Homage: Bessie Coleman & Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

First Flight: Homage to Bessie Coleman and Antoine de Saint-Exupéry by Relax Petso

Bessie Coleman (January 26, 1892 – April 30, 1926) was an early American civil aviator. She was the first African-American woman and first Native American to hold a pilot license. She earned her license from the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale on June 15, 1921, and was the first Black person to earn an international pilot's license. Her pioneering role was an inspiration to early pilots and to the African-American and Native American communities.

Antoine Marie Jean-Baptiste Roger, comte de Saint-Exupéry, simply known as Antoine de Saint-Exupéry; 29 June 1900 – 31 July 1944), was a French writer, poet, aristocrat, journalist and pioneering aviator. He became a laureate of several of France's highest literary awards and also won the United States National Book Award. He is best remembered for his novella "The Little Prince" ("Le Petit Prince") and for his lyrical aviation writings, including "Wind, Sand and Stars" and "Night Flight".

"THE LITTLE PRINCE by Antoine de Saint Exupéry is another wonderful example of literature that evokes the sense of ordinary, or elemental, magic. At one point in this story, the little prince meets a fox. The prince is very lonely and wants the fox to play with him, but the fox says that he cannot play unless he is tamed. The little prince asks the meaning of the word "tame." The fox explains that it means "to establish ties" in such a way that the fox will become unique to the little prince, and the prince unique to the fox. Later, after the fox has been tamed and the little prince must leave him, the fox also tells the prince what he calls "my secret, a very simple secret," which is, "it is only with the heart. that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eyes."

- Chögyam Trungpa, Shambhla, the Sacred Path of the Warrior, Shambhala Publications, 1984, p. 166 of the Shambhala Pocket Classics book.