Page 39 - Book one - Flipbook

“Yes, I know. Maybe one day this will change, and we’ll be included in the history books.”
“Let’s hope,” says Jaxon’s dad. “I can’t believe you don’t get credit in the history books.”
“That’s the way things have been. Now you two know about me. What will it take for more
people to know about Black inventors and scientists?”
And with that, Mr. Latimer disappears. Poof! Just like that.
The question sits with Jaxon, What will it take for people to know?
His dad shakes his head and continues talking. “Jaxon, I have something I want to share with
you. I was in my Black Studies class in college when my grandmother had a heart attack. When I

told my professor why I had to take a few days off, he gave me a gift—a book to read while I was
away.”
Jaxon’s dad grabs a book off the shelf. “I’ve kept it all this time. It’s a book about a couple of
famous African American doctors.”
“Famous African American doctors? What are their names?”
His dad opens the book and finds the names. “Come here, do you recognize either of these
names?”

“Dr. Charles Drew and Dr. Daniel Hale Williams,” Jaxon reads aloud. “I think I heard of Dr.
Drew.”
“Well, thank you very much for inviting us in,” states a gentleman
in a white coat with a stethoscope hanging around his neck. He is
standing near the doorway with another man in a white coat who
has a bushy moustache.
“My name is Dr. Drew,” says the man with the stethoscope.
“I’m Dr. Williams,” says the man with the bushy moustache.
“Really!” Jaxon’s dad walks over to the doctors, extending his

hand to both men and smiling broadly. “This is a real pleasure.”
“The pleasure is ours as well.”
Dr. Charles Richard Drew
Dr. Williams looks at Jaxon. “Dr. Drew created the first blood
bank. Have you ever heard of a blood bank?”
“Yes, I learned about it during Health Day at school. It’s a place
where people donate blood, and if you get sick and don’t have
enough of your own, you can get some from the blood bank.”

“Correct,” Dr. Drew responds.
“Jaxon, I was the first doctor to perform open heart surgery,” Dr.
Williams shares.
“Wow,” is all Jaxon could say, thinking about this man being the
Dr. Daniel Hale Williams
very first to perform that important surgery.
And then it dawns on him. “Wait a minute. If you hadn’t performed the first heart surgery,
maybe my dad’s grandmother would have died when she had the heart attack.”