Apparently, representation actually does matter. It cannot be a coincidence that with the arrival of Rice University’s first Black president, Reginald DesRoches, and the major investment of $1 million in the university’s Center for African and African American Studies by Rice University trustee Terrence Gee and family, that the school is offering a dream of a class – Afrochemistry.
The course is slated to “apply chemical tools and analysis to understand Black life in the U.S.” And the class name, “Afrochemistry,” makes all the sense in the world to those who have read the works of legendary African-centered historians like Dr. John Henrik Clarke, Dr. Cheikh Anta Diop, Dr. Yosef Ben-Jochannan, and countless others who point out the branch of science known as chemistry derives its name from the name of ancient Egypt – Khem.
According to a flyer advertising the course, “Afrochemistry” is the “study of Black Life-Matter.” You see what they did there?
The flyer reveals that class participants will wrestle with questions like “What does justice look in chemistry,” “What does it look like to do science on one’s own terms,” and “How does our society shape the science we do;” questions we didn’t even know were buried deep inside our collective Black subconscious.
The course does not count for chemistry major credit, though it probably should, but it does count as a credit for a minor in African and African-American studies.
“This course will empower students to consider approaches to STEM that enhance community impact,” the flyer reads, adding that it will approach chemistry through a historical and modern African American lens to analyze science and its impact.
The brainchild behind this “whole-nutha-level” course, Brooke Johnson, Ph.D., is a Rice alum hired in August to work in the school’s DEI department. Again, representation matters. As the state of Texas “caucasticly” moved to ban anything and everything DEI-related, Rice, a private institution, chose to continue honoring diversity, equity, and inclusion in their various efforts, as seen via the class “Afrochemistry.”
Johnson, a former Rice track athlete who graduated in 2017 before earning her doctorate in chemistry from Princeton University, will teach the course beginning this semester.
According to Johnson’s bio, she “is passionate about the intersection of science and social justice, and using her unique experiences to teach, support and inspire diverse students.”
The official course description on the university’s website says this: “Diverse historical and contemporary scientists, intellectuals and chemical discoveries will inform personal reflections and proposals for addressing inequities in chemistry and chemical education.”
And what makes the class even cooler is that no prior chemistry or African-American studies knowledge is required, making the course a gateway class that introduces interested students to two fields of study that have had and will continue to have profound impacts upon Black people and the world.
Predictably, online “haters” are aiming for the course, questioning its legitimacy. But like former UH African American Studies student Benjamin Wallace shared, “The entire fields of Africana (Black) Studies was attacked and called illegitimate by white scholars from jump in 1968; white ‘intellectuals’ who did not see the value of Black history, Black literature, Black psychology, or anything Black.”
Wallace, now an entrepreneur in Memphis, heard about the course and the individuals from various places, including the Wall Street Journal, who labeled the course “woke,” and had a thought or two.
“Man, they trippin’, demeaning anything Black-centered as less than. But I hope they’re right about one thing. I hope and pray that the class is ‘woke;’ ‘woke’ as in keenly aware of white supremacy and our responsibility to fight it in all its forms wherever we are.”
The Daily Mail reported that some scholars were concerned “identity politics” – a favorite catchphrase used by individuals who feel threatened whenever whiteness is not centered in courses, movies, or conversations – would “dilute” the study of science. However, others speculated the approach of “Afrochemistry” could quite possibly encourage Black students to engage in chemistry and other STEM fields.
