When I attended the US Inventor first annual conference last month, I had the pleasure of meeting James Howard, Executive Director of the Black Inventor’s Hall of Fame (BIHOF). He had a display panel at his table that showed a collage of pictures of Black inventors. Because the breaks between sessions were short, I didn’t have time to talk to him as long as I would have liked, so we caught up on Zoom last week.
I told James that I had browsed every page of the Black Inventors Hall of Fame website as well as his LinkedIn profile and was impressed with his background and experience. We share a few things in common —we were both born in Chicago, are entrepreneurs, and have taught entrepreneurism. Of course, James taught as a professor at the County College of Morris while I only taught teens how to start their business in an after-school and summer camp program for a non-profit called Millennial Entrepreneurs in the early 2000s.
Besides being an inventor himself, Mr. Howard also brings over 25 years of experience as a design professor and has authored a course on Design Thinking and Design History that explores the impact of design on society. His latest venture is Entrepreneurial U, Morris County’s first school of Design Thinking.” Mr. Howard said, “I have over 20 patents, so I understand what an inventor has to go through before finally getting their patent and a functioning model. I have had numerous patented products succeed on the market. Most notably the AlarmLock access control lock, and the Vital Signs NeoNatal pressure relief valve for resuscitating infants at birth.
I asked why he founded BIHOF, and he replied, “I founded BIHOF to immortalize the pioneering genius of African American inventors for the past 400 years. We needed “to recognize and tell the story of African American greats such as George W. Carver who in 1941 was referred to as “The Black Leonardo” by Time Magazine for his prolific contributions in the field of agriculture. Yet, nearly 80 years later, Carver was all but ignored by Time in its list of top 100 American inventors of all time. It is time that exceptional inventors are immortalized by being inducted into the Black Inventor’s Hall of Fame. The story of African American Inventors is a sad history of being lost or simply overlooked. Far too often, historical accounts forget to mention the incredible achievements of Black inventors. I am honored to have the privilege of bringing a broad and detailed awareness of the important work of African American inventors, artists and innovators who have inspired and forged ahead against tremendous odds and adversity.”
He added, “Every year we induct extraordinary Black inventors into the Black Inventor’s Hall of Fame to permanently recognize their innovative contributions to society. The website serves as a platform telling the story of talented African American innovators. We include and highlight notable advancements and projects from academia, manufacturing and agriculture to advancements in medicine and the sciences. Our goal is to identify entrepreneurial leaders who have invented and produced groundbreaking technological advancements that improve the quality of life around the world.”
Mr. Howard said, “What you invent you have to make before you can finalize your model. It is the basis for innovation, and if we don’t invent, we don’t have products to be made by manufacturers. There is a link between inventing and entrepreneurism. That is why I started my school of entrepreneurism to help long term unemployed learn new job skills and a new way to achieve a good life. “
He explained, “In our community, we appreciate the importance of inventing and innovation. Finding new ways to do something or make something is woven into our DNA. However, many African Americans have great ideas but they don’t have the benefit of having a “rich uncle” to finance their venture. They have to try to finance it themselves, and the majority don’t succeed.”
I said I realize that there are nearly 400 inventors listed in Henry Baker’s list of Black Inventors, but this list was published in 1894, so I wondered if he would highlight a few more recent inventors featured in his Hall of Fame.
He responded, “I would feature Dr. Hadiyah-Nicole Green. She has developed a revolutionary cancer treatment that uses lasers and nanotechnology to eliminate cancer.” Her bio states, “She is a STEM pioneer, leader, humanitarian, and entrepreneur who is introducing the world to the next generation of cancer treatments, cancer charities, and affordable healthcare. She is one of the nation’s leading medical physicists and one of a short list of African American women to earn a Ph.D. in Physics. Dr. Green developed a revolutionary cancer treatment that uses lasers and nanotechnology to eliminate cancer in mice after only one 10-minute treatment in just 15 days with no observable side effects. To ensure the affordability of this treatment, she founded a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, the Ora Lee Smith Cancer Research Foundation (OraLee.org), to raise the funding for human clinical trials.”
He said he would also include the late Dr. Patricia Bath, who invented “laserphaco, a new device and technique to remove cataracts. It performed all steps of cataract removal: making the incision, destroying the lens and vacuuming out the fractured pieces. She is recognized as the first Black woman physician to receive a medical patent.”
He also mentioned Lonnie G. Johnson, who is a former Air Force and NASA engineer who invented the #1 top selling water toy of all time, theSuper Soaker®. Coincidently, my husband and I had just watched an episode of The Toys ThatMade America on the History channel featuring the Super Soaker®. The show told how it took Mr. Johnson eight years to find a Toy company, Hasbro, willing to make a deal to produce and market this toy, which has generated well over $1 billion in sales over its lifetime. The show mentioned that Mr. Johnson’s longtime research focuses on energy technology, and his toy resulted from his work on an environmentally friendly heat pump. His bio states, “He currently holds over 100 patents and has over 20 more pending on products and processes ranging from toys and consumer products to advanced technology energy. He is president and founder of Johnson Research and Development Co., Inc., a technology development company, and its spin off companies, Excellatron Solid State, LLC; Johnson Electro- Mechanical Systems, LLC; and Johnson Real Estate Investments, LLC.”
I told him that when I browsed the website, I saw that he is planning a museum for BIHOF, and he replied, “Yes, we are raising money to build a museum, which we envision to be a 31,000 sq. ft. facility with state of the art, tuition free STEAM classrooms, theater, Metaverse library, startup incubator, and a Legends Hall featuring the top Black inventors of the Golden Era in this country. The BIHOF Museum and STEAM Learning Center is planned to be located in New Jersey. BIHOF is a 501c3 organization, so donations to help build the museum are tax deductible. “
I encourage everyone reading this article to consider making a donation to BIHOF so that Black inventors will receive the recognition they deserve and future inventors will be helped to succeed in the business incubator.
I told James that I was a managing member of a business incubator in the late 1990s and actually wrote my first book on business incubators in 1997 after visiting and researching incubators around the country for five years. I think the idea of having an incubator for businesses started by Black inventors is a great idea because incubators and the new Makerspaces are very helpful in accelerating successful businesses.
We both agreed that it is hard enough for any inventor to get a patent, raise the money to make and market a product, or get a licensing deal, but current broken patent system makes it even harder to be successful for both white and Black Americans. We urgently need the patent reform recommended by US Inventors.
