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The Black Pilots of America: Still Flying Strong

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The sky is the limit for the group of pilots gathered for the 22nd annual Black Pilots of America (BPA) Operation Skyhook at Pine Bluff’s Grider Field as they revel in the friendship and love of aviation that connects them.

Les Morris is one of the founders of BPA. A native New Yorker, Morris started flying in 1954 at a little airport on Long Island. His first lesson was a high school graduation gift from his dad.

“It cost five dollars an hour, the instructor got three dollars,” Morris says with a smile. “I had a great big $20 bill, but no one told me I needed to take a taxi from the train station to the airport. But, it (the first lesson) was all that I needed.”

A stint in the New York Air National Guard during the Korean War provided Morris with the training to become a fighter pilot. Over the years he formed friendships with other pilots, and it led to the formation of Negro Airmen International (NAI) for which Morris served as president for 12 years.  An internal conflict splintered the group and Morris, Jessie Hayes, and Horace Noble organized BPA in 1997.

“Because of Ken Johnson, we decided this would be home base,” explains Morris who describes the organization as a family. “I hosted the board meeting in Tucson in January, and we had 50 people attend. We had a great time.”

Michael Youngblood grew up with a pilot in the family. His dad flew airplanes in the late 60s and 70s.

“They used to fly to this kinda event when I was a kid,” he recalls.  “For me, I did not know there was a shortage of Black pilots. I didn’t realize how privileged I was with that until I was 30.”

Youngblood also didn’t realize he had flying in his blood until he became a father. When he and his ex-wife divorced, she and his children moved from Atlanta. “I drove the moving truck to Kentucky in November. My dad said, ‘If you had a 172, you could fly up there in two to two-and-half hours.’ I started lessons in December.”

It’s been eleven years since that conversation. With tears in his eyes and a voice choked with emotion, Youngblood says, “It made all the difference in the world. My twins are 21-years-old now, and we are as close as we would be if they lived across town.”

Both Youngbloods studied aviation under Julius Alexander, a well-known Atlanta pilot who started an aviation club while attending Morehouse College in the 1950s. The younger Youngblood earned Top Gun honors his first year at the BPA competition. He and his fellow Atlanta pilots call their BPA chapter, the Atlanta Raptors, and Birdel Jackson from Alpharetta, Georgia, boasts, “We’re all Top Guns.”

The Memorial weekend competition includes the flour bomb drop and pylon proficiency test and involves female pilots as well. The festivities also offer free airplane rides for children and culminates with a banquet. Members of BPA fly to Pine Bluff from Washington State, Nevada, Arizona and other states for the weekend.  The organization will sponsor the two-week Les Morris BPA Flight Academy, a summer camp in Houston for teenagers who are interested in flying.

Pilots like Dwight Sanderson understand the significance of creating opportunities for future generations. Sanderson describes himself as a relatively new pilot because flying was “a dream deferred.”

Sanderson lives in Dallas and says he started flying in 2014. This is his fourth year attending the event, and he is still inspired by the weekend.

He smiles and says, “What it means is we can show the younger generation they can participate in aviation, too.”

 

Black History

Trump Signs Executive Orders That Will Impact HBCUs and Black Schoolchildren

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President Donald Trump signed an executive order that will provide support for Historically Black Colleges and Universities and establish a White House Initiative on HBCUs to “deliver high-quality education to a growing number of students.”

According to the White House, the Initiative will help develop private-sector partnerships, institutional development and workforce preparation in technology, health care, manufacturing and finance. 

The president and CEO of the Thurgood Marshall College Fund, Dr. Harry L. Williams said, “Today’s executive order serves as strong reaffirmation of President Trump’s support of investment of historically Black colleges and universities. This executive order should serve as a call-to-action for corporations, foundations, members of Congress and state lawmakers to redouble their efforts to support HBCUs and their students. TMCF looks forward to continued engagement with the administration and Congress to deliver results for HBCUs and the students they serve via appropriations and other legislative actions.”

On the same day, Trump signed another executive order that removes safeguards for African American schoolchildren by eliminating an Obama-era initiative to protect Black schoolchildren from excessive disciplinary action.

During the Obama administration, the first Black president’s administration created guidelines that sought to prevent school discipline from having a disproportionate effect on minority students. Trump revoked the civil rights initiative during his first term and Biden did not formally restore it. 

At his signing today, Trump said his decision was especially important to the current Education Secretary Linda McMahon, who held the signed order.

“Under the Biden-Harris Administration, schools were forced to consider equity and inclusion when imposing discipline,” McMahon said in a statement. “Their policies placed racial equity quotas over student safety – encouraging schools to turn a blind eye to poor or violent behavior in the name of inclusion.”

She added, “Disciplinary decisions should be based solely on students’ behavior and actions.

Studies show that Black students are punished more often than their white counterparts.

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President Jimmy Carter Appointed the First Black Woman to Lead a Federal Agency

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President Jimmy Carter advanced opportunities for African Americans throughout his life,
advocating for justice and peace consistent with the Christian values he embraced. Since his
death on December 29 at age 100, Mr. Carter’s praises have been sung from his home state of
Georgia to points around the globe. And while the former president’s one-term in the White
House is dismissed by some political pundits for a lack of policies or accomplishments that
changed the course of history, his character and integrity set him apart.


Carter became the first president to appoint a Black woman head of a federal agency. He chose
Patricia Roberts Harris to lead the Housing and Urban Development when he took office in
1977.


Harris said, “I feel deeply proud and grateful this President chose me to knock down this barrier, but also a little sad about being the ‘first Negro woman,’ because it implies we were not
considered before.”


Senator William Proxmire questioned Carter’s choice, saying Harris came from too much wealth and influence to be an effective leader. But Carter stood by his decision, and Harris stayed in the position for two years.


The 39th president’s name is also included on the International Civil Rights Walk of Fame.


Civil rights activist, Rev. Al Sharpton recalled a conversation he shared with Carter.


“It was very significant, I was talking there at the foot of the Lincoln Memorial, and I was talking to President Clinton and President Carter,” Sharpton recalled. “And when Clinton and I finished talking, President Carter touched me on my arm and said, ‘How are you doing with your ministry, Al? I see you out there with your activism. Don’t leave your ministry … keep your prayer life going.’ And you could tell he sincerely meant it. He was not one who talked about his religion as a political kind of something you could say to voters.”


President Joe Biden declared January 9, 2025, a national day of mourning. Millions watched the former president’s funeral on television as he was remembered as a man of honesty,
compassion and faith – which included championing the rights of Americans who knew firsthand the struggle of injustice

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Black History

The Congressional Black Caucus Prepares for “Important” Work

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The Congressional Black Caucus started the 119th Congress with its largest membership. There were 62 members sworn in today.

“On behalf of the entire Congressional Black Caucus, congratulations to the members of the Executive Committee of the 119th Congress. 53 years after our Caucus’ founding, our work to improve the lives and conditions of Black people in America is more important than ever before,” said CBC President Steven Horsford.

Photo Credit: Ron Busby, U.S. Black Chambers Inc.

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