Black astronaut celebrates the journey from slave ship to spaceship

When actress Nichelle Nichols contemplated leaving her groundbreaking role of Lt. Nyota Uhura, a Black female crew member aboard the fictional starship Enterprise on “Star Trek,” civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. convinced her to see the bigger picture and how her presence on the show was in fact its own giant leap for mankind.  

Dr. Bernard Harris, Jr. got a similar call from Rev. Jesse Jackson after he trekked to outer space in real life. Dr. Harris, a medical doctor, went to space twice and became the first Black man to walk in space on February 9, 1995.

The OBSERVER sat down with the trailblazer-turned venture capitalist as he reflects on the 30th anniversary of making history and looks ahead to being inducted into the U.S. Astronaut of Hall of Fame later this year.

Something Rev. Jackson said while praying for him has stuck with Dr. Harris for three decades. “He said, ‘Lord, thank you for taking us from the slave ship to the spaceship.’ 

“It was remarkable. Only Jesse Jackson can put those two things together, but it was relevant to where we are and where I was at the time. We have in this country gone from being slaves to now being major contributors to what we consider to be ‘The American Way.’ I’m so pleased and proud to be part of that.” 

Dr. Harris trained in California at NASA Ames Research Center and became the first African American to perform an extra-vehicular activity during the second of his two Space Shuttle flights. Since 1986, Dr. Harris has served the space program in various roles as research scientist, flight surgeon, astronaut and advisor.  He conducted research on space adaptation and developed medical devices. He served on STS-55 and STS-63, logging over 438 hours and 7.2 million miles in space.

Dr. Harris is one of only 14 African American astronauts to travel to space. It’s an elite group that includes Guion Bluford, Jr., who became the first African American to reach space in 1983; Ronald McNair, who died during the launch of the Space Shuttle Challenger in 1986; and Mae Jemison, who became the first Black woman in space in 1992.

Dr. Harris recalls the moment the hatch opened and he experienced the wonders of the world firsthand, “It was incredible to see this big, blue ball which we call planet Earth.”

While he initially felt like he was falling, the spacewalk brought Dr. Harris a sense of grounding and confirmed his role in the universe. “We as Black people have been involved with space for a long time, since the very beginning. 

“We were some of the first mathematicians, some of the first astronomers. That all came from the continent of Africa, so we should be proud. This is not anything new. This is just us living our inheritance, in a sense. 

“I’m just following through what my forefathers and mothers laid down before me, that foundation that allows me now, instead of being on Earth and looking up toward the heavens, actually being able to lift off into the heavens.”

Dr. Harris would go back in space if given the chance. “My goal was to not only explore space, but I wanted to go to the moon.”

He’s proud that another Black man, Victor Glover, is slated to travel to the moon in April 2026 as part of the Artemis II mission to establish a long-term lunar presence. Another first.

“He is a remarkable young man,” Dr. Harris said of Glover. “That’s going to be really exciting.”

Dr. Harris and Glover are featured in the 2024 film “The Color of Space: A NASA Documentary Showcasing the Stories of Black Astronauts.” The elder ambassador wants more people of color to participate in the future space economy, ensuring equal opportunity in this growing field.

“It is important for us as we go forward, where there will be this new space economy, where we’ll be having orbiting platforms and we’ll be having colonies on the moon. A whole ecosystem is going to be produced between the Earth, low earth orbit, and the moon and later Mars. I want to make sure that all of us are equal participants in that potential money. 

“It’s the reason why you have billionaires, very wealthy people, investing in this, because they see the opportunity. I want to make sure that our community also takes advantage of that opportunity.”

In the beginning

Dr. Harris grew up within the Navajo Nation in Arizona where his mother was a teacher. She encouraged him and his siblings to dream big and see the seemingly impossible as reachable. He remembers watching astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin land on the moon on July 20, 1969.

“I looked at that black and white television and I said, ‘I want to do that. I want to go to the moon. I want to be an astronaut,” Dr. Harris said.

He was not alone. “This is the first time that human beings stepped foot off the planet and here we are, American kids, kids from all over the world, watching this and saying that we want to follow in the footsteps of these giant men.”

While these white men were setting their sights on the universe and planting the American flag in previously uncharted territory, Blacks were back home leading a Civil Rights Movement and fighting for equality and basic human rights. 

