Yesterday, Philadelphia hosted the first of several rallies for Vice President Kamala Harris’ ‘Battleground Tour.’ Her campaign promises to be one of several firsts: she will be the first Indian-American and Black woman to run for president at the top of a major-party ticket, and the first woman president, if elected.
To be the first to achieve anything – while celebrated – is an arduous run for many. We often hear stories of Black women who’ve endeavored to be the first, and all of the obstacles that they face along the way. We rarely hear stories of how meaningful it can be to find community and sisterhood in positions of power, particularly in the US government or Armed Forces.
To combat this narrative, in partnership with our friends at StoryCorps, we celebrate the story of Jeanine Menze and La’Shanda Holmes, the first and second Black women to become pilots for the US Coast Guard. Theirs is a story of intentionality and sisterhood, which paved the way for four more Black women to pilot aircraft for the Coast Guard in the last 20 years. While the country prepares for the historic run of Vice President Harris, we recognize all of the Black women who have paved and plotted the way in her stead. To quote Holmes, “we’re all gonna be there for each other.”
You can listen to the full StoryCorps audio story below!
This is the first in a series of short editorials that highlight powerful and positive Black stories from our partners at StoryCorps. This post and accompanying audio appear with the permission of StoryCorps, a non-profit organization whose mission is to help us believe in each other by illuminating the humanity and possibility in us all — one story at a time. Find out more about their programming, including their upcoming initiative Brightness in Black, at storycorps.org.
The audio story was first aired on NPR’s Weekend Edition on October 2, 2021. You can read more here
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