Black Travelers Armed Themselves With These Travel Essentials During Turbulent Times

front of the green book
Briona Lamback
June 29, 2023

Traveling is an anxious experience for many of us, especially due to a long history of anti-Blackness. Staying safe was crucial for our ancestors – here's how they did it.

Shoebox Lunches 

During the Greenbook era, dining while traveling while Black wasn’t easy. With as much innovation as usual, our people prepared food before leaving home, storing lunches in empty shoe boxes to bring on road trips. They usually featured classics like fried chicken, mac and cheese, and a slice of pound cake.

Jim Crow Travel Kit 

Our folks never left home without this life-saving travel kit. It contained essential items like a small stove and portable table since many businesses refused to serve Black customers and overalls for protection from animal waste and tobacco that white people left on train seats.

Bed And Breakfasts 

Because of Jim Crow laws, our people couldn’t stay the night at any ol’ hotel, so we created hospitality havens such as Bed and Breakfast hotels. It’s still necessary that we find ways to keep safe while traveling because anti-Blackness is everywhere.

Our people used their knowledge to create tools to protect themselves and each other while traveling, and we should continue doing the same. From building directories of Black-owned businesses to carving out safe spaces in our cities for each other, we must prioritize ourselves and safety wherever we go. We have the power and the creativity to protect ourselves.

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