Bessie Coleman

Bessie Coleman. Written by Jane Selman.

贝西·科尔曼。 作者：简·塞尔曼。

Introduction In the United States in the 1920s, few women flew planes, and it was unthinkable that an African American woman could fly. Yet Bessie Coleman did just that. Bessie was a brave African American woman who fought discrimination to follow her dream of becoming a pilot. Her determination opened doors for other African Americans and women who came after her.

引言 20世纪20年代的美国，几乎没有女性开飞机，黑人女性能驾驶飞机在当时更是根本不可能的事。 但贝西·科尔曼偏偏做到了。 贝西是一位勇敢的美国黑人女性，她冲破歧视，追逐自己成为飞行员的梦想。 她的坚定决心，为后续的美国黑人和女性打开了新的大门。

Growing up in Texas, Bessie Coleman was born in Atlanta, Texas in 1892. Her mother was African American, and her father was of African American and Choctaw Native American descent. Her parents were sharecroppers. Bessie was one of 13 children. Two years after Bessie's birth, the family moved to Waxahachie, Texas, where Bessie's father hoped that the busy town would offer good jobs. Bessie started school in Waxahachie. She had to walk miles each day to an all -black school. She loved reading and books, and she was a whiz at math.

在德克萨斯长大 贝西·科尔曼1892年出生于德克萨斯州亚特兰大。 她的母亲是美国黑人，父亲有美国黑人和乔克托印第安血统。 她的父母都是佃农。 贝西是13个孩子中的一个。 贝西出生两年后，全家搬到了德克萨斯州韦克萨哈奇，贝西的父亲希望这个热闹的城镇能提供不错的工作。 贝西在韦克萨哈奇开始上学。 她每天都要走好几英里路，去一所全黑人学校上学。 她酷爱读书，而且数学学得特别棒。

Bessie's father was disturbed by the racial barriers in Texas. He believed that the family would be treated better if they moved to Indian territory in what is now Oklahoma. Unable to convince his wife to accompany him, Bessie's father left the family when Bessie was nine years old. Around that time, Bessie's older brothers grew up and also moved away. Bessie's mother worked as a maid, while Bessie helped take care of her younger sisters.

贝西的父亲受够了德克萨斯的种族壁垒。 他认为如果全家搬到如今属于俄克拉荷马州的印第安领地，生活会好过一些。 没能说服妻子和自己一起走，贝西的父亲在贝西九岁的时候离开了家。 差不多同一时间，贝西的几个哥哥长大成人，也搬出去了。 贝西的母亲做女佣赚钱，贝西则帮忙照顾年幼的妹妹们。

In Texas, cotton growing was big business. During the cotton harvest, everyone in the family worked in the fields for extra money. Bessie hated picking cotton. It was hot, boring work. And during the harvest, African -American children couldn't go to school. Even though she worked in the fields, Bessie managed to finish all eight grades in the local school. She decided that she wanted to go to college. So, she got a job washing people's clothes to save money. In about four years, she had enough to begin school. She enrolled in a college for African Americans, but after one year, she ran out of money and had to return home.

在德克萨斯，棉花种植是支柱产业。 棉花收获季的时候，全家都要去地里干活赚额外的钱。 贝西讨厌摘棉花。 这份工作又热又无聊。 而且收获季的时候，黑人孩子没法上学。 尽管要下地干活，贝西还是读完了当地学校的全部八个年级。 她下定决心要去上大学。 于是她找了份帮人洗衣服的活攒钱。 大概四年后，她攒够了开学的钱。 她考入了一所黑人大学，可只上了一年钱就花光了，只能回家。

Moving to Chicago Two of Bessie's brothers had traveled east to Chicago, Illinois in search of work and a better life One day one of her brothers Walter contacted Bessie He thought she could get a good job in the big city at the age of 23 Bessie boarded a train and made the trip to Chicago. It was a long and uncomfortable trip African Americans were forced to sit on hard wooden benches in a separate part of the train from white people.

搬去芝加哥 贝西的两个哥哥为了找工作、过更好的生活，东行去到了伊利诺伊州芝加哥。一天，其中一个哥哥沃尔特联系了贝西，他觉得贝西在大城市能找到好工作。23岁的贝西坐上火车，动身前往芝加哥。 这趟旅程漫长又难受，黑人被迫和白人分隔开，只能坐在火车专门区域的硬木长椅上。