Coming Soon: A Short Film About Bessie Coleman, the First African American Female Pilot
The history of aviation is full of individual risk-takers, many of them — like the Wright Brothers, Amelia Earhart, Charles Lindbergh and Howard Hughes — names you know. Lesser known but even more of a game-changer was Bessie Coleman, the first African American woman to obtain her pilot's license.
Repeatedly denied admission to American aviation schools because of her color, the Texas native had to move to France in order to achieve her dream of becoming a pilot. In the age of the Hollywood biopic, her story seems ripe for telling, yet Coleman has somehow managed to fly under the radar. Now, Sweet Blackberry, a nonprofit organization dedicated to teaching kids about little known stories in African American history, is hoping to change that.
The organization recently launched a Kickstarter campaign to raise $50,000 to produce The Bessie Coleman Story, a 20-minute animated short that will be illustrated by R. Gregory Christie and narrated by Laurence Fishburne.
"I've wanted to tell her story for a long time, but was reluctant as there's probably more on her than the other stories we've told so far," Karyn Parsons, Sweet Blackberry's founder and president — who you probably know as Hilary Banks from The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air — told Cool Hunting of the project. "Still, I couldn't believe how many people hadn't heard of her."
The proposed film is Sweet Blackberry's fourth short; its previous award-winning efforts — which have been narrated by Chris Rock, Alfre Woodard and Queen Latifah — have been distributed to schools and libraries all around the world and are currently streaming on Netflix. According to the project's Kickstarter page, "Bessie Coleman's story shows children that despite what odds may be stacked against them, they can be anything. Bessie broke a glass ceiling in the United States that limited individuals wanting to be a pilot to one race and gender. It is our duty at Sweet Blackberry to share her story with the world."
Parsons has called on her old TV family to offer up some fun perks, including an afternoon with Hilary and Ashley Banks, lunch with Will Smith, a Fresh Prince of Bel-Air watch party with the cast and a personal voicemail message courtesy of Carlton (Alfonso Ribeiro). There's still time for you to pledge and show your support for the project on Kickstarter — as of this writing, they've raised $53,431 of the $50,000 goal. Way to go! Check out the video below for a closer look.
https://vimeo.com/225250368
H/T: Cool Hunting
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The Capital One Venture X Business Card has all the Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card has to offer and more. It offers an incredible welcome bonus and requires an equally impressive spend to qualify. In addition, the card comes with premium travel perks like annual travel credit. (Partner offer)Pros
- The Capital One Venture X business card has a very lucrative welcome offer.
- In addition, the card comes with many premium travel perks such as an annual $300 credit for bookings through Capital One Business Travel.
- Business owners are also able to add employee cards for free.
Cons
- The card requires significant spending to earn the welcome offer.
- Another drawback is that the annual travel credit can only be used on bookings made through Capital One Business Travel.
- LIMITED-TIME OFFER: Earn up to 400K bonus miles: 200K miles when you spend $30K in the first 3 months, and an additional 200k miles when you spend $150k in the first 6 months
- Earn unlimited 2X miles on every purchase, everywhere—with no limits or category restrictions
- Earn 10X miles on hotels and rental cars and 5X miles on flights and vacation rentals booked through Capital One Business Travel
- With no preset spending limit, enjoy big purchasing power that adapts so you can spend more and earn more rewards
- Empower your teams to make business purchases while earning rewards on their transactions, with free employee and virtual cards. Plus, automatically sync your transaction data with your accounting software and pay your vendors with ease
- Redeem your miles on flights, hotels and more. Plus, transfer your miles to any of the 15+ travel loyalty programs
- Every year, you'll get 10,000 bonus miles after your account anniversary date. Plus, receive an annual $300 credit for bookings made through Capital One Business Travel
- Receive up to a $120 credit for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck®. Enjoy access to 1,300+ airport lounges worldwide, including Capital One Lounge locations and Priority Pass™ lounges, after enrollment
- Enjoy a $100 experience credit and other premium benefits with every hotel and vacation rental booked from the Premier Collection
- This is a pay-in-full card, so your balance is due in full every month