Bessie Coleman: Black Aviatrix
Elizabeth “Bessie” Coleman is an unknown figure in American history. At first, “she complied with society’s standard of job opportunities for women at the turn of the century by working as a domestic and later a manicurist” (Creasman 162-3). After feeling unfulfilled, she turned to flying. The search for flying lessons by an African American in the 1920’s alone could have discouraged anyone, but not Bessie. Her dream was to open a flight school where young African American men could learn how to fly. This was a bold endeavor for any person regardless of race. After acquiring an international pilot’s license, she became somewhat of a novelty. She was African American, a woman, and a pilot. Realizing her power as an attraction, she would only fly in air shows with the understanding that they not be segregated (Freydberg 91). Bessie was very intelligent, often surrounding herself with women and men of power. Examples being Ida B. Wells-Barnett, Josephine Baker, Ethel Waters, Bill “Bojangles” Robinson, Robert Abbott, Miriam A. “Ma” Ferguson, and Kojo Touvalou-Houenou. Ms. Coleman was also active in both the NAACP, and Marcus Garvey’s Universal Negro Improvement Association (Freydberg 28). She also attended the Second Pan Afr
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Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 3257
Approximate Pages = 13 (250 words per page double spaced)
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