# data[].attributes.body
I have learned about Bessie Coleman in the past, so when investigating her life this time I chose to go deeper into the parts that were a little foggier. I wanted to know why she chose flying. I found that after learning about the freedom that French women had, Bessie’s world had been opened and she was determined to have the same freedoms regardless of gender or race. I think that is one of the most important things about Bessie Coleman. Her drive, determination, perseverance; she is wholeheartedly committed to her dream. That sort of conviction couldn’t have been overlooked, she wouldn’t allow it. Besides her achievement in aviation, the publication of such a strong black woman is significant. Another quality I admire about Coleman was her humility. She was all about opening the world of aviation up to minorities and letting them experience the thrill she so loved. I hope that I can be as driven as her in my craft so I too can open the doors to other minorities. I will put this into practice in my role as General Director of YAMO. I will be talking to SOAR in order to create a program to increase the flow of people of color in YAMO auditions.

# data[].attributes.headline
"I decided blacks should not have to experience the difficulties I had faced, so I decided to open a flying school and teach other black women to fly."

# data[].attributes.subject
"I decided blacks should not have to experience the difficulties I had faced, so I decided to open a flying school and teach other black women to fly."

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
“Gigi Coleman, One Woman Show (Bessie Coleman)” - Bulldog Bites

# data[].attributes.body
Bessie used her determination perseverance and good fortune to lift her people up. Her goal was to create a safe place for Black Americans to become certified pilots and achieve their dreams as she did. Despite her death, her dream of a flying school for African Americans became a reality when William J. Powell established the Bessie Coleman Aero Club in Los Angeles in 1929. As a result of being affiliated, educated or inspired directly or indirectly by the aero club, flyers like the Five Blackbirds, the Flying Hobos, The Tuskegee Airmen and others continued to make Bessie’s dream a reality. In 1931, the Challenger Pilots’ Association of Chicago began an annual flyover at Chicago’s Lincoln Cemetery to honor Bessie. In 1977, women pilots in Chicago established the Bessie Coleman Aviators Club. In 1995, the U.S. Postal Service issued a “Bessie Coleman” stamp commemorating “her singular accomplishment in becoming the world’s first African American pilot and, by definition, an American legend.” In October 2002, Bessie Coleman was inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame in New York.

# data[].attributes.headline
“The air is the only place free from prejudice.”

# data[].attributes.subject
“The air is the only place free from prejudice.”

# data[].attributes.headline
From working in the fields to soaring in the sky-

# data[].attributes.subject
From working in the fields to soaring in the sky-

# data[].attributes.body
From the beginning, Bessie had a lot of determination. As a kid, she worked on her parents' sharecropping plot and even paid her way to one year of agriculture college. In 1915, at 23 years old, Coleman moved to Chicago, where she lived with her brothers and worked as a manicurist. Both brothers had served in France during World War I. Her brother John one day said: “I know something that French women do that you’ll never do – Fly!” This provided tremendous motivation for Bessie. She went to France, received her pilot's license, making her the first American with an international pilot's license. Bessie had proved he brothers wrong, but now Bessie wanted to give other Black Americans the same opportunity. She became a stunt pilot to pay for a flying school for African American's. In one of her stunts, Coleman tragically fell feet to her death. Though she never reached her goal Bessie Coleman would go down in history being, the first African American, let alone African American woman with a pilot's license.