Dr Stephon Alexander, a Black physicist has been questioned, spoken over and met with deliberate silence. This treatment has been received by the tenured Brown University professor from Brown University.
Although this is common for many Black professionals working in traditionally white environments, Alexander excels in an insular field: the study of the universe. This was once considered too difficult for him. The American Physical Society, the nation's largest organization of physicists, was silent in the 1970s when some members claimed that people from Africa were incapable of participating in physics due to their inferior intellect. This is a shocking assertion in a field that demands support for colleagues who make big conceptual leaps.
Alexander's second book, Fear of a Black Universe (released Tuesday), argues that physics lacks racial diversity which harms both individuals and the field. Alexander says that people have a perception that science can only be done one way. However, that is exactly how science has been done for the majority of white male scientists. Scientific discovery is hindered by the fear of straying from this standard.
Alexander calls the high priests in physics theory, and they engage in pure thinking, a realm of elite savants. Alexander embodies the best qualities of people who are not normally allowed in. Alexander has an unmistakable Bronx accent, spoken with the staccato and reverence of a Baptist preacher. As a jazz musician, he was a student in high school who flitted around the world of Afro-centrist Hip-Hop in the early 1990s. His book's title is a reference the rap group Public Enemys Black empowerment record Fear of a Black Planet. Alexander's book was written in the same format that Stephen Hawkings "A Brief History of Time", which he received as a teenager and became his bible. He says that his ability to draw from many worlds makes him an outsider as well as more valuable to science.
You felt so isolated during your postdoctoral time at Stanford that you would go to cafes by yourself to do your calculations. How did that casting out look?
Three physicists talk to one another about technical issues on the blackboard. They are in my office. I wait for them to finish and then I start speaking. Then they continue to talk over me.
We do a lot of soundboarding so theoretical physicists are called a cypher. A cypher is essential in hip-hop. You can riff in a space, but you are not allowed to enter that cypher. If you don't feel welcome or say something offensive, silence could be your response. Silence is taken to mean that you are out. I stopped going to work altogether. Cafes allowed me to think more freely.
I was supported by a few Stanford physicists who were very supportive and engaged me. I'm interested in understanding the inner workings of this guy's mind and see value in it.
I should be open to talking with people who know more than I do. It might help me see the bigger picture. Photograph by Benedict Evans/The Guardian
You missed the opportunity to have sounding boards in your field. But what did the scientific community miss because you were not comfortable working with your peers?
This is because it's important to embrace discomfort, especially cultural discomfort. I couldn't help but talk the way that I do sometimes. At that time, I had long dreadlocks. Even Afro-centric garb was something I would wear. They are missing out on the opportunity to learn how to accept the tensions and the discomforts that can arise when you interact with people who are different. If you are a Black scientist, I believe that they still don't value your intellect or that what you bring to the table by simply being you could be useful in terms of their advancements in science. There is a presumption that they have nothing or very little of value. We entertain them.
What makes engaging the other so important in physics?
I would be proud to say that I'm the master of something, such as John Coltrane's master saxophonist or Chris Isham's master mathematical physicist. Why wouldnt I want to speak to people who know more than I do? Because it may help me see my blind spots, I should be open to talking with people who know more than I do. This is essential for furthering my knowledge in physics.
If I'm the master of something, then why would I want to speak to people who know exactly what I know?
There are social and cultural norms that groups of people have to agree to when they get together. These norms in science or physics exclude certain types of thinking and ideas. For example, let's say that my approach to physics involves taking risks and exploring new ideas. Let's say that aliens, or whatever they may be, are what I am referring to and that I would like to be able put it on the table.
In the book, you mention that scientists of all races and backgrounds fear being presented with a theory that is too wild. What advantage might a Black scientist have?
There is a mathematical standard, or a way of thinking that you have in your training, that you can draw from. The fear could be that I will go beyond that, or that I talk about spirituality. This is not about realism or physicalism. This is about physicalism or realism. Because he is inferior, there's a standard for what a smart physicist should look like, talk like, and act like.
