
ALENA ANALEIGH MCQUARTER: I got a--
MAE JEMISON: You-- say that loud. You aced it?
ALENA ANALEIGH MCQUARTER: I got full points.
[LAUGHTER]
[CHEERING AND APPLAUSE]
MAE JEMISON: And I have to-- I'm emphasizing this because you would think that from that slide that I showed you right at the beginning. What's up? We're not going to say how many years ago. But it was in the '60s, OK? On the South Side of Chicago. You would have thought that some of those things would change, right? And it may be the woman is seeing "Hidden Figures" or something, right?
[LAUGHTER]
So do you have any questions for me?
ALENA ANALEIGH MCQUARTER: I do. How did it feel being the first woman of color to go to space?
MAE JEMISON: So I never actually thought of it that way. So I just wanted to go into space. If there had been thousands of people had gone up, if there had never been a single person, I wanted to go into space. I didn't want to be an astronaut when I was growing up. I just wanted to go into space. It seems like a semantics game. But what I felt-- but it's not. I just thought I was going to be going there to work. It was the '60s, the Apollo program. Of course I'd be on Mars working. But anyway.
ALENA ANALEIGH MCQUARTER: [LAUGHS]
MAE JEMISON: You're going to have to be on Mars working for me, OK? Invite me up. All right. But it was-- I had a responsibility, right? So my first responsibility is to do my job excellently. And the second was to make sure, once you're in a-- have a place at the table, to use my position. And you're using yours now with-- what's the project that you're--
ALENA ANALEIGH MCQUARTER: The Brown STEM Girl, my organization, my platform to give opportunities to girls all over the world because, you know, I was given those opportunities as a young girl, and now that are helping me for my future. And I want to do the same for those girls.
MAE JEMISON: The name of it-- so we're always we're going to plug this.
ALENA ANALEIGH MCQUARTER: Right.
MAE JEMISON: Brown girls in--
ALENA ANALEIGH MCQUARTER: It's The Brown STEM Girl.
MAE JEMISON: Brown STEM Girl. See, you can't let anybody else tell your story. Say it really loud.
ALENA ANALEIGH MCQUARTER: The Brown STEM Girl.
[APPLAUSE]
MAE JEMISON: And how do-- where do people find it?
ALENA ANALEIGH MCQUARTER: I'm on Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn as thebrownstemgirl. And you can go to my website, thebrownstemgirl.com.
MAE JEMISON: OK. And it's important because I understand that you also did it-- work overseas as well?
ALENA ANALEIGH MCQUARTER: We went to the Middle East, Amman, Jordan. And I got to volunteer out there in the refugee camps. And it was an amazing experience because, you know, I was given those opportunities to go and explore my passions and STEM. And now I'm getting to do that with the girls through my program abroad, taking them around the world.
MAE JEMISON: So what do you want the audience to do to help?
ALENA ANALEIGH MCQUARTER: Well, through my program, giving these opportunities means giving them the representation and giving them just the access to everything in the STEM field. So right now, I'd love to see donations to these girls, because all over the world, we see that one thing that girls all over the world are facing is not having the resources. And that's one thing that I was given. I was given those resources to follow my dreams. And now I want to give them back to them.
And one thing that we need right now is laptops, computers, just the things that not everyone around the world has. And that's what we need. We need donations, funding for the girls to go all over the world, learn STEM, and really find what they're passionate about in STEM.
MAE JEMISON: OK. So I want to thank you so much for sharing this with us. And I wonder if there's a shout-out that you want to do? Want to let some other folks know what to do?
ALENA ANALEIGH MCQUARTER: Yeah.
MAE JEMISON: Do you have a shout-out? Go ahead.
ALENA ANALEIGH MCQUARTER: No shout-out. No, no shout-out.
MAE JEMISON: No? No? I thought you had a shout-out to somebody who's--
ALENA ANALEIGH MCQUARTER: [INAUDIBLE]
MAE JEMISON: --coming up, like a toy company or something like that.
ALENA ANALEIGH MCQUARTER: Mattel?
[LAUGHTER]
Mattel.
MAE JEMISON: I understand that, you know, what we want to do is to make sure that these things are codified and they're not just something that we hear where we tag stuff up, right? And we just sort of say, oh, there's somebody there, and we put them on the show-- that we understand how important it is that-- the work you do and how important it is to have those perspectives. So we're going to do a shout-out to--
ALENA ANALEIGH MCQUARTER: Mattel.
MAE JEMISON: And what do you want them to do?
ALENA ANALEIGH MCQUARTER: I'd love to make a doll. Yeah. That's one thing-- yeah, that's what I'm thinking about. Yup.
MAE JEMISON: So we're going to--
ALENA ANALEIGH MCQUARTER: Me and Mattel creating a doll.
MAE JEMISON: OK. So we're going to work on that. Thank you so much. Thank you all.
ALENA ANALEIGH MCQUARTER: Thank you.
[CHEERING AND APPLAUSE]
