Bring A Wrinkle in Time to Ghana
** Check out Glamour Magazine's piece, featuring Taylor!!! **
The Root 
Photo by Rose Marie Mitchell for Teen Vogue class of 2017 21 under 21
Most of you may remember that at just 9 years old I raised funds via GoFundMe to attend my first Space Camp in Huntsville, Alabama and that one day I will be an astronaut, scientist and an engineer. Since then outlets like GoFundMe not only help my STEM dreams come true but others as well. Just this year through GoFundMe I raised over $20,000 to send over a 1000 girls to see the movie Hidden Figures because it was important to me that girls know that with drive, determination, and hard work you be anything, a scientist, a mathematician, an engineer, an astronaut or maybe the President of the United States even when the odds are against you!
I am 14 now and using my voice to not only bring girls of color to STEM/STEAM but all kids all over the U.S. and abroad.
I’m so excited about the upcoming movie A Wrinkle in Time , which is scheduled to come out spring 2018.
My goal is to send a 1000 girls to see this movie. (https://youtu.be/UhZ56rcWwRQ)
Why? I have a lot of reasons but the main ones are:
1. It shows young, black girls deserving a chance to be a part of the scifi cultural canon.
2. It has a female protagonist in a science fiction film. A brown girl front and center who looks like me in the role of Meg, a girl traveling to different planets and encountering beings and situations that I’d never seen a girl of color in.
3. Most impressive and importantly, it’s a fantasy film that is not about some white boys fighting evil, but about a black girl overcoming it.
Like Meg’s dad in the movie he wants to touch the stars I want girls especially those of color to see this movie and know that not only can touch the stars they already are ones! Maxine Waters says she’s “reclaiming her time,” well we girls are becoming the “Warriors” and we are “reclaiming our STEM!” With your donation it will help me help girls dream bigger and become more Megs in this world!
So to send a 1000 girls to see this movie is going to cost! My goal is to raise $15,000 send girls to see this movie along with giving each a copy of the book.
Supporting this project means you support not only diversity but gender equality in STEM and our films. KIDS NEED REPRESENTATION so that they can take pride in who they are and know that they are more than capable of being anything they put their minds to. Help us be warriors we Know we can be in STEM!
Any additional funds raised?
Just this summer of 2017, I gave one girl Kaitlyn Ludlam now known as AstroBot Kaitlyn the chance of a lifetime to attend Space Camp, by offering my first Astronaut StarBright Space Camp scholarship. Since then I’ve had so many people write me to ask how I can help them get to Space Camp, do I have a website, how can I contribute to my cause!
And whether it be through my Taylor’s Take Flight with a Book club to inspire kids to take flight to their dreams and aspirations by having home libraries, which to date has collected and donated over 5000 books to kids in Jacksonville, Florida, attending the first ever United State of Woman summit in 2016, speaking at the first ever 2017 March for Science in Washington D.C., letting over 100,000 people know that I’m just not a girl in STEM but a Black Girl Who Rocks STEM, I am definitely showing people that you better get used to me and other girls in STEM because we aren’t going anywhere!
I am humbly grateful to have graced the covers of Scholastic Science World (Oct 2017), Women in Aviation 2017 Girls for Aviation and Kid News Maker magazine reaching over 1000s of youth across the world. And if that wasn’t enough I team up with the Ireland based STEAM doll company Lottie Dolls to inspire Astro Adventures a Space suit for its dolls.
I’ve been so blessed to have this platform and it has allowed me to break some barriers and let girls know that not only can they dream STEM/STEAM big they can be leaders at those tables as well.
So what’s next. Well I want to continue my mission to bring diversity and gender equality to the STEM field, by running various projects and initiatives to make this happen. All funds raised will go towards projects, events, and scholarships to meet those ends.
Thank you!
Taylor aka Astronaut StarBright
Teen Vogue 21 under 21 list
GoFundMe Blog
Women you Should Know
Women you Should Know II
Fem Stem
AFG Digital
