![\"\"](\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/Bessie_Coleman.jpg\")
One hundred years ago, Bessie Coleman, born in Texas and\nraised on the South Side of Chicago, was smitten with flight but could not\npursue her dream to become a pilot in the U.S. because of her race. No barrier\nwas too great, however, and on June 15, 1921, she achieved her goal by earning\na pilots license from the French F\u00e9d\u00e9ration A\u00e9ronautique Internationale as the\nfirst African American and Native American pilot in the world to gain such\ncertification. Read about Bessie Coleman<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cBessie Coleman is relevant today,\u201d said Tammera L. Holmes,\nFounder and CEO of The AeroStar Avion Institute. \u201cA century ago, Bessie was\nshut out of aviation because she was Black, but she wouldn\u2019t take no for an\nanswer. Still today, most African Americans are not aware of the many\nopportunities for aviation careers and do not have access to pursue these\nopportunities. As of 2019, only 3% of commercial pilots are African American\nand less for Latinos. Bessie can still inspire the next generation to pursue\ntheir dream especially since the industry is now demanding more diversity as\nevidenced by United Airlines recent announcement on working with Historically\nBlack Colleges and Universities (HBCUs).\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The event coincides with the 100th anniversary of the Tulsa\nmassacre on Black Wall Street, illustrating the environment Bessie faced as she\novercame her barriers. It also comes as the aviation and aerospace industries\nface acute workforce shortages with Chicago-based Boeing reporting a global\nindustry need of 763,000 pilots and 739,000 aviation maintenance technicians by\n2039. Without broadening recruitment beyond traditional white, male pipelines,\nthese industries will not be able to meet its workforce needs. That is why\nAeroStar Avion Institute developed K-12 aviation education not only to expose\nyoungsters in underserved communities to popular aviation careers like pilots and\nmechanics but prepare them for the many STEM career opportunities in the\nindustry including architects, engineers, computer scientists, graphic artists,\nentrepreneurs, tradesmen and even utility workers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIf a child has an interest in STEM, there is a place for\nthem in aviation and there is no better time to pursue those interests than\nnow,\u201d Holmes continued. \u201cThe entire aviation and aerospace industry is actively\nworking on diversity, equity and inclusion as they search for the talent they\nneed. But we still must prepare our children to meet the workforce needs of the\nfuture and that is what this celebration is all about \u2013 to raise money to\nprovide funding to children from underserved communities to access aviation\neducation and take their first step on a pathway to quality, high-paying\naviation careers. Our goal is to educate and train 10,000 black and brown youth\nover the next 10 years, and we are using Bessie\u2019s anniversary to inspire the\nnext 100 years of diversity and inclusion in aviation.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The event kicks off with a Youth AeroSTEM Expo introducing\n50 to 100 youngsters to Chicago-area aviation and STEM organizations. It then\nlaunches into a reception, a video of Bessie Coleman, comments by the 21st\nCentury Bessie Coleman, Kellee Edwards, Travel Channel TV host of \u201cMysterious\nIslands,\u201d a licensed pilot, certified scuba diver and named \u201cthe most\ninteresting women in the world\u201d by Outside Magazine, as well as by 11-year-old\nacting sensation, Master Chase W. Dillon, starring in Amazon Prime\u2019s hit series\n\u201cUnderground Railroad.\u201d Capping the\nfestivities will be the distribution of Bessie Coleman Awards to African\nAmericans who have demonstrated an impact and aptitude for aviation, social\njustice and education.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cPartnering with The AeroStar Avion Institute is a perfect\nrole for the DuSable Museum because our missions align and serve as a point of\nconnection between underserved communities and the historical impact the\nAfrican diaspora has on American industry and culture,\u201d said Perri Irmer,\nDuSable Museum CEO. \u201cFor us, it is important to increase the diversity, equity\nand inclusion in this vital industry so our young people can not only learn to\nfly but can take our entire community with them on their journey.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The celebration is coordinating events at museums around the\ncountry throughout the year, providing local communities with awareness and\naccess to local aviation and STEM education programs. Also invited to celebrate\nBessie\u2019s Centennial are the National Air and Space Museum, Seattle\u2019s Museum of\nFlight, Dayton\u2019s National Museum of the US Air Force, and the Adler Planetarium\nin Chicago.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
On June 15, luminaries from aviation, entertainment, and sports as well French Consulate and Chicago officials will gather at the DuSable Museum, the oldest African American Museum in the United States, to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Bessie Coleman earning her pilot’s license and defying the barriers raised to keep her out of the sky. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18632","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18632","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18632"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18632\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18634,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18632\/revisions\/18634"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18632"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18632"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18632"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}