The 1st Black Female Brigade Commander At Naval Academy: ‘I Have The Heart To Do It’

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Midshipman 1st Class Sydney Barber will become the first Black woman to serve as brigade commander at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md.

It’s the top leadership post for midshipmen — in civilian terms, the equivalent of a student body president — and she is the 16th woman to serve in the position in the 44 years women have been allowed to attend the Naval Academy.

Poised to take over the role as leader of 4,400 midshipmen next semester, Barber told NPR’s All Things Considered that there was a time when she had no desire to attend the Naval Academy.

“I never wanted to join the Navy growing up,” she said, laughing.

Her father is a graduate of the Naval Academy, and Barber said, “Everything, everywhere, any time, was all about Navy this, Navy that.”

She wanted to “write her own path” but kept returning to her “drive for wanting to…

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