Political Quotes

“on Saturday, May 3, 2003, the Chicago ``DODO'' Chapter of Tuskegee Airmen, Incorporated, in concert with Black Pilots of America will honor three of Aviation's Pioneer African American Women of Color, Bessie Coleman, Willa Beatrice Brown and Janet Harmon, at a ceremony to be held on Saturday, May 3, at the Lincoln Cemetery, 123rd and Kedzie Avenue in Chicago. I shall be pleased to join Mr. Rufus Hunt, aviation historian, and this group of aviation enthusiasts, flyers, former flyers, mechanics and others who love to fly and have dedicated themselves to keeping the legacy of these three women alive. Bessie Coleman was the first African American female pilot. She grew up in poverty and discrimination, came to Chicago from Texas, decided that she wanted to fly, and, with encouragement from Robert Abbott, who was the owner of the Chicago Daily Defender newspaper, she was able to put together resources, go to Paris, go to France and learn to fly, which she did. She returned to America as a heroine, flew many exhibitions, and ultimately though was unfortunately killed in an accident when a wrench got caught in the gears of her plane and she did not have her seat belt on and she was thrown out of the plane, and, unfortunately, died. There is a Bessie Coleman Drive at O'Hare Airport in Chicago that has been dedicated in her memory, and, of course, she has been placed on a stamp by the United States Post Office.”