The mission of Black Air Foundation is to introduce inner-city youth ages 13-15 to Aviation, Filmmaking, Radio and Television production.
Reflections on Race and Sport in America. A panel discussion at Brown University on April 14,'08
| Tuskegee airmen helping kids to fly |  |
| Tuesday, 01 April 2008 | |
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 Herman Wells, Lemuel Fuller and George Lima BY VINAYA SAKSENA EAST PROVIDENCE — A former state representative who served in a history-making group of military pilots during World War II is now trying to give young people an opportunity to fly- literally and otherwise. During that historic war, George S. Lima was one of the Tuskegee Airmen, the first-ever group of African American military pilots. Said to have included the only fighter group that never lost a bomber under its watch, the group came to life when the 99th Fighter Squadron was formed at the Tuskegee Institute, a Tuskegee, Alabama-based university founded by Booker T. Washington. The Tuskegee Airmen made history in part because they managed to meet standards for admission allegedly designed to keep black men from serving as military pilots. |
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As part of Black History Month, the Intercultural Center at Bryant hosted the Black Experience on February 15 to share the contributions of influential African Americans with members of the Bryant community. The event featured George S. Lima, a former Tuskegee Airman.
Lima, who will turn 89 in April, was born in Fall River, MA, and lived in Harlem, NY, as a child. He graduated from Durfee High School in Massachusetts before enrolling at North Carolina A&T, where he played football and received his pilot’s license.
In 1942, he was called to Tuskegee, AL, to train to become a pilot in the U. S. Army Air Corps. Lima, who eventually became one of the first black pilots, spoke about the adversity he faced because of his race.
“People didn’t believe we could fly the aircraft,” he said.
In a documentary about his life titled “Black Men Can Fly: The Story of George S. Lima,” he told the story of being one of 60 black Air Corps officers who were arrested for trying to enter a white officer’s club when they were stationed in Indiana. When he returned to Rhode Island to study at Brown, he faced similar treatment when he was denied service at a restaurant.
“I fought for my country, came back to go to Brown to get a degree, and I can’t get a beer,” he said. “Those are the kinds of things that happened on a daily basis … so you have to try to fight it.”
Lima has long been a recognized civil rights activist in Rhode Island. He is a past president of the Providence chapter of the NAACP, a former state representative in the Rhode Island General Assembly, and was a labor organizer for the American Federation of State County and Municipal Employees. He also received a Congressional Gold Medal for his work as a photographic officer during World War II.
He recently started the Black Air Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to empowering minority youth through education. The organization provides hands-on training for students interested in aviation, radio, television, and filmmaking.
“It’s been exciting for me to work with the kids,” he said.
Marjorie Krakue ’08 (Warwick, RI), a member of the Black History Month Committee, helped to organize the event to show students the dedication and commitment of someone in their own community.
“Mr. Lima is a person that was not satisfied with the way things were,” says Krakue, an international business major. “He is a remarkable person that is still making change happen.”
Events like these encourage people to explore history and get involved, says Krakue, who recently accepted a job in the product marketing department at MetLife in Warwick.
“I think that all cultural events are very important,” she says. “If we as a university are promoting diversity, we need to make an effort to educate people about the many different cultures around the world.
“By becoming well informed and active in your communities, you too can make a difference,” she says.
To learn more, visit Black Air Foundation.
PROVIDENCE — Four Rhode Islanders who distinguished themselves in the state’s labor movement in the areas of law, politics, social activism and education will be honored by the Rhode Island Labor History Society at its 20th-annual banquet Thursday in the Roger Williams Park Casino.
Those being honored are:
•Former state Rep. George S. Lima, a two-term Democrat from East Providence who was also the New England regional director for the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees.
In World War II, he was one of the Tuskegee Airmen, the first group of black fighter and bomber pilots in the history of the Army Air Forces, whose performance helped to dispel doubts about the ability of black airmen to fly military planes. Lima was also a consultant and conciliator for various union locals and served as an urban coordinator for the Office of Economic Opportunity and VISTA in New York.
•Patrick Brady, of Pawtucket, a journeyman electrician with Local 99 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers. Brady, who has a master’s degree in labor and industrial relations from the University of Rhode Island, taught at the William M. Davies Jr. Vocational School — now the William M. Davies Jr. Career and Technical High School — where he was a leader of the teachers union, a local of the National Education Association. He went on to become director of training for the IBEW before going back to working as an electrician.
•The Rev. Duane Clinker, a United Methodist minister who is the pastor of the Open Table of Christ Church in Warwick and Providence. Before entering the ministry, Mr. Clinker was an organizer the steamfitters union at the former Builders Iron Foundry, in West Warwick, and later became the statewide director of the Rhode Island Committee for Occupational Safety and Heath. Leaving factory work, he began organizing churches around issues of social justice as the coordinator for the Rhode Island Organizing Project.
•Marti Rosenberg has been a lobbyist for various progressive causes highlighting the plight of the poor in Rhode Island as the director for Ocean State Action. Today the Cranston resident is the development director for US Action.
Scott Molloy, a professor of labor relations at the University of Rhode Island and the Labor History Society’s founder, said the organization has honored nearly 100 individuals who have contributed greatly to the labor movement in Rhode Island.
Tickets to Thursday’s event, which begins with a cash bar at 5:30 p.m. and dinner at 6:30, can be obtained by calling Molloy at (401) 782-3614. Tickets are $25.
