Tell-It Report: University Celebrates Its First Pilots In 80 Years Since the Tuskegee Airmen

The Alabama HBCU’s revived program currently has about 48 students enrolled.

(Envato/ContrabandCamp)

In Gullah Geechee communities, a "tell-it" was a designated lookout, community warning system and the most trusted source for news and information. The Tell-It Report is ContrabandCamp’s weekly roundup of the Black stories that deserve more attention—from politics to entertainment.

Students become the first pilots to earn their wings from Tuskegee University’s revived aviation program since the Tuskegee Airmen made history 80 years ago.

Dorian Johnson, who was walking with Michael Brown the day he was killed, was fatally shot on Sunday morning in Ferguson.

Black Lives Matter murals in Florida were removed after Gov. Ron DeSantis issued a new mandate.

Groups are calling for the NYPD to stop using facial recognition technology after falsely arresting an innocent Black man for a sex crime.

Read the full stories below:

First pilots since the Tuskegee Airmen earn their wings through revived program

The Tuskegee Airmen broke barriers during World War II when they trained to become the U.S. military’s first Black pilots. Now, 80 years later, Tuskegee University has officially trained its first pilots since the airmen made history.

Isaiah Hand was the first of the class to earn his private pilot’s license, WRBL reports. Kembriah Parker also received her private license, making her the first woman trained to become a pilot at the historic school.

“It’s exciting; it’s an honor,” Titus Sanders, aviation science director at Tuskegee University, told WSFA. “This institution, this university has a rich legacy in producing African-American pilots, and they had the ability to continue that legacy and that history, and also, to also include women in the training population.”

The Alabama HBCU relaunched its aviation science program after receiving $6.7 million in federal funding to offer flight training to students to become private and commercial pilots. The curriculum includes courses in aerodynamics, propulsion and meteorology as well as flying at Moton Field, the same airstrip where the Tuskegee Airmen trained.

“I still haven’t been able to put into words myself,” Hand told WRBL. “The feeling is like no other. To be the first one in over eight, almost eight decades, is a monumental feeling.”

Hand originally enrolled to pursue aerospace engineering. But he changed his mind when program director Titus Sanders approached him about the aviation program. He started ground school in January 2024, took his first flight on June 2 and earned his license on August 21.

“It took me 80 days,” he said. “Which is ironic, because it’s been 80 years since the last. I found that very coincidental — but poetic.”

Parker has wanted to fly since a 2017 trip to the Tuskegee Airmen Museum. “I remember thinking maybe I can do the same,” she told HBCU Gameday. “I bought a P-51 Mustang model from the gift shop that day, and I still have it as a daily reminder.”

Before the Tuskegee Airmen, no pilot in the U.S. military had been Black. Between 1941 and 1946, about 1,000 Black pilots trained at Tuskegee. And though women played a vital part in their highly decorated success, none became pilots through the program.

Now, 80 years later, the program has been revived with about 48 students enrolled. Over a dozen other students are currently working towards earning their wings next. Program director Titus Sanders hopes that number will double by next year.

Dorian Johnson, friend of Michael Brown who witnessed his death, has been killed

Dorian Johnson, the friend who witnessed a Ferguson cop kill Michael Brown in 2014, was fatally shot on Sunday, St. Louis Public Radio reports.

Police pronounced Johnson, 33, dead at 8:30 a.m. He was shot approximately a mile away from where former Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson killed Brown, leaving his dead body in the street for hours.

Officials told the local outlet that a suspect is currently in custody. The Ferguson Police Department emphasized that the shooting was not police-related.

“There had been earlier rumors that this was an officer-involved shooting; however, that information is incorrect,” the department told CNN in a statement. “No officers, Ferguson or otherwise, were involved in this incident other than to begin our investigation.”

In 2014, Wilson stopped Johnson and Brown for walking in the middle of the street. Johnson recalled that Brown had his hands up in surrender when Wilson shot him, despite Wilson claiming the 18-year-old assaulted him. Johnson’s testimony helped ignite the “hands up, don’t shoot” chant during Black Lives Matter protests. Johnson was met with vitriol and called “a liar” in the media for his recollection.

“It hurt,” Johnson told The Washington Post in 2019. “To come out and voice what really happened and then get that kind of response.”

Wilson was not indicted, and Brown’s family reached a settlement in their wrongful death lawsuit against the city. Johnson’s lawsuit claiming that Wilson unlawfully stopped the two and used excessive force was dismissed.

Black Lives Matter murals removed in Florida

As the Trump administration works to bring back Confederate monuments, Black Lives Matter murals are disappearing.

