Meet Carole Hopson

Carole Hopson is one of the few women pilots of color who flies a Boeing 737 for United Airlines as a first officer. She was inspired to become a pilot by the story of Bessie Coleman, the first African-American woman to earn a pilot's license. Now, Hopson has written a book inspired by Coleman in hopes it can help her mission to diversify the aviation industry. Michelle Miller has the details. “CBS Saturday Morning” co-hosts Jeff Glor, Michelle Miller and Dana Jacobson deliver two hours of original reporting and breaking news, as well as profiles of leading figures in culture and the arts. Subscribe to “CBS Mornings” on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/CBSMornings Watch CBSN live: http://cbsn.ws/1PlLpZ7c​ Download the CBS News app: http://cbsn.ws/1Xb1WC8​ Follow "CBS Mornings" on Instagram: https://bit.ly/3A13OqA Like "CBS Mornings" on Facebook: https://bit.ly/3tpOx00 Follow "CBS Mornings" on Twitter: https://bit.ly/38QQp8B Subscribe to our newsletter: http://cbsn.ws/1RqHw7T​ Try Paramount+ free: https://bit.ly/2OiW1kZ For video licensing inquiries, contact: licensing@veritone.com

Bessie Coleman fought racial and gender discrimination to become an aviation pioneer, blazing the trail for Amelia Earhart and other female pilots. Her story is an American story, and it's indelibly woven into the threads of the stories of so many others. My historical fiction book, which shares this inspiring story, will be available in Summer 2021.

A Pair of Wings: A Novel Inspired by Pioneer Aviatrix Bessie Coleman, chronicles the life of Bessie Coleman. The narrative is irresistable. Flying, loving, loss, conquering, and pursuing a quest to be excellent at what seems to be the impossible, while at the same time overcoming insurmountable odds, is what forges a Queen. Bessie Coleman is an exquisite woman who becomes the most unlikely superhero. Hers is the quintessential story of an underdog and a comeback story all in one. Coleman, known as Queen Bess, is the only woman in the world who can bend two parallel lines of longitude -- in her, the dawn of aviation and the dawn of the Great Migration not only bend, they intersect and Coleman forges a new meridian for all people. As she comes of age, we meet a woman so determined that she is willing to traverse two continents and learn another language in order to fly!

I was thrilled to talk with pilot and author Carole Hopson about her gorgeous historical fiction A Pair of Wings about the life of pioneering Aviatrix, Bessie Coleman. Already an Oprah Daily best pick for July 2021, A Pair of Wings is so inspiring and so incredibly well done, it feels as if Carole was hand-picked by the universe to deliver Bessie’s story. As she shares in our interview, she provided the ‘glue’ to hold the biographical facts together with her fictional drawing of Bessie’s interpersonal relationships and emotions, making this feel like a deeply personal memoir. Her exhaustive research is evident throughout the book, to include walking the nine-mile route that Bessie traveled daily, on-foot, to and from her flight school in France to achieve her ambitious dream of flight. I have been so inspired and fascinated reading about our many women aviation pioneers, but Bessie stands apart with her incredible determination and defiance of every social norm and expectation of her day, not only related to gender, but also race. Carole very skillfully and thoroughly places Bessie in the full context of her times—both within the dawn of aviation and the Great Migration of Blacks from the rural South to the North and West. The characters’ voices ring true and distinct, the descriptions are vivid, and the history cleverly woven through newspapers—"the social media of the time”—and Bessie’s active engagement in the world. On top of all of the wonderful things I feel about this story, I have to gush about Carole and her vision for this book contributing to a larger mission. Carole is working to raise funds for her One Hundred Pairs of Wings initiative, which will launch this November with a goal of sending 100 Black women through flight training at the Lieutenant Colonel Luke Weathers Junior Flight Academy by the year 2035. This may sound like a small number, but when you consider that there are fewer than 150 licensed Black female pilots in the US, it feels at once achievable and ambitious. 20% of book sales go to support this project. I share Carole’s big vision and very high hopes for this book. I think it has the potential to be wildly successful and that, unlike Carole, who, even as an aspiring Aviatrix didn’t learn about Bessie until she was in her thirties, every American will know who Bessie Coleman is as a result—that she will become both as iconic and as widely-taught as Amelia Earhart—and that especially our young Black women will be inspired to consider joining us in aviation. “It begins with girls believing that they can fly.” Visit her website www.carolehopson.com and the Aviatrix Book Review website for hundreds more books featuring women in aviation and space in all genres for all ages. www.aviatrixbookreview.com Follow me on social media @literaryaviatrix

#markyourcalendars You may have seen her on the Tamron Hall Show.... INSPIRE is honored to be going live with Carole Hopson! Pilot, Author, Mother Carole Hopson flies the Boeing 737 for United Airlines as a First Officer based in Newark, New Jersey. After successful and varied careers as a journalist and as an executive, she followed her dream to become a pilot and to share that passion with others as a flight instructor––all while raising a family. photo credit for @mr_ddavis Host Sha Hayes Founder Keyana Tennant Watch live on Inspire by Enonus Do you know someone interested in becoming a pilot?? #inbox me #pilot #journalist #flightinstructor #author #mother #executive #flight #pilots #weinspiretogether #firstofficer #conversationsthatmatter #inspire #encourage #aspire #youth #journey #dreams #mentor #positivity #lifegoals

Bessie Coleman was the first African American and Native American woman to earn a pilot certificate. On the 100th anniversary of that, United Pilot Carole Hobson has written a novel honoring Coleman. Learn more in this Pilot Lounge interview.

January 26, 1892. A day that would begin a life of historic proportions. In the center of seismic change, Bessie Coleman rose from her humble beginnings as a cotton laborer, to the only woman in the world who would traverse two continents and learn to fly. This is her story. A Pair of Wings is available in paperback, hardcover and e-book formats on Amazon.

Carole Hopson became a pilot at the age of 36, when she left a career in human resources to go after her dream of flying. Now, at 56, Carole is taking her experience and using it as a tool to help other women and minorities become pilots. She explains her mission to enroll 100 Black women in flight school by 2035 and more in a sit-down with Tamron Hall. Carole also tells us about her book, “A Pair of Wings.” #TamronHallShow #TamronHall    Subscribe to Tamron Hall Show: http://bit.ly/2QAZSuD   FIND YOUR TIME AND CHANNEL: https://www.tamronhallshow.com [Put in your zip code in the top portion of the website]   FOLLOW US: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/TamronHallShow/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/TamronHallShow Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TamronHall/ Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/tamronhallshow/   JOIN OUR SHOW: https://www.tamronhallshow.com/be-on-the-show/   From the deeply moving to the purely fun, “Tamron Hall” is a daily destination for all things topical and a platform for viewers to connect with the people who are shaping our world through meaningful, engaging, and entertaining conversations. As a new mom, a newlywed, and a survivor who is proving you can accomplish anything at any age, Tamron Hall brings a refreshing, relatable, unpredictable, and unstoppable voice to television.   Broadcast from New York City featuring a dynamic mix of live and taped shows, “Tamron Hall” airs across the country in national syndication.