American Wings Chicago's Pioneering Aviators and the Race for Equality in the Sky

This account of Black aviation in the early and mid-twentieth century centers on Chicago-based aviators Cornelius Coffey and Johnny Robinson. It follows their efforts to learn to fly amid prejudice and Jim Crow restrictions, as well as their changing relationship as their paths converged, separated, and eventually conflicted. Both men supported an integrated flight school that would train Black and white pilots. The book considers how that goal shaped their work and the wider Black aviation movement.