Zero Genie

MADISON, Wis. (WMTV) — Mae Jemison, the first woman of color to go to space, gave the keynote address honoring Martin Luther King Jr. to a packed hall at the University of Wisconsin-Madison Tuesday night.

Mae Jemison gives a speech to a packed hall at UW-Madison Tuesday night.

Greeted by a standing ovation, Jemison may be considered a living legend. Not only a former NASA astronaut, Jemison is also a physician, engineer and doctor.

To some UW-Madison students in the audience, Jemison is also a sorority sister. Jemison is an honorary member of Alpha Kappa Alpha (AKA), the nation’s oldest black sorority. She said she took a flag of AKA to space, explaining, “I tried to take representation of folks, or organizations, who wouldn’t necessarily have been taken up before.”

Video and audio recordings of most of Jemison’s speech were not permitted, but Jemison spoke to media, including NBC15, ahead of the event. There, she talked about the early experiences that shaped her and the reflections she had upon returning from space.

“People always want to know about those… eight days [in space],” Jemison said. “There are probably things that were as influential beforehand for me because you very much carry up who you are up there.”

Jemison said she “always assumed” she would go to space, even as a young girl.

“We have every right to trail, to blaze all kinds of trails– not for ethnicity, for gender, but around topics, whether it’s writing or tissue engineering, whether it’s interstellar spaceflight,” she said. “We have the right to be involved.”

Nyla Mathis, a junior at UW-Madison and chapter president of AKA, said she was inspired by Jemison’s life story, particularly as a fellow black woman.

“It’s easy to walk around campus, and you don’t see people like you,” Mathis said. “You’re in class, and you don’t see people like you. There aren’t many people consistently advocating for you, so when you do have somebody that’s accomplished as much as Dr. Jemison has… it’s very important for them to come back and pour into us.”

Organizers estimate more than 1,100 people attended the public event, including hundreds standing around the hall and in the hallway.