Queen Bess, The Sky’s First Lady: Bessie Coleman

In the 1920s, the sky was reserved for white men, and the ground was ruled by Jim Crow. But Bessie Coleman, born a sharecropper in rural Texas, refused to be confined by either. Rejected by every American flight school due to her race and gender, Coleman taught herself French, saved every cent from her job as a manicurist, and took a ship to France. In 1921, she returned home as the first Black woman in the world to earn an International Pilot's License. Taking to the skies as the legendary "Queen Bess," she transformed herself into the nation's most daring barnstormer, using her spectacular—and often life-threatening—stunts as a platform for justice. She flew only for integrated audiences, directly challenging segregation one air show at a time, all while relentlessly fundraising for her ultimate dream: a Black flight school. This definitive biography chronicles the audacious life and tragic end of the pioneer who broke the color barrier in the air, charting her journey from the cotton fields of Texas to the cockpits of Europe. It is a story of profound courage, relentless determination, and an enduring legacy that directly inspired the Tuskegee Airmen and forever linked the pursuit of flight with the fight for equality. Approx.160 pages, 29700 word count