When composing this week’s Elephants Never Jet, I wanted to allude to famous figures from aviation history. First, Howard Hughes came to mind, principally because he played a big part in The Rocketeer movie. Plus, he has a biopic of his own that you might have heard about. Hughes today has the reputation of an innovator, rebel, and eccentric who moved aviation forward.
But Hughes has nothing on Bessie Coleman. In 1921, Coleman became the first black woman to earn an international pilot license. Facing gender and racial discrimination in the United States, Coleman learned French and traveled to France to earn her license. She later worked as a restaurant manager and beauty shop owner in the U.S. while saving to buy her own plane. And she amazed crowds as a stunt pilot, working toward her dream of opening a flight school for blacks. Tragically, she died in an airshow accident before seeing that dream through.
“I knew we had no aviators, neither men nor women, and I knew the race needed to be represented along this most important line, so I thought it my duty to risk my life to learn aviation and to encourage flying among men and women of our race.” – Bessie Coleman
“Queen Bess” Coleman might not have her own movie, but her story still resonates today. Nearly 100 years later, women and girls of color still face significant barriers to careers in STEM. We need to support their dreams and promote WOC STEM role models in real life and in art. Elephant aviation might be a fun fiction, but all humans deserve a chance to achieve liftoff.