Octavia Spencer, Taraji Henson & Janelle Monáe Cover The February 2017 Issue Of ESSENCE Magazine

Hidden Figures actresses Octavia Spencer, Taraji Henson and Janelle Monáe cover the February 2017 issue of ESSENCE magazine.

The movie, which will be released in select markets on December 25 and nationally on January 6, stands out because it unveils a significant piece of American history: a Black female mathematician was essential in catapulting the first American men into orbit.

This genius, Katherine Johnson, is the centerpiece of the unheralded story of NASA’s “colored computers” who broke down racial and gender barriers in the 1960s. Taraji P. Henson plays (Johnson).

Spencer, plays Dorothy Vaughan, NASA’s first Black supervisor.

Monáe portrays NASA’s first Black aerospace engineer Mary Jackson, who challenges Virginia’s Jim Crow segregation laws when she needs to take NASA mandated courses at an all White high school.

In the movie, her friend and colleague Dorothy Vaughan gives her the nerve to petition the court.

This issue hits newsstands January 13. Head over to ESSENCE for more.

Octavia Spencer

Taraji Henson 

Janelle Monáe

Photos Credit: Courtesy