Ella Baccouche

Seeking Vision Ella Baccouche

This memoire chronicles the life of Zohra Aziza Baccouche (aka Dr. Z) from the time she became legally blind at the age of eight until she had her fifth brain surgery. It is a story about her fight for life. In spite of her many brain surgeries and legal blindness, Dr. Z created in the year 2000 her own science media production company. Throughout the years she as a science media specialist for her company has custom designed and produced a number of educational promotional videos for Howard University's Physics program, for Evening Exchange with Kojo Knamdi on Howard University Television, for the Discovery Health Channel as a graduate intern, and for the National Society of Black Physicists. She produced, with the sponsorship of CNN in Atlanta where she was assigned after receiving a Mass Media Science & Engineering fellowship from the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), her most memorable video, "The Changing Face of Science." This video documented the struggle and achievements of young African American scientists who were at the time still college students. The goal of her many videos was always to reach, encourage, and inspire African Americans, the blind, and other minority groups who are under-represented in the fields of science and engineering to pursue academic studies and careers in these fields. Moreover, Dr. Z's productions were always intended to engender discussions on the status of minorities, women, and people with disabilities in those fields.