Fifty years before Martin Luther King’s immortal words, a young girl in Waxahachie, Texas had a dream. After teaching herself to read, Bessie Coleman devoured every book she could find on the still infantile field of aviation. She was denied flying lessons not only because she was a woman, but also because she was African American.
Bessie sought the advice of Robert Abbott, owner of the Chicago Defender, who suggested she pursue her ambition in Europe. To fund her trip, she worked days as a manicurist in Chicago and at night she studied French. Within a month, she had a grasp on the language and was off to France.
Bessie underestimated her expenses and was forced to return to Chicago where she managed a chili shop and built her savings for a second trip. It was 1921 when Bessie returned to America — International Pilots License in hand. She traveled with her barnstorming show and immediately put the second part of her dream, that of starting an aviation school for African Americans, into action. Bessie began to lecture and educate. She exposed other African Americans to the field of aviation and spoke out against separation and oppression.
For years, people have lobbied relentlessly to honor Bessie Coleman with a U.S. postage stamp. This t-shirt was part of a presentation made to the Postal Advisory Commission in 1993. In the spring of 1995, the dream became a reality with the unveiling of a thirty-two cent stamp featuring Bessie’s pilots license photo.
This victory is testimony that her words, "I refused to take no for an answer", continue to inspire visionary change.
