Ed Dwight, sculptor and first African-American astronaut candidate, visits Pensacola

Ed Dwight, a former pilot, a sculptor and America’s first African-American astronaut candidate, is a trailblazer with a list of accomplishments that would make anyone's jaw drop.

And he's still achieving firsts to this day, including making his first visit to Pensacola on Friday.

Dwight is the sculptor of the Gen. Daniel “Chappie” James Jr. Memorial statue set to be installed at the foot of the Gen. Daniel "Chappie" James Jr. Bridge. While touring the area Friday, he visited the Dixon School of Arts & Sciences and delivered a speech to about 200 students encouraging them to exercise the most important organ in the body: the brain.

He told students that even though there are challenges in life, if they work and stretch the muscles in their brain they can accomplish anything they want.

Dwight is a living proof of this, as was James. That's why Dwight said thinks it is particularly meaningful to see the efforts of the Gen. Daniel “Chappie” James Jr. Memorial Foundation to erect a statue of their hometown hero.

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“Something like this ... needs community support because there are people in Pensacola that don't want a Chappie James sculpture because they'd rather take the money and spend it on something else,” Dwight said. “And it's a struggle in every city I go to, a struggle for the Black community to get sculptures and stuff that they need.”

In attendance at Dixon was councilwoman Teniadé Broughton, who said Dwight's message could have a lifelong impact on the students.

"Since Dixon is a school that's focuses on art, I hope it's an inspiration," Broughton said to the News Journal. "As Principal (Kevin) Kovacs mentioned, these students will be adults driving past the memorial years from now and will remember when they met the artists. His life story also encourages them to have an alternative plan in case the first one doesn't pan out."

Dwight is a former Air Force test pilot and America’s first African-American astronaut candidate and has become one of the country's most renowned artists and sculptors.

He had to fight through a number of prejudicial and political factors, such as his instructor at Aerospace Research Pilot School at Edwards Air Force Base in California trying to isolate him from his classmates, and President John F. Kennedy’s assassination, whose administration appointed him as a trainee, preventing him from being chosen as the first Black pilot in space.

Even with these setbacks, Dwight went on to distinguish himself in his artistic career. He created a plethora of sculptures around the country including for the International Memorial to the Underground Railroad in Detroit, Michigan; the Kunta Kinte-Alex HaleyMemorial in Annapolis, Maryland; and the African American History Monument in Columbia, South Carolina. In August 2020, Dwight was made an honorary Space Force member in Washington, D.C., decades after leaving the Air Force.

Not only his incredible story, but amazing skills were reasons he was chosen to sculpt a 10-foot statue of Pensacola native Gen. Daniel "Chappie" James Jr.

James, another incredible man who fought the odds of his time, was the first African-American to reach the rank of four-star general in the United States. The World War II veteran and Tuskegee Airman grew up in a segregated Pensacola in the 1920s.

The memorial plaza for the statue will be erected near the foot of the Pensacola side of the new bridge to Gulf Breeze. The memorial is projected to be opened to the public during the fall.

Dwight was scheduled to spend time during his weekend visit to Pensacola visiting the National Naval Aviation Museum, visiting the studio for the statue in Pace, and the foundry in Fairhope, Alabama, where molds of the clay sculpture will be created and casting of the bronze statue will begin.

Chris Dosev, chairman of the Gen. Daniel “Chappie” James Jr. Memorial Foundation, said he was honored to introduce Dwight to the Pensacola community and the community to Dwight's work. For Dosev, it is an amazing opportunity to host a man whose body of work showcases African American history to the entire nation and continues to grow even today.

"I hope people recognize when you're dealing with somebody that's going to be 90, that is still thinking, that is still engaged, that's still contributing, I think that is an inspiration to all of us," Dosev said. "You know, it comes back to what (Pensacola educator and Gen. James' mother) Lillie Anna James says, 'Thou shalt not quit.' It all comes back like a full circle, and he epitomizes that."

This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: Gen. Chappie James statue sculptor Ed Dwight visits Pensacola