Whereas, since the birth of aviation, Black Americans have made and continue to make significant contributions to flight, space exploration, and the aviation industry as a whole, despite significant adversity; Whereas aviation trailblazers like Emory C. Malick, the first licensed Black pilot, James H. Banning, the first Black pilot to fly across the United States, and Bessie Queen Coleman, the first licensed Black woman pilot, barnstormed through barriers such as racism and sexism to have careers in aviation; Whereas William J. Powell, Jr., was a visionary who established the Bessie Coleman Flying Club, sponsored the first all-Black American airshow, wrote the book entitled Black Wings , produced a documentary film entitled Unemployment, the Negro and Aviation , and worked tirelessly to mobilize Black American youth to pursue careers in aviation; Whereas Cornelius Coffey, a skilled auto mechanic who dreamed of flying, and Willa Brown, the first Black woman to earn both a pilot license and a commercial license and the first Black woman to become an officer in the Illinois Civil Air Patrol, organized a group of Black air enthusiasts, established training classes and a school of aeronautics, and helped promote the 1939 flight of Chauncey Spencer and Dale White from Chicago to Washington, DC, to campaign for an end to racial segregation in aviation; Whereas the Tuskegee Army Airfield, after which the Tuskegee Airmen were named, became a vital center for Black American servicemembers to train as mechanics, control tower operators, and pilots of military aircrafts, launching the careers of many notable Black aviators, including General Benjamin O. Davis, Jr., Amelia Jones, Linkwood Williams, Lieutenant Colonel Lee A. Archer, Major Charles Hall, Brigadier General Charles McGee, and many others