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Hidden Figures (2016)

  • Presented By: Tampa Theatre
  • Dates: February 23, 2025
  • Time: 3:00 PM
  • Tampa Theatre

  • 711 N Franklin St, Tampa, FL 33602
  • Price: $10.00 - General Admission
Hidden Figures (2016)

BLACK LOVE 2025 SERIES: "RISE OF THE BLERDS"

DOORS OPEN AT 2PM

In the space race of the early 1960s, tremendous amounts of American money, resources and engineering expertise were focused on one problem: putting John Glenn into a little metal box, shooting him off into space, having him orbit Earth and then returning him safely to its surface. But in the days before electronic computers, the mind-boggling amount of math required to pull off such a feat demanded another price. Trained human computers, a core of dedicated professionals whose job was to rapidly and flawlessly perform the calculations needed for something as complex as space flight, were required to make this monumental project possible.

Hidden Figures is the true story of some of those human computers, a story that the well-explored narratives of the space race have long ignored. In the segregated computing division of the early American space program, Katherine Johnson (Taraji P. Henson) joins an elite all-male, all-white engineering division and struggles to have her voice heard as she proposes novel solutions of geometry and high-level mathematics. Her friend Dorothy Vaughan (Octavia Spencer) is committed to helping the professional calculators she supervises retool for the inevitable arrival of digital computers and Mary Jackson (Janelle Monáe) fights a system that’s committed to keeping a black woman from entering a university engineering program. Held back because of their race and dismissed because their gender, Hidden Figures tells the triumphant story of three brilliant black women who forced the establishment to take notice, and helped bring the United States into the space age.

Guests are encouraged to stay after the film for a panel discussion featuring local Black women who are making waves in STEM-based careers, moderated by the Tampa Bay Chapter of The Links. Panelists include:

  • Kimani Thomas, an engineer with the City of Tampa Water Department – Engineering Development Services
  • Sharon Smoot, a nuclear engineer and member of the National Society of Black Engineers
  • Martika Jones, the founder and CEO of BŪP®, an AI-driven lead nurturing platform for sales teams

 

The 2025 Black Love: Rise of the Blerds series is presented by Tampa Electric (TECO), in collaboration with the City of Tampa’s Community Engagement & Partnerships Department.

tampatheatre.org