Black History Month: Bessie Coleman From Texas

As we kick off Black History Month, where its celebrated EVERYDAY here on Kiss-FM, we take a look at woman who was recently celebrated and honored for her accomplishments by a Google Doodle on her 125th Birthday. 

Bessie Coleman was born in Atlanta, Texas on January 26, 1892, to a family of 13 children. Bessie managed to make it our of her poor, segregated south beginnings and, at the age of 23, moved to Chicago to change her fortune.

She had little luck until she heard the stories of WWI pilots who had just returned home and decided to pursue a dream that was unheard of for not only women, but especially black women.

She saved up her money and moved to Paris in 1920, and began to learn to fly. Seven months later in 1921, she received her international pilot's license, becoming the first female pilot of African-American and Native American descent. She returned to America to large crowds cheering her on at air shows before her untimely death in at the age of 34.