A Look at the Negro Travelers Green Book of 2021
The Negro Motorist Green Book, more popularly known as The Green Book, is a travel guide published between 1936 and 1967 during the period of Jim Crow’s laws in the United States.
Written by black New Your City mailman Victor Hugo Green, The Green Book served as an annual guidebook for African-American road trippers.
Jim Crow’s laws were local laws that enforced racial segregation in the Southern United States public spaces. This resulted in racial discrimination, violence after dark in “sundown towns,” and ranged from inconveniences to outright death threats for black Americans.
While automobiles made it much easier for black Americans to be independently mobile, their challenges while traveling were unbearable. Black travelers often had to carry buckets or portable toilets in their car trunks because they were typically barred from bathrooms and rest areas in service stations and roadside stops. Travel essentials, including gasoline, were also difficult to purchase because of discrimination at gas station
Green wrote the guidebook that became known as the Black Travel Bible, which significantly helped change travel for African Americans. The book provided African American Travelers with a list of taverns, hotels, restaurants, service stations, boarding houses, and various other relatively friendly establishments to African Americans.
As its popularity grew, the Green Book expanded from a motorists’ companion to an international travel guide. Along with suggestions for the United States, later editions included information on airline and cruise ship journeys to Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean, Africa, and Europe.
The Modern-Day Movement
Recently, the black community has been spending more time and money on traveling. According to a study by MMGY Global, Black travelers have become an economic force, spending $109 billion on vacations in 2019.
At the beginning of the pandemic there was a decrease in the amount of African Americans traveling. However, black travelers are now becoming more comfortable with the idea of traveling during COVID.
Green Book Global’s Black Travel survey shows that 33% of black travelers will keep reavel and spending habits the same when they feel comfortable traveling again. 63% of respondents claimed they would increase their travel.
The survey also noted that 45% of black travelers took two to three international trips a year; while 42% of black travelers take up to one trip per year.
Since the era of racial segregation, black travel has come a far way. However, racial inclusivity is still a pressing issue that black people globally are trying to fight for.
In recent weeks, the mainstream adoption of the Black Lives Matter campaign has pushed the issues around racial inclusivity into the spotlight, and the travel industry hasn’t been spared. Brands such as Green Book Global work to provide essential information to black travelers in the form of 5000+ travel tips of what it is like travelling the globe while black. The Green Book Global has Inspired over 100K+ IG followers through our posts.
Where Black Travel is Today
The voices of black people regarding the travel industry around the world are becoming louder. Several black travelers, influencers and agencies including the Nomadness travel Tribe, Travel Noire, Black and Travel and the Green Book Global are giving a voice to the voiceless and making it known that African Americans deserve equal representation in the travel space.
The Green Book Global’s mission is to inspire and empower black travelers to confidently explore the world. Think of us as a modern-day combination of a Green book and a Tripadvisor. Our work is catered to the black population, giving you the best advice on countries, cities, hotels, and restaurants you should travel to next.
We help ease the burden of travel pain points with our unique offering where instead of rating activities you rate your overall experiences in a city. Destinations have scores and tips for categories like Things To Do, Adventure, Relaxation, etc. to even what is like “Traveling While Black”.
The Modern-Day Black Travel Bible
Green Book Global is a modern-day digital and global green book that is continuously making travel more inclusive. Additionally, we are the first and only black travel review site.
Join the Green Book Global movement and book a trip on our website.
