By the time she was in fourth grade, young Shawna Rochelle Kimbrell knew she wanted to be a fighter pilot.
What the now-Air Force major didn’t know, however, was that she would knock down a racial barrier by becoming the first black female in the career field.
Kimbrell was born in Lafayette, Ind., on April 20, 1976, to Guyanese parents. Her mother and father, who were naturalized U.S. citizens by the time she was born, moved to the U.S. for education and opportunities. Their hard work and dedication paid off in her father earning a degree from Howard University and a doctorate from Perdue University, which in turn earned him a job offer in Parker, Colo.
Read more.