In the 1930s, the Chief of the U.S. Army Air Corps made it clear he thought Black people didn’t have what it took to be pilots: “there [are] no black units in the Army Air Corps and none [are] contemplated.”
But one Black woman wouldn’t take no for an answer, and proved them all wrong.
Willa Brown, passionate about aviation, met and later married Cornelius Coffey, who was accepted - then rejected - from Curtiss-Wright School of Aeronautics in Chicago because of race.
They knew Black aviators had power and potential, and had to find a way to expand opportunities.
So they created their own school! Together they formed the Coffey School of Aeronautics, one of the first Black-owned flight schools in the country.
Brown was a natural publicity whiz, and got great publicity in the Chicago Defender. Soon they had thousands of students.
Brown relentlessly petitioned the government to admit Black pilots into the Air Force, and was wildly successful - over 200 of her students eventually went on to become Tuskegee Airmen!
Her passion for aviation, and especially her relentless determination to achieve her dream and support opportunities for our people in spite of racist and sexist barriers in her path, transformed aviation and empowered thousands of Black people!