Free
It’s one thing to have a dream.
Bessie Coleman had that, for sure. It’s another thing to have the courage and self-confidence to do what it takes to make that dream come true. Coleman had that as well.
◀ Coleman saved her money and applied to U.S. flight schools. But she was rejected by every one of them. Why? Because she was Black and female. Coleman sought the advice of Robert Abbott. She was sure he would have some ideas. And he did. Abbott reminded Coleman that people in France were more open to Blacks and women, and suggested she go to France for training. There was only one problem: The application for flight school had to be written in French. Did that stop Coleman? No way. She began taking French classes at night.
Finally, Coleman was accepted at the Caudron Brothers’ School of Aviation in Le Crotoy, France. She moved to France, enrolled in the school, and within about seven months had earned her international pilot’s license. Graduating from flight school in June 1921 at age 29, she became the first Black female to have a pilot’s license. At that time, her plan was to return to the U.S. and live her dream of becoming a commercial pilot. ▶
▲ Reporters greeted Coleman when she got back to the U.S. There were news articles and standing ovations at public events. Nevertheless, Coleman came to understand that living her dream in the U.S. wasn’t going to be as easy as she had thought. Why not? She was Black and female. In spite of her training and her international license, getting a commercial pilot’s license in the U.S. was not possible. Did that stop Coleman? Not a chance.
◀ Coleman was determined to fly. She returned to Europe so she could learn to perform aerial stunts like parachuting out of a plane, walking on the wing, and flying figure eights. Barnstorming – putting on an air show of tricks – was her only career path. That, and showing films of her past shows and giving speeches. Coleman did what she had to do – all for the purpose of earning enough money to buy her own plane and open a flight school for other Blacks who shared her dream.
▲ September 3, 1922, in Garden City, New York, was the date and place of Coleman’s first air show and the first public flight by a Black woman in the U.S. Robert Abbott gave the show a write-up in the Chicago Defender, saying Coleman would do “heart-thrilling stunts.” By some reports, up to 3,000 people were there, watching as Coleman did loops and barrel rolls in the air. People were fascinated. Known as “Queen Bess” and “Brave Bess,” her popularity grew in the U.S. and Europe.
Coleman used her position to stand against segregation. For example, she refused to fly if Blacks and Whites were forced to use separate entrances to her shows and if conditions were unequal for people in the audience. Playwright and actor Madeline McCray noted the following about Coleman in her play A Dream to Fly: The Life and Times of Bessie Coleman. ▶
Bessie Coleman was an activist. She refused to perform in air shows where Blacks were not allowed to use the front entrance. Jim Crow laws were very broad. People couldn’t sit together; they couldn’t come in together. She wasn’t having any of that.
Reflection
Coleman told a reporter, “The air is the only place free from prejudice.” Reflect on these words. What do you think Coleman meant by them? What is your reaction?
◀ Coleman also had a film career, though a brief one. In her first film, she was given a role that required her to appear in rags with a walking stick and a pack on her back. “No Uncle Tom stuff for me!” she said. (Uncle Tom is the name of an enslaved person in Uncle Tom’s Cabin, a novel by Harriet Beecher Stowe. It refers to a Black person wanting approval from White people.) Coleman’s refusal ended her film career. In her book about Coleman, author Doris Rich wrote, “Clearly her walking off the movie set was a statement of principle. . . . She had no intention of perpetuating [causing to last indefinitely] the derogatory [negative] image most Whites had of most Blacks.”
After recovering from the accident, Coleman went back to traveling around the country, performing, showing films, and saving money to open that flight school she dreamed of. On May 1, 1926, a show was scheduled in Jacksonville, Florida. The day before the show, Coleman and her mechanic, William Wills, took the plane up for a test ride. Wills was at the controls. Coleman was planning a parachute jump the next day and needed to move around the plane to look for the best place on the ground to make her landing. At about 2,000 feet, the plane suddenly sped up, went into a nosedive, and flipped over. Without a seatbelt, Coleman fell out of the plane to her death. Later, a wrench stuck in the gears was found to be the cause. ▶
Think Piece!
Think about what Coleman achieved in her life. What words would you choose to describe her character? How did she demonstrate those qualities?
