. >> she was about to give up on her dream when she met a man by the name of robert abbott, who was the c.e.o. and publisher of what was the leading colored newspaper in the country, the chicago weekly defender and he told her that she could get a pilot's license, only she was way ahead of her time in the united states. she would need to go to france, because there she would have the freedoms and the equality that were allowed for all people in france. she worked during the day as a manicurist in the barber shop, and at night she studied french. >> the businessmen who supported bessie's plan were hoping she could open the doors of aviation for the race, which wassite in line with her own -- which was right in line with her own plans to start a flight school for blacks. her family was concerned, to put it mildly. >> her mother thought she was crazy, that's what my grandmother told me. bessie is insane. it's so dangerous. plus, she's a female. who would want to take her serious? >> bessie hoped that someone on the other side of the atlantic would, so on november 20, 1920, she set sail fro