Taylor Richardson, a14-year-old aspiring astronaut just raised more than enough money to send 1,000 girls to see “A Wrinkle in Time.” pic.twitter.com/xwnRLGGBNZ
— Black Girl Magic ✨ (@BlackGirlMagix) February 13, 2018
We first fell in love with then 13-year-old Taylor Richardson last year, when she translated her love of STEM fields and Black Girl Magic into an amazing fundraiser to help 100 girls not only see the film Hidden Figures, but buy snacks and get a copy of the book upon which the film was based. Now, she’s kicking her helpfulness up a notch—this time, inspired by the geeky Meg Murry in A Wrinkle in Time!
Richardson’s track record with crowdfunding in the name of black girls pursuing and being inspired by science is pretty killer. After all, she was only 9 years old when she successfully crowdfunded herself into a trip to Space Camp. Now, at 14 years old, she wants to send 1,000 girls to see A Wrinkle in Time and get copies of the book. Why, you ask? Here’s what Richardson says on her GoFundMe page:
“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!”
Richardson has already exceeded her fundraising goal of $15,000. As of this writing she’s raised $17,855. So, what’s she doing with the extra money? She hopes to give other young girls the same opportunity she had to go to Space Camp, as well as fund other initiatives for girls to pursue their space-bound dreams.
This past summer, she awarded a girl named Kaitlyn Ludlam (a.k.a. AstroBot Kaitlyn) her first Astronaut StarBright Space Camp scholarship. After that, she’s had many kids reach out to her asking if she was going to do that again, or what’s next.
She says: “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.”
So, if you believe in this brilliant, driven girl’s mission, feel free to continue giving to her Go Fund Me and help her single-handedly diversify the space program.
(via BlackGirlMagix on Twitter, image: Disney)
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