Remembering Bessie Coleman, the first black woman to get a pilot license in 1921

BY MILDRED EUROPA TAYLOR,  via https://face2faceafrica.com

She was determined to succeed but two things were then against her; her race and her gender.

Bessie Coleman, who was born on January 26, 1892, in Atlanta, Texas gained interest in aviation following the stories she heard and listened to about World War I pilots.

She subsequently went to France upon the advice of Robert Abbott, the publisher of the then largest African American newspaper, the Chicago Defender, where she earned her license.

Coleman just took seven months to learn how to fly at the school in France, where she was the only black student.

Through money she had saved from working as a manicurist and manager of a parlour in a Texan restaurant, as well as, funding support from African-American businessman, Jesse Binga, Coleman was able to see through her education successfully.

She, however, received the shock of her life when a student died in the course of training at the school.

Nevertheless, Coleman persevered and eventually, the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale awarded her an international pilot licence in June 1921.

This made her the first African-American, male or female, to be given the pilot license from the Federation.

She came back to the United States right after, where she realized that she was almost a celebrity as the African-American press had already begun writing about her…

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