On September 11, 2001, 2,977 people died, 6,000 other people were injured, and the flights in the sky were forced to land wherever they could. Among these planes was pilot Beverly Bass, the first female pilot for American Airlines. The song “Me and the Sky” from the hit Broadway musical Come From Away highlights Bass’s journey and embodies civic through the description of how one woman persevered to change the status quo and make history.
Nothing sums up civic better than an individual working towards changing the world for the betterment of their communities. The song “Me and the Sky” describes just that. Beverley Bass knew she wanted to become a pilot since the first day she saw an airplane takeoff, but just as the song mentions all the people around her believed she was too young, too short, and that since she was a female she would never have the capacity to be able to pilot a plane. Nevertheless she continued to learn all about planes and she eventually got her first job flying dead bodies for a mortician. Afterwards she applied to be a flight engineer for American Airlines and subject to rude and negative comments from the WWII captains and the flight attendants. Despite all that she still managed to become the first female American captain in history with an all female crew. Her story defines what it is to be civic, to work hard, to break boundaries, all for the betterment of the nation.
Not only does Bass embody civic through the choices she made in her life, her song “Me and the Sky” also conveys how a good citizen responds in a time of devastating crisis. After everything Bass had worked towards flying from Paris to Dallas across the Atlantic seemed like no big deal. Then at 8:46 someone on air to air traffic said there had been a terrorist action. When the audience hears “and the one thing I loved more than anything was used as the bomb,” they can truly feel how Bass’s heart dropped. Nonetheless Bass pushed through her shock and remained composed as she landed the plane in Gander, Newfoundland. Throughout her stay there she took care of her passengers and crew remaining strong despite the tragedy. These actions represent how Bass dedicated herself to her duty of taking care of her flight community despite being in unknown territory in the mist of a difficult situation, this is civic. Therefore the song describing the civic actions of this magnificent woman is in itself a civic artifact.
Beverly Bass’s journey to becoming a pilot and her actions during the course of the september 11th terrorist attack represents what a good citizen is. Someone who is working towards change for the betterment of their communities. The song “Me and the Sky” describes the life of a woman who follows all these things and is thus a civic artifact. 