There is a Seriousness to Traveling While Black
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Black America has never had physical distance from The Weather of white supremacy. That is the reality of being here. Nations in the Caribbean gained their independence and their colonizers returned home, that physical space is essential for addressing such a vile generational trauma. There are other aspects that remained, like economic hooks, religious hooks, colonial formats of governance, but they physically left. Even after “emancipation” (we know places in the South held enslaved folk well into the 1970’s), we still had to find space within the same climate that saw us ¾ a man. And we have, we exist wholly and fully outside, alongside, above, and without the imaginations of White People.
We have never stopped carving our own cartographies and conjuring space in crowded rooms