Bessie Coleman, the daughter of a poor, southern, African American family, became one of the most famous women and African Americans in aviation history. &quot;Brave Bessie&quot; or &quot;Queen Bess,&quot; as she became known, faced the double difficulties of racial and gender discrimination in early 20th-century America but overcame such challenges to become the first African American woman to earn a pilot&#x27;s license. Coleman became a role model for women and African Americans.