The heavens give off a bittersweet glow for Black Americans. Some Black Americans said they thought they’d never see the day when one of their own would be poised to do the same. In the 1960s, some of the astronauts in the Apollo program trained for the nation’s first moon mission in its planetarium. At the height of the space race — when many Black Americans were more preoccupied with conquering racism and poverty than putting a human on the moon — the Rev. Troy says that Carter loves to watch space mission launches on TV and that Avery always seems transfixed whenever tennis great and Compton native Serena Williams appears on the screen.

Source: Los Angeles Times April 13, 2023 16:28 UTC