A man with no sense of his past has no future as he is destined to the same pitfalls of his forefathers. With that thought in mind, I contemplate my past, present, and future. It is something that I usually do as Black History Month draws near. My own barometer for “ how goes it?”
In my lifetime, African Americans have gone from manning the washroom to ruling the boardroom. We have struggled past Rosa Parks’ seat on that bus to Barack Obama’s seat on Air Force One. Yes much has been accomplished during the past 50 or so years, but there is still a long way to go.
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr provided us with the perfect barometer when he dreamed of the day when we would all be judged by the content of our character rather than the color of our skin. Don’t lay down your tools now ...There is still work to be done...
Three years ago, Captain Freeman wrote about the Tuskegee Airmen. This year, he sent us his thoughts on Black History Month, and we thought his new material goes well with the original post below.
There I was
...(that's typical of how most pilot stories begin) so, there I was, standing in the Capital Rotunda watching as the President of the United States and Speaker of the House, among others, recognized the men and women of a World War II Military Unit. They were honoring these people with a Congressional Gold Medal Award. The rotunda was absolutely packed with an overflow crowd that spilled into the Statuary Hall. I was thrilled that Southwest Airlines offered me the opportunity to attend this invitation-only affair proclaiming our Nation's respect and gratitude for their jobs well done sixty years prior. Many of the men and women being honored had remained in the military after the war and had distinguished themselves as Senior Master Sergeants, Lieutenant Colonels and Generals (including a 4-Star among them). Most of the unit, however, had left the military and distinguished themselves as business leaders, principals, and college professors. Some even became mayors of major cities. The Members of this unit have the distinction of being the only Bombers Escort Unit to never lose a bomber to enemy fighters, and they were the first U.S. pilots to shoot down a German jet fighter. They fought the war against Germany, the war of acceptance, and the war against racism, and they distinguished themselves in each arena. They are the men of distinction. 
They are the Tuskegee Airmen; my friends and my heroes.
Comments
Hey ppl .
I am Naruto from Argentina, nice to be here.. i live in san miguel and just join here recently .
hope to learn new stuffs here and I love performing arts.
:) Nice to meet u guys.
Hi Meschelle,
I have asked our Customer Relations Department to research this to see what actually happened.
Brian
Southwest is not and never be what African Americans are brainwashed to believe
here's why
With great sadness I must write about racism and how it is alive in the corporate world. I was travelling back from the east coast into SFO and the buzz was about a black female southwest employee being called a "black bi*ch" by a white passenger and that passenger being able to take a later flight. This passenger was being assisted by asian and white employees who obviously did not care about the effects their actions would have on their co worker. This is just sad. I am sure Southwest Airlines will cover this up!
Meschelle Byerly
I would like to add Deaf History Month which is celebrated annually in the USA from 13 March to 15 April.
Kyle H Lacy
Hey Lou, it has been a long time. I thought I would look you up since we lost track of you years ago, but I see you are doing well. I would like to catch up on things with you. Take care, God bless.
I grew up with Lou he was my brother Ed's best freind. He has allways been a great guy. We are so pleased to see he is doing great things ,it is not a supprise to us.
A great post! My grandparents also fought against racism and lost a lot during that war! And although they are not distingushed now, their feats will livw in our hearts and minds forever.
My wife and I were at the Nashville International Airport this past July putting our ten year old grand daughter on a plane to Reno with her grandmother. We were having trouble finding her grandmother at the airport so we went ahead and checked her and her baggage in. Only one of us could accompany her to the gate. Well, even though my wife is her step-grandmother, my grand daughter Hailey loves her as much as one can love another. Her other grandmother is my ex-wife who is not real pleasant to be around so I decided that I would accompany Hailey to the gate. When Hailey heard that my wife, her Nana, would not be going to the gate with her, her eyes filled with tears. The Southwest clerk saw her crying and said " I just can't take the tears" and printed out another ticket for my wife.
This is one of the reasons why I will always be a Southwest customer. I don't know the clerks name, but God Bless her and her kindness. I will always fly with the heart.
Gary Marsh
Papa Freeman! We love you...we are Nikki's friends. Nikki is an awesome person. We hope to meet you soon. Love Anarghya and Phil.
Lou, great post I could not think of a better person for Southwest Airlines to ask to represent us than you... You made history when you became our first African-American Chief Pilot. I have a number of the Tuskegee Airmen as friends and I know they are very proud of you.
"G"