Vivian Ayers Allen, the mother of Debbie Allen and Phylicia Rashad, is being recognized for her contributions to NASA.
On July 19, NASA held a ceremony in Houston at the location formally known as the Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center to honor the women who assisted with the Apollo 11 mission, which led to Neil A. Armstrong’s unprecedented landing on the moon in 1969. During the event, it was announced that the building was renamed to the “Dorothy Vaughan Center in Honor of Women of Apollo,” theGrio reported.
“On behalf of NASA’s Johnson Space Center, we are proud to host this historic event as the agency honors the significant contributions women have made to the space industry, particularly trailblazers who persevered against many challenges of their era,” NASA Johnson Director Vanessa Wyche said in a press release.
Women held integral positions at the space center in the 1960s — assisting with the spaceflight that landed on the moon. One of those women was Vivian, a Pulitzer Prize-nominated poet, activist and scholar, who penned a poem titled, “Hawk” that aligned flying into outer space with freedom.
An excerpt of the poem reads, “And then one night, unwittingly, I walked out, looked up and discovered a diamond-studded sky/ ‘Look at that,’ I thought/ A world resplendent with beauty and truth and dignity and freedom/ It was the first time I had ever really seen it/ The perfect scheme, then crystallized in my mind/ I would convert this energy to the wings and take to the stratosphere/ I’d soar up there.”
In her honor, NASA mounted a picture of Vivian and her “Hawk” poem on a wall in the space center. Rashad and Allen, along with their brother Andrew Arthur Allen Jr., attended the occasion to help commemorate the monumental moment for their mother, who celebrated her 100th birthday in 2023.
“This weekend, we had the incredible honor of celebrating our mother, Vivian Ayers Allen, at NASA for being one of the Hidden Figures of the Apollo 11 Space Mission! Our hearts are overflowing with pride and gratitude ❤️ A special thank you to NASA and the director of the Johnson Space Center, Vanessa E. Wyche, for having us,” Allen captioned her recap video on Instagram.
In 2023, NASA launched Artemis, a new educational program aiming to send multiple astronauts to the moon. The organization ensured that Black women and men would be among the group, which would make American history.
“As we prepare to return to the Moon for long-term science and exploration, NASA’s Artemis missions will land the first woman and first person of color on the Moon,” Wyche said, according to theGrio. “It’s a privilege to dedicate Johnson’s Building 12 to the innovative women who laid the foundation to our nation’s space program.”
