Arts & Culture ‘The Space Race’ soars high at the 2023 Tribeca Film Festival FILM REVIEW

By Dwight Brown

They’re heroes. Space-race pioneers. Afronauts. Black folks who powered their way into the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) program, and blazed a path for others to follow.

The integration of NASA, the U.S. government agency responsible for science and technology for air and space, as with other government agencies and entities—from schools and corporations to sports and politics—started with a few brave souls. Over the course of history, change happened in the space program, and opportunities arose. And while NASA is more diverse now, that wasn’t always the case.

“The Space Race” is a perceptive, enlightening and historically significant documentary from filmmakers Lisa Cortes (“Little Richard: I Am Everything”) and Diego Hurtado de Mendoza (“Rulon Gardener Won’t Die”), that explores the role of African Americans in the NASA space program. The documentary archives the courageous forerunners, the resistance they confronted, and the support systems that surrounded them as they built an environment that welcomed others.

The OG in the 60-year-old history of Blacks in the space program is Captain Edward Joseph Dwight. A former captain in the United States Air Force, Dwight was a test pilot.

According to various sources, the National Urban League’s Whitney Young put a bug in President John. F. Kennedy’s ear that for the Blacks to believe they could really achieve in science and aeronautics, they needed a role model. JFK heard him and acted.

The legendary Chuck Yaeger, the first pilot in history to break the sound barrier, led the Aerospace Research Pilot School (ARPS), an Air Force training program that sent its graduates into the astronaut corps. Yaeger was implored by representatives for then U.S. Attorney General Robert Kennedy to ac- cept Dwight into his program. To the outside world, Yaeger was an all-American, goodguy hero. According to Dwight, the scuttlebutt he heard was that the ARPS leader plotted against him. Yaeger told his corps: “They’re trying to cram a n****r down our throats.”

The footage in “The Space Race” feels like someone giving a graduate course in Black astronauts, an Afrofuturism masterclass, and a lesson in perseverance.

Dwight’s entry into ARPS, in the early 1960s, was met with opposition, harassment and ostracization. While he experienced discrimination and degradation in ARPS, he was being promoted around the country as the first Black astronaut, a beacon of hope and a symbol of change. What he encountered wasn’t as rosy as the smiling family photos, fawning press releases, and magazine cover stories.

His experience is part of a narrative that the African American community recognizes all too well. Whether it’s Jackie Robinson, Barack Obama, or Althea Gibson, the story is always same: Take a hit for the team. Show courage. Survive and hopefully thrive, and others will follow. In that sense, “The Space Race” is not so much about Black astronauts but more about how African Americans experience racial progress.

The footage in “The Space Race” feels like someone giving a graduate course in Black astronauts, an Afrofuturism masterclass, and a lesson in perseverance. Hearing from 89-year-old Dwight, who is still around to tell his story, is a poignant reminder of our history.

Discovering the advances and achievements that sub- sequent Black space travelers have made is a rare breath of fresh air. Astronauts Guion Bluford (the first Black man in space in 1978), Charles Bolden (four space shuttle missions), and Victor Glover (flight as she floats around the International Space Station in April 2022, becoming the first Black woman to complete a longterm NASA mission. engineer on the International Space Station for Expedition 64), have much to say.

Glimpses of Nichelle Nichols of TV’s “Star Trek” fame advocating for people of color and women to become part of the space program are equally inspiring. She bridged fantasy with real-life space travel.

Collectively, their words are thoughtful, measured, heartfelt and precious.

Footage from the 1960s through the present day is illuminating. The interviews are skillfully conducted and rich with personal anecdotes and astute perspectives by some of these NASA veterans. Historical events, from JFK’s assassination to the space shuttle Challenger tragedy and Civil Rights uprisings, are woven into the storytelling that is never less than reflective.

Trailblazers pay a cost is the message, and this uplifting documentary shines a light on those who sacrificed so others could achieve. Audiences will experience a sense of great pride in the accomplishments of these heroes, in African American history, and recognize a country that is still constantly changing as it learns to confront racism.

“The Space Race” should be required viewing for every kid in a STEM program and for anyone interested in aeronautics, Black history, and what it takes to make our best and brightest ready for the future.

“The Space Race” premiered at the 2023 Tribeca Film Festival in June. The film will be available exclusively on National Geographic Channels and Disney+. No release date has been announced.