“On that same black and white television, I could see some of the greatest feats of humankind, but also turn the channel and see the struggles that we were having as Black people in this country. To have had that as a dream and hold on to that for many years and then be able to fulfill that dream, that’s the story that I tell young people, no matter what communities that they’re from, that if I can do that, they can too.”

Dr. Harris does regular outreach through a nonprofit foundation that bears his name and its Dare to Dream program, which focuses on empowering through STEM education, health initiatives and financial literacy. He calls reaching young people, particularly those from underserved communities, his “terrestrial mission.”

“I had an extraterrestrial mission in space. My terrestrial mission is ensuring that all of our communities, our inner city communities and rural community students, have the opportunity to fulfill their dreams, whatever their dreams are.”

His efforts rose out of visits to a juvenile detention center in Houston, Texas where he lives. There was a problem. 

“I would engage these young people who were in trouble and they needed help. I would come in there and as the inspiration, I would ask them, ‘What do you want to do when you grow up?’ If you ask that question, in elementary school, or even middle school, you’ll have like 90% of the kids raise their hands. They know what they want to do and they’ll tell you that ‘I want to do this’ or ‘I want to do that.’  

“In this group, the same kids, about 50 of them in a room, two hands were raised, and I realized in that moment that there was something different about these young people, and that was that they forgot the dream, or the environment didn’t allow them to dream.”

Dr. Harris is a shining example of how education can literally propel a person to new heights. “[We] instill in them the value of having goals and setting goals, but more importantly, that how they accomplish that goal is through education.In this day and age, in the 21st century, where technology drives everything that we do, it’s about STEM education and high quality STEM education. That’s important.”

He also motivates with his latest book, “Embracing Infinite Possibilities: Letting Go of Fear to Find Your Highest Potential,” published in February. 

Exposure and access are critical, but there’s pushback as conservatives ban books and classes that acknowledge Black history and the president axes federal funding for programs that seek to address longstanding disparities in diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI). NASA has already ended funding for programs aimed at underrepresented groups.

“I consider myself here because of affirmative action from years ago,” Dr. Harris said. “When there was an outreach to those of us who were qualified to go to medical school and law school and to teach and all that sort of thing, but weren’t given the opportunity. When given the opportunity, the result is me.”

It’s important to continue to provide those opportunities, he says.

“Now that there are those of us who have ‘made it,’ it is incumbent upon us to reach back and reach into our communities and create programs and create our own opportunities. I like to say that we should be our own affirmative action. 

“When I say that, I’m speaking about all communities, but particularly the Black and brown communities,” he continued. “We need to be about creating programs that are going to support our communities so that we can participate equally in the American dream.”

Earlier this year, the U.S. Air Force briefly removed training courses featuring videos of the legendary Tuskegee Airmen in response to President Donald Trump’s DEI ban, but reversed the decision after public outcry. Photos of the pioneering Black pilots were among hundreds of thousands slated for removal from the military’s database. Some are also replacing the word “equity” with other language, and others are removing references to historic “firsts.”

Dr. Harris doesn’t fear erasure. “We’re here to stay. We are part of this nation, we are part of this world. 

“We are contributors and have been since the very beginning and will continue to be. It’s important for us to recognize that, because sometimes we let external forces define us. It’s important to not let anybody define you as an individual, and nor should we let any group define us as a group of people.”

Hall of Fame

Bluford was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2010. Six years before him, another Black man, Robert Lawrence, Jr., was inducted. Dr. Harris will join fellow veteran astronaut Peggy Whitson for a May 31 ceremony at the Kennedy Space Center. 

“It’s very special to be selected to the U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame. In part, I’m selected because of what I’ve done in space,” Dr. Harris said. “Being the crew medical officer on both my missions, some of the medical firsts that I did as a physician in space, along with the space walk and just contributing to the whole space program, I felt very honored, and to be recognized for that has been great.”

That he was selected by his peers makes the honor all the more special “because it comes from people who are knowledgeable about what’s happening in the space program and where we’re going,” Dr. Harris said. “But it’s also about your entire life, about your accomplishments, the things that I have done after. 

“Being an astronaut and being a physician and using that as a platform to go into communities all around this nation, in fact, all around the world, and talk about why STEM education is important, why are dreams important, why are you important to not only you, but your community and your nation. To be recognized for that is a tremendous honor for me.”

This piece was originally published in The Sacramento Observer. For more information, visit www.sacobserver.com.

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