[CHANTING] You plus me makes The Power Of We!
Build a better world for you and me.
Let's stand up for what is right.
Listen, act, unite!
[GIGGLING]
Hi, hello, and welcome to The Power of We Club.
[TOGETHER] Yeah!
Today, we're celebrating Black History Month
by hearing stories about some amazing African-Americans.
Yeah!
We've learned about leaders like Martin Luther King
Jr. And Rosa Parks.
And former President Barack Obama.
He was the first Black president of the United States.
Amazing.
Many people worked so hard to help make our world
a fair place for everyone.
Yeah.
No matter where we're from, how we speak, or how we look--
oh, like the color of our skin or fur.
Oh, oh, oh, who's in our next story?
Bessie Coleman and James Banning,
the first African-American woman and man to become pilots
and fly airplanes.
Some people thought they shouldn't
learn to fly because of the color of their skin,
but they didn't let that stop them.
Wow.
They sound amazing.
I can't wait to learn all about them.
Well, here.
Let's watch this video of Bessie and James' first flight.
Bessie and James take flight.
[UPBEAT MUSIC PLAYING]
[IMITATING AIRPLANE NOISES]
Hi.
Oh, hi.
I'm James Banning, the first African-American
to get his pilot's license in the United States.
Nice to meet you, James.
I'm Bessie Coleman, the first African-American woman
to get her pilot's license.
But I'm only pretending.
I'm only pretending, too.
[GIGGLING]
Hey!
Want to have a plane race?
Sure.
Ready, set, go.
Back when James Banning lived, a lot of people
thought he shouldn't learn to fly a plane because
of the color of his skin.
It was hard for Bessie Coleman, too.
She had to go all the way to France
to find a school that would teach her.
France?
That's really far away.
But she didn't give up her dream.
And after she became a pilot, she came back home,
and her job was to do flying tricks with her airplane.
Wow!
Pilot James Banning did some cool stuff, too.
He made one of the longest flights
ever in a plane he made himself.
Whoa.
Bessie Coleman, coming in for landing.
James Banning, at the finish line.
It's a tie.
Let's fly some more.
Roger that!
[IMITATING AIRPLANE NOISES]
[CHUCKLES]
Wow.
Bessie and James are amazing.
Wow.
Yeah.
Yeah, they never gave up on their dream of becoming pilots.
Yeah!
They make me so proud.
Bessie and James were so brave.
Yeah.
Hey, Elmo wants to build an airplane just
like Bessie and James.
Oh!
Yeah!
[GIGGLING]
Oh, oh, how about we start by building paper airplanes?
Oh!
Yeah!
Great idea, Gabrielle.
[CHEERING]
Oh, oh, Elmo's going to pretend he's a pilot just like Bessie
Coleman and James Banning.
Nice!
Yeah.
From all your friends on Sesame Street--
[TOGETHER] Happy Black History Month!
[GIGGLING]
[MUSIC PLAYING]