I am just trying to shine a light on this: You guys may think you are being objective and logical, but you don't realize you're functioning as a social system with the dynamics that social orders have, which is to punish criminals. If I come in and just because Im Black or speak with a Bronx accent it makes me passively deviant. There is an upside to this: If I know I am not part of your club but I still participate in the club, I don't have to worry about being kicked out. This allows me to express my wilder ideas.
Is there a theory that you believe is less grounded in the status quo, and was widely accepted?
My book focuses on the birth of quantum mechanics. Quantum mechanics was something I was taught as a student. It was presented to me in the form of a logical foundation for mathematics. It was only after [Erwin] Schrdinger, an Austrian physicist, discovered it that the founding team could engage in discussions about controversial philosophies. People are often made fun of when they engage with different ideas or modes of thinking. But what's important is that it challenges the way you approach a problem conceptually. It is helpful to know that quantum mechanics was founded on the knowledge of other philosophical traditions and spiritual traditions.
Although it is often mocked that people engage with different ways of thinking, the real benefit is that it challenges how we approach problems.
Schrdinger is known for his Schrodinger cat paradox. This is a problem with projecting only one reality. However, we must accept that there may be multiple realities at once. This is also one your main points.
Yes. Let's say that there are many realities or ideas. I use that to mean the diversity of realities. That reality includes perspectives, ideas concepts techniques and new techniques. You can't give people space to express themselves without filtering them out. It allowed people to express themselves and flow, freestyle or rap, all while being able to do so solo. 90% of what was done went quickly. Every now and again, something new would emerge and the tradition would then be able to use it and integrate it into the canon. This is something that I believe science and physics can do better.
Two worlds exist now. This was the case when you were growing up. Your physics teacher was the one who told you that you were smart when you were 15 years old. Did you lose your street cred? Did it affect your street cred?
Alexander is a jazz musician, who was a teenager in Afro-centrist hip hop. Photograph by Benedict Evans/The Guardian
My parents were both cab drivers and computer techs. Mom was a nurse, and the community believed I would be the first person to venture out into the unknown. They were supportive and my mother felt that I was a very curious child.
When I was 17, the idea of being part in that Bronx hip-hop culture wasn't about me needing to be tough, it wasn't about me needing to be a gangster. It was more like, "What's the knowledge?" Do you want to drop knowledge? Because they appreciated the value I brought to the table, the community protected me. It's something that I feel is very important. It seems like there is a dichotomy between street life and rocking knowledge. But it's not. To me, it was a positive thing to go to college back in the days I used to work in that studio with Timbuk3.
Your mentor, Dr Jim Gates from Howard University, made an important discovery about supersymmetry. It was shared with Dr Hitoshi Nishino (a scientist of color), and went unnoticed for more than ten years. Is that not a common occurrence?
Jim realized the work wasn't cited, and I was there to help him. He wrote directly to one of the authors. They cited it but it was too late. To celebrate the discovery of [Gates & Nishinos], I wrote this book.
This is precisely the phenomenon Black people encounter in fields that they are not allowed to. This is why I cited the diversity-innovation paradox research in the book. This study, which involved 1.2 million scientists, shows that minority scientists invent more. This is a known fact. This paradox is the big one: if we invent so often, how can we not know about those innovations? It is not encouraged.
It is discouraging to hear that, I'm sure, for young Black scientists, but you wrote in the introduction that you wanted this book to be a source for inspiration and encouragement to people who feel excluded and marginalized in our scientific communities.
This book was a combination of survey and ingrain. I also wanted to write it in Black tradition to show that I wasn't going to water down anything. This book should be accessible to everyone. It is dense, so it was hard for me to make it easy to read. Similar to Hawkings A Brief History of Time which stayed with me for years, the first time that I read it, I didn't understand much, but I kept on reading it. This book should function as a guide for young Black men.
This is going to blow you away. Hawking, the last sentence: If we discover a complete theory it should be understandable in general principle by all scientists and not just a few.
This interview was edited to ensure clarity and length.