Within the past few weeks, officials have removed Pensacola, St. Petersburg and Washington D.C. These murals that once served as public reminders of the Black lives lost to police brutality and the continued racism Black people in this country face. But as the Trump administration works to erase history and block diversity, equity and inclusion programs, these murals have been painted over and drilled away.

On Aug. 21, the Florida Department of Transportation sent Pensacola a letter saying that the mural that had been painted in 2020 was “in violation of FDOT’s traffic control device standards,” according to the state. Pensacola News Journal reports that a new bill, signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis, requires that street art with “social, political or ideological messages” be removed. The cities that do not comply would risk funding.

By Friday morning, FDOT had completely painted over the mural, WEAR News reports..

In St. Petersburg, two pastors were arrested after praying over a street mural in protest while FDOT arrived to erase it. Police told Fox13 that they repeatedly ordered Andrew Oliver, 45, and Benedict Atherton-Zeman, 59, to move. They refused. They were arrested and charged with pedestrian obstructing or hindering traffic and obstruction.

"We have the values of interdependence, of love, and I really couldn't just stand on the sidelines," Atherton-Zeman told the outlet. "I had to kneel in the street."

FDOT denied the city’s request to keep the mural. It was gone by Aug. 29. Days later, however, a new mural that reads “Black History Matters” appeared on the street outside of the Woodson African American Museum of Florida.

Though museum officials said they don’t know who painted it, executive director Terry Lipsy Scott told Bay News 9, “I find no fault with it,” noting the current climate of resistance.

In March, D.C.’s iconic Black Lives Matter mural in bright, yellow lettering that stretched two blocks on 16th Street was removed. Like Florida, D.C. risked losing funding if it did not remove the mural painted in 2021. Rep. Andrew Clyde (R-Ga.) introduced a bill and also required the district to remove Black Lives Matter from any “websites, documents, and other materials which are under its jurisdiction.” The area near the White House where the mural once was is now called Liberty Plaza.

These three murals were painted after George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and other Black civilians were killed at the hands of police in 2020. That year marked a huge turning point in the Black Lives Matter movement as it gained global attention and support. Five years later, many of the promises and gestures institutions in this country made in committing to fighting racism have fallen by the wayside.

Man's wrongful arrest puts NYPD's use of facial recognition tech under scrutiny

Trevis Williams was wrongfully arrested after New York City’s facial recognition technology gave officials a false match. Now, civil rights and privacy groups want an investigation into how the city uses this technology, WABC reports.

Williams spent two days in jail after being mistaken for a suspect accused of flashing a woman in Union Square. Despite not matching the physical description, besides being a Black man with locs, Williams paid the price.

"I was so angry ... I was stressed out," he said. "The man they were looking for, he was eight inches shorter than me and 70 pounds lighter."

According to The New York Times, Williams was driving from Connecticut to Brooklyn when the crime happened in February. Data from Williams’ phone showed police that he was miles away from the crime location. Facial recognition data identified his photo as a possible match, and the woman identified Williams as the flasher.

Williams was arrested in April. Though his case was dismissed in July, Williams is still feeling the effects of being in the system. He was on the verge of becoming a correctional officer at Rikers Island, but the hiring process was frozen after his arrest.

Williams’ situation has raised major flags for many. Last Monday, Legal Aid sent authorities a letter outlining the pattern of false arrests stemming from facial recognition programs. The group claimed that NYPD is relying on photos outside of its approved database to do its job.

Diane Akerman, Legal Aid staff attorney with the digital forensics unit, told WABC, “This could have very easily been solved by just really traditional police work."

The Surveillance Technology Oversight Project (STOP) released a report in 2021 citing the issues with NYPD leaning on facial recognition, including the inherent bias that disproportionately targets Black, Latine and Asian individuals.

"Everyone, including the NYPD, knows that facial recognition technology is unreliable," Akerman said. "Yet the NYPD disregards even its own protocols, which are meant to protect New Yorkers from the very real risk of false arrest and imprisonment. It's clear they cannot be trusted with this technology, and elected officials must act now to ban its use by law enforcement."

ICYMI

• As Washington, D.C., grand juries have rejected a wave of charges in Trump’s takeover, the city is suing the president for deploying the National Guard.

• Joseph McNeil, the civil rights activist who helped ignite sit-in protests across the South, has died at 83.

• Mike Tyson and Floyd Mayweather Jr. are set to return to the ring to compete in an exhibition match next spring.

• Emory University announced that it will discontinue its diversity, equity and inclusion programs.

• Hall of Fame basketball coach George Raveling, who influenced Michael Jordan to sign his deal with Nike, has died at 88.

• Chicago’s lead pipe problem is disproportionately impacting Black and Latino neighborhoods.