Honoring Martin Luther King, Trailblazer Bessie Coleman, First Black Woman Pilot in America

Honoring Martin Luther King

Thank you to Dr.King and those brave people through our history for trailblazing a path to freedom, equality and justice for all. 

Only in the darkness can you see the stars.--Martin Luther King

Meet Trailblazer Bessie Coleman

Elizabeth (Bessie) Coleman-January 26, 1892 – April 30, 1926

Bessie Coleman was a pioneer in aviation and a trailblazer who broke down barriers of racial prejudice and discrimination of women of all colors. 

Bessie grew up poor on a farm in Texas. She was the tenth of thirteen children who helped her parents work the farm. Looking for a better life, she joined her brothers in Chicago and supported herself as a manicurist in a barber shop. The idea to become a pilot was sparked when she listened to her customers talk about flying military planes. It was her dream to become a flyer, but at that time no flying schools accepted black men OR any women. She had to find a way to learn to fly even if she was a woman and she was brown-skinned.

She worked hard and raised money to go to France to attend flying school there. She learned her lessons and practiced her flying skills to return to the USA with an International Pilots License becoming the first American to ever receive one.

Being the daredevil she was, Bessie took up barnstorming. She performed stunts in the air flying her bi-plane, a plane with two wings, in air shows becoming part of the aerobatics high above the ground. She looped through the sky, performed figure eights, and dived from high above pulling up just in time not to crash into the ground. She was a hit with the crowds, but performed only in locations which allowed black folks to attend. She became so popular she earned the nickname, Queen Bess.

Bessie's career was cut short when the plane she was practicing in for a performance crashed and claimed her life. The world mourned her passing, but celebrated her accomplishments as a courageous woman and an inspiration for African-Americans and all women in the aviation industry. 

VIDEO: Bessie Coleman--Studies Weekly Video

Bessie Coleman, first black woman pilot

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Learn more about trailblazing contemporary women in the interactive e-book for girls, 

Girls Succeed! Stories Behind the Careers of Successful Women.

Girls Succeed! Stories Behind the Careers of Successful Women by J.Q. Rose
Inspiring and empowering girls to achieve success in their dream careers.
To learn more about the -book or to download the book, click here.

Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Civil Rights Leader Ruby Bridges

On this Martin Luther King Jr Day, let me introduce you to Ruby Bridges. She was the first African-American child to attend an all-white public school in the South in 1960. She opened doors to the schools, but also to a better future for all of us.

Take a peek at the short You Tube video to take you back to the day Ruby bravely entered the school house with protesters shouting outside the doors of the New Orleans elementary school. The people were trying to prevent change to the education system and their way-of-life.

VIDEO

The African Americans: Many Rivers to Cross | Ruby Bridges Interview, School Integration | PBS

Ruby Bridges Interview

Thank you to Dr.King and those brave people through our history for trailblazing a path to freedom, equality and justice for all.