American Wings
Chicago's Pioneering Black Aviators and the Race for Equality in the Sky
-
- 7,99 €
Publisher Description
From the acclaimed author of Flygirl and the bestselling author of Code Name Verity comes the thrilling and inspiring true story of the desegregation of the skies.
“This beautiful and brilliant history of not only what it means to be Black and dream of flying but to, against every odd, do so, completely blew me away.” —Jacqueline Woodson, National Book Award Winner for Brown Girl Dreaming
In the years between World War I and World War II, aviation fever was everywhere, including among Black Americans. But what hope did a Black person have of learning to fly in a country constricted by prejudice and Jim Crow laws, where Black aviators like Bessie Coleman had to move to France to earn their wings?
American Wings follows a group of determined Black Americans: Cornelius Coffey and Johnny Robinson, skilled auto mechanics; Janet Harmon Bragg, a nurse; and Willa Brown, a teacher and social worker. Together, they created a flying club and built their own airfield south of Chicago. As the U.S. hurtled toward World War II, they established a school to train new pilots, teaching both Black and white students together and proving, in a time when the U.S. military was still segregated, that successful integration was possible.
Featuring rare historical photographs, American Wings brings to light a hidden history of pioneering Black men and women who, with grit and resilience, battled powerful odds for an equal share of the sky.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Smith (The Blossom and the Firefly) and Wein (Stateless) chronicle the history of Black pilots in this essential and richly informative work. Opening with the story of Cornelius Robinson Coffey (1903–1994), a Black teen who was determined to fly despite a white pilot's attempts to scare him, the authors detail how white people believed that Black people were incapable of flying because they were seen as unintelligent, lazy, and gutless. The creators assert that Coffey, among others, were likely motivated by Bessie Coleman (1892–1926), the first Black female pilot, whom straightforward text notes as having "opened the skies up to her people." Black Americans soon flocked to aviation, upending white society's unfounded beliefs. Despite massive progress, however, Black women pilots such as Janet Harmon Bragg (1907–1993), the first woman to attend the Curtiss-Wright School of Aviation, still found it difficult to pursue their dreams. Inspirational singular stories feature famous names and institutions such as the Tuskegee Airmen, b&w archival photographs imbue the historical narrative with contemporary-feeling familiarity, and nail-biting tales of flights gone wrong add verve, making for an exciting and richly rendered addition to the history of Black aviation. An epilogue contextualizes Black pilots' impact on society, including pop culture media such as Star Trek. Ages 12–up.
