THREAD: These next set of tweets are for my final project for one of my classes, Math of Everyday Life. These tweets will be about the mathematician, Erica N. Walker, her life, work and inspiration that I have gained from her.

Erica N. Walker is a mathematician who grew up in Atlanta, Georgia. She found her joy for Mathematics as a young girl, when she did Math with her neighbor who was a public-school teacher.

Her neighbor would bring her some Math work to complete, as she would do it for fun and it would keep her interested. This experience instilled a positive and joyful love for Mathematics that would eventually lead to her career later in life.

Erica enjoyed Math throughout her school years, she even would help her friends out with their work. Through this love for the subject, she wondered if she could make Math a career path for herself; but she wasn’t entirely sure on how that would unfold for her.

In high school, one of her own teachers recommended that she should take AP Calc, to further her joy and passion for Math while also recommending to pursue a major in Mathematics in college, she decided to follow through with those recommendations.

When taking the AP Calc class, she was very excited to take it but quickly realized that her teacher wasn’t that great. So, Erica and her classmates ended up teaching one another after class, as this confirmed her passion for Math, for greatness.

Erica went on to attend Birmingham-State College for a Bachelor of Science in Math with a minor in Spanish, then she went to Wake Forest University for her Master’s and lastly, she went to Harvard University for a doctorate in administration, planning and social policy.

In between her degrees, she taught Math at a public high school before becoming a Professor of Math Education at Teachers College, Columbia University, where she resides today. She also is the Director of the Institute for Urban and Minority Education (IME).

Her research focuses on the factors of changing the view of Math, lessening the Mathematical disadvantages in many underserved communities and shedding a light on the many Black Mathematicians in history.

Through all of these factors, one thing remains the same: showing that the positives in Math are available for all people to express.

Furthermore, she has researched the ways in which many underserved communities don’t have the resources to provide students with the academic opportunities needed to create a future career for themselves or they don’t see the potential in some students that are gifted.

This disadvantage is a problem for many students; however, as Walker has looked at, it is a bigger issue for students of color. One of the solutions that she has found to lessen this disadvantage is that schools need to have staff that want to teach Math in a positive light and

staff that can recognize a student potential and help them achieve their aspirations. For Walker, equality and equity in Mathematics is a must.

It is something that she has worked her whole career striving for, a future where Mathematics can be a subject that all people, regardless of race or gender, can come together and enjoy with no extra barriers to have go through.

Besides working towards equality and equity for all in Mathematics, Erica Walker has also written a book called Beyond Banneker: Black Mathematicians and the Path to Excellence, a book that showcases the extraordinary lives of many Black Mathematicians in history.

In Beyond Banneker, she looks at the unique paths that many Black Mathematicians have taken to pursue their Mathematical careers.

From the time of slavery to those who got their PhD’s in the 1940s to the present day, she looks at each journey of these successful Black Mathematicians and the tough barriers they had to go through to achieve their dreams.

Walker has published this book and a few other publications that pertain to her research focuses and her passion for Math. Throughout it all, we can all gain inspiration and knowledge from her work. For me personally, I have gained much inspiration from her and her work.

For this class, we had to read a Q&A article that someone did with Erica Walker about her book, Beyond Banneker. As I read through the article, I kept becoming more interested to hearing about the lives of these amazing Black Mathematicians.

I knew I wanted to do my end of the semester project on Walker and her work about the many successful Black Mathematicians because their stories are so fascinating to hear about. Up until this class had begun, I had never heard of more than a few Black Mathematicians.

Mainly because in school we learn about White Mathematicians, particularly, older, white mathematicians. With this project, I wanted to step away from that idea that mathematicians in history are only white men. Erica Walker’s work inspired me to learn more about the stories and

successes of Black Mathematicians. Too many times we have heard of white mathematicians, it is important to hear about other mathematicians and their journeys, because their stories matter just as much.

It’s time for us to learn about successful mathematicians like women, people of color, LGBTQ+ and more. It is important for us to learn more about all of the extraordinary people within the world of Mathematics, not just one group of people.

Erica N. Walker has given me the opportunity to learn about the amazing work she is doing for changing the way Math is interpreted and the opportunity to learn about Black Mathematicians who have done great things for the subject of Mathematics as a whole.

Her work has allowed me to recognize the successes that have been achieved but to also recognize the lack of resources and barriers of discrimination that are still around today for unfortunately too many people.

I have learned that we all need to advocate for a better today for all of our students so we all can achieve our dreams in an equal way for a better tomorrow.