Cambridge Lighthouse Press

Edward DeV. Bunn, Jr.

Lifting as She Climbed

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Bessie Coleman—the first Black female pilot—was a lightning rod for feminism and civil rights at the turn of the twentieth century. Graceful and charming with her quick wit and sharp mind, she single handedly emancipated herself and every Black aviator. She led the way and created the belief that females were not only good enough, but could also be better than men and be there before men in dangerous new frontiers. She was the first female to hold an international pilot’s license, the first female Black pilot and a barnstormer, and the first woman to test pilot some of the world’s largest aircraft of her day. She rose to the very pinnacle of aviation in 1924. Beyond her contributions to feminism and the Black race, she was a special human being set apart and above the rest. She may have been the first free Black female to have told the lesson that women can do it all—and do it all with class.

Coleman was admired by the Black leaders and journalists of her time not only for her aviation achievements, but as well for the ideals that she epitomized and which they felt Black women needed to believe in. They knew that Coleman’s accomplishments would stand as an example for those who did not believe that Blacks and females could rival whites in all aspects of life. In the words of the Black Women’s Movement: “she lifted as she climbed.” This motto had a profound effect on Coleman and it was her life’s mantra.

            She was born in 1896 in the cotton fields of Texas. By the time she was eight years old she was the family accountant. She could calculate in her head the amount of cotton her family picked each day and how much was owed to them. At age 18, she attended Normal University in Oklahoma, but was placed at the remedial level of the eighth grade. After one semester, she ran out of money and could not finish school. She proceeded to learn French and German to attend flight school in those countries. Because she was a Black female, she could not find an instructor in the United States that would teach her to fly. In France, she walked nine miles everyday to get to the school. She was taught by noted instructors, such as the Red Barron.

           Flying was a man’s risk to take—it was considered unladylike, requiring nerves of steal and rugged individualism—the antithesis of womanhood. Coleman’s daredevil style captivated audiences everywhere she went. She was charming and debonair, becoming the first Black female to draw mass audiences beyond show business. She used this draw to cause societal changes for females and for Blacks. She rebuked governors and other officials in refusing to speak or appear at air shows where the crowd was segregated. Her status enabled her to assert her beliefs, when others could not. Her speeches, directed primarily to the betterment of females and Blacks, were inspirational and moving, possessing the charisma of the best of leaders. She gave up a movie career, and walked off the movie set depicting her life, never to return, because the movie portrayed blacks as lower class citizens. Her premature death in 1926 left unfulfilled her special dream of opening a flight school for Blacks, as well as her dream to witness the Black women “she lifted as she climbed.”