Denver astronaut considered for the highest civilian honor bestowed by Congress

CBS News

20 hours ago

A bill by Colorado's Rep. Joe Neguse and Senators Michael Bennet and John Hickenlooper would award Ed Dwight the Congressional Gold Medal.
Dwight is the first Black astronaut candidate and oldest man to go into space. The 91-year-old has also owned several successful businesses during his extraordinary life and is a nationally renowned sculptor.
He says, in many ways, his destiny was written by his mom.
"She had this thing beat into my brain that anybody who had the advantage either educationally or financially owed it to the rest of the community," he said.
That principle has guided him throughout his life. He says when President John F. Kennedy asked him to join the astronaut training program in 1961, he didn't want it. His mom said it wasn't about what he wanted.
"She said 'You better get out and do this. We need this as an inspiration for the Black community,'" he said.
But Dwight says progress turned to prejudice and racism after Kennedy was assassinated, causing him to resign. Forced to reinvent himself, he took a job at IBM in Colorado, where he says he was tapped to be the company's first Black vice president.
"I said been through that first Black thing once and it didn't work out so well," he said.
He became his own boss instead, running an aviation consulting business, restaurants, and a real estate and construction company.
"We had Learjets flying all over the country," he said.
In his free time, he started sculpting.
"At the end of the day, I'd get in my Mercedes and drive to (construction) sites and pick up all the metal that was laying aroud and I started making art," Dwight said.
His artwork caught the eye of Colorado's first Black lieutenant governor, George Brown, who asked Dwight to do a sculpture for the state capitol.
"He told me 'You owe the world something,'" said Dwight. "We've got to spread the word. We've got to have art in almost every city to remind both the Black and the White communities that Black folks did something in this country."
Once again, Dwight was called to put the greater good first.
"So, I got rid of all my companies and ended up where I am today," he said.
He is an acclaimed artist who has created nearly 20,000 gallery pieces and more than 130 memorials dedicated to Black history.
"I'm a pretty happy guy," he says.
But his life wasn't quite complete until last year, when he was offered a seat on Blue Origin.
"I said that I didn't care whether I went up or not. I lied," he said.
It was a moment he had trained for but, he wasn't prepared for what he saw.
"Look at that beautiful little place down there, how organized it is, how well ordered it is," he said, referring to the Earth from space.
Ed Dwight -- a man acutely aware of how ugly the world can be -- saw beauty. He isn't the first Black astronaut but, he is the oldest to go into space.
Dwight is being considered for a Congressional Gold Medal for his achievements in aviation and art.
He isn't holding his breath.
"What we're faced with is forcing people to remember things," he said.
Things that were meant to break Ed Dwight. But he rose above it all, and lifted others with him.
He's been called a space pioneer living legend, and trailblazer but, he has a different idea for his legacy.
"I'm just a guy who wants to make this a better world, better for everybody -- Black folks, White folks, everybody."
The Fellowship Community of Vikki Buckley is holding a celebration of Ed Dwight Saturday, Aug. 16, from 2-4 p.m. at the Assistant League of Denver Event Center. It is open to the public.