Bessie
Coleman
Bessie
Coleman, maiden name Elizabeth Coleman was the first African American pilot.
She was born on January 26th, 1892 and died on April 30th,
1926 in Jacksonville, Florida. Her interest in flying began when she was in her
young twenties living with her brothers on the east coast and World War I
pilots were coming back from war. Seeing these pilots ignited her passion and
desire to want to fly. Sadly at the time racist constraints in America restricted
her from practicing which influenced her to learn how to fly out of America
like France. In France she took flight lessons and received her license to be a
certified pilot. After that she returned to the states and continued to fly.
Her drive opened up the door for many other African Americans especially women
to become a pilot if they wanted to. Tragically on April 30th in
Jacksonville, she joined with another pilot named, William Willis were on a jet
just floating over a terrain when a gear become detached in the jet and fell
into a gearbox and got stuck causing the jet to instantly dive and crash
killing the two once it hit the ground. Coleman was one of best martyrs during
the early/mid 1900s for the African American community. She fought against the
odds of being an African American woman in America and passionately followed
her dream of becoming a pilot. By doing this she opened the door for future
African Americans to become anything that they desired no matter how
challenging it may be.
Works Cited
"Bessie
Coleman- First Black Woman Licensed Pilot." First Flight Society. 1.
(2014): n. page. Web. 1 Feb. 2014.
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