Black History Month Is Special for a PG&E Leader

During February of my senior year at Howard University, Black History Month took on a new meaning for me. 

I was in the library studying when a woman asked me to help her find information for her daughter’s middle school assignment: to find the connection between three phrases and Black history. 

She showed me the paper with the three phrases and to my great surprise listed were: 

1. Howard University

2. Rhodes

3. Carla Peterman.

After a moment of disbelief I exclaimed, “I know the connection! This is me! I’m Carla, and this is my story!” 

After showing her my student ID as proof, I explained that a few months before, I was selected as a recipient of the Rhodes Scholarship, the most prestigious and hard-to-get international scholarship for graduate studies. It is awarded to 32 students annually in the United States for stellar academic, public service, and athletic performance.

When I applied for the Rhodes, other Black students told me, “People like us don’t get things like that.” An interviewer said to me, “It’s nice to see someone like you here.”

It was a tremendous honor to be the first female, and second person, from a Historically Black College or University (institutions created after the Civil War to educate Black Americans) to receive the Rhodes Scholarship. Previously, Rhodes recipients came primarily from Ivy league colleges or major state universities, but not HBCUs. By doing so, I was now considered part of Black history.

Growing up, Black History Month was always a special time in my home for remembering and celebrating Black Americans who accomplished great feats, even while facing racism and discrimination.

Early role models for me included trailblazers such as surgeon Dr. Charles Drew, who pioneered blood storage and created the first blood banks, and Dr. Shirley Chisholm, the first Black female U.S. Representative and presidential candidate. 

Our family also talked about the trailblazers in our family and community – like my grandfather, Alfred Johnson, who became the first Black assistant stationmaster on the Long Island Railroad.

Hearing their stories, most not captured in my school history books, inspired me to believe I was part of something greater and that as a Black woman I could do great things, even in spaces where there were not others who looked like me.

My experience in receiving the Rhodes Scholarship helped me to believe I could achieve other things. I’d eventually become the first Black female commissioner on the California Energy Commission and CPUC. I know by showing up as my authentic self, others from different backgrounds will be driven to achieve.

In February, our Black Employee Resource Group and National Society of Black Engineers chapter will be holding various virtual events. One of the events will be a discussion with African American coworkers about “Equality in the Workplace.” There will be a workshop on exploring mental health in the Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC) community. And the “Pioneers at PG&E” panel discussion will allow people to meet former PG&E coworkers such as retired Vice President Robert Harris.

So that’s the enduring legacy of Black History Month for me. It reminds us that regardless of one’s skin color and background, it is possible to thrive. One of our internal themes for Black History Month is: #OurHistoryisBlackHistory. To take it another step further, not only is Black history American history, it’s also world history. As the poet Langston Hughes said, “I, too, sing America” and so can each of us.