This morning over soggy cereal and magazines I've read plenty of times too many, I began thinking about a flight that I took from Atlanta to Houston. What about it? Well this was the first flight that I can ever remember having not one, but two Black pilots. Quick...should fight to contain myself from celebrating publicly by running through the aisles screaming "Hah! We about to fly this mutha!"? Or do do I remain dignified and simply swallow my shared feelings of accomplishment and wash it down with a half a can of Coke? Well, with my tray table lifted and locked, my seat back in the upright position, and my cell phone and all other electronic devices turned off, I prepared for take off and made ready to sleep for the duration of the flight. But hundreds of uneasy thoughts soon woke me. "Do these brothers really know what the hell they doin?" "Is there a white man on the ground with radio just in case the alternator goes out on the plane?" "Is it gas in it?" Even more disturbing was my analysis as to why I had these thoughts. Is it that I don't easily identify Black people as pilots? Maybe I do. Let's face it, it's not the most popular profession among Blacks. But am i surprised that he is a pilot, or that he had what it took to become a pilot. I'm really in a bit of a moral dilemma here. I'm afraid that like me, many Black people have began to make jobs race specific. As to say that a job is a "Black person's job" or a "White person's job". Well this is what i propose. I believe that we should stop seeing the accomplishments of our fellow Blacks as anomalies or deviations from what is natural. When a Black person succeeds, it should be the norm. It should simply be us doing what we do and doing it well.
--find freedom in elevation
Luxe Brown
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