Cedric Rockamore is a leader for American Airlines’ Diversity, Equity, Inclusion initiatives, but he didn’t start off with services in the sky, rather, the sea. His story starts in a small community in Arkansas.
“I’m originally from North Little Rock and I lived in a very small town that really was a very patriotic community and very religious. But it was also a place that had all the things you can think of that goes against those two things,” he explained. “Gang violence, robberies, rampant drug use and addiction.”
Rockamore’s mother was a beacon for the family. She recently passed away from a debilitating illness. “I never heard her use a curse word, she never drank, never smoked, never wore makeup or anything like that,” he recalled. “She had five kids and none of us followed in her footsteps. I always jokingly say we’re all heathens and so we could never measure up.”
Though his mother was religious, she had a very defined value system and always put people above even that, deeply caring for all regardless of their walk in life.
“Though I ended up getting my MBA and finding success in executive roles my mother’s proudest moment was the day I enlisted in the Navy,” Rockamore said. “At this time, I was serving as a vice president, and there weren’t a lot of African Americans and Black people in general in those roles. But when people would ask what I was doing she’d just tell them something at the airport but would rave and go on about my time in the service.”
His father was an Air Force veteran.
“People saw more in folks that were prior service members than they did for folks who went off to college. My parents were divorced but I was close with my dad and his wife,” he added. “He was someone who believed in just the country and he was most proud of my military service. My friends are most proud of my military service. People back home describe me around my military service, although one could argue there are other things that I’ve done.”
Another big part of Rockamore’s life, though he wasn’t alive when it happened, was the desegregation of schools. Years after the landmark legislation gave Civil Rights to all, the South was still digging in its heels to make the required changes. This is when bussing started.
“In 1971 I started first grade and I remember walking up to my elementary school, which was in my neighborhood. I was getting ready to walk into the school and my mom said, ‘Oh no, no, no, baby, you gotta get on this bus.’ And I remember looking at five or six buses, these big, huge, yellow buses that were lined up,” Rockamore recalled. “A few of us got on that bus and were shipped to the suburbs and predominantly white neighborhoods into a predominantly white school. When I got there, we walked in and I’ll never forget this. My principal was Mr. Tucker and this guy had an acoustic guitar. When we all walked in and we sat down on the floor, he started playing the guitar and singing. And I’m from really just a bad part of North Little Rock. I’m thinking, ‘What the hell is this? But I like it.’”
He went on to explain how his time in those schools changed him because all he and the other children of color knew before was violence and single parent homes. Watching his friends live in two-parent homes filled with love and safe neighborhoods showed him a different side of life, he added.
“I do think that it informed who I am. At this school we said the Pledge of Allegiance, and we did go in and pray. I think it formed me but then my mother, who was really about redemption and about fairness and about everybody matters, helped form me in terms of how I feel about people and just this natural curiosity,” Rockamore explained. “I went off, I got married to my junior high school sweetheart. We have four sons together and I spent 10 years in the Navy as an Air Traffic Controller.”
He got his start in the Army National Guard but ultimately wanted to go active duty and moved to the Navy, leading him to attending both boot camps within 12 months. Rockamore attended school at night when he was on shore duty and ultimately decided to leave sailing behind to pursue life as a civilian. Instead of being at sea, he moved on to the sky.
“Purple heart recipient, Don Livingston, was my mentor when I first got in and the guy who taught me everything, all the basics of aviation,” he said. “He was a staunch Republican and so people thought that I got brainwashed because I spent four years with him and they’d say I was starting to sound like him. He was a white man from New York who couldn’t be any different than I was and I still love him to this day.”
Rockamore got his start in aviation customer service working his way up to manager, then director, and eventually a vice president with American Airlines. In 2021 he became the airline’s Chief Diversity Officer and Vice President of Global People Operations.
“I think our military and our country is the greatest country on the planet and I stand by that,” he added.
He credits his time in the Navy with giving him a sense of belonging and confidence, something he knows others he grew up with sought out in the gangs they joined.
“When I came home or when I wore that uniform, it didn’t matter if I was Black, white, male, female, old, young, Asian, Hispanic, you name it – it didn’t matter. People respected that uniform and thus I felt the respect for its importance and value,” he elaborated. “I think just from growing up with a lot of different things being thrown at me to being able to feel like I matter; that’s what the military did for me.”
He was proud to share that American Airlines has many veterans within leadership roles and takes seriously its commitment to giving back to those who serve. This June, they filled planes with World War II veterans and brought them to Normandy for the anniversary of the landing.
As he reflects on his life, he has a message for those who may be struggling with their own identity or path forward.
“You should get inspired by knowing you can do whatever it is you want to do. You make the choice. We all have choices in life. I choose to be happy, so I’m going to do happy things, and I’m going to behave happily,” Rockamore shared. “I think that’s a long way of saying, you control your destiny. You control it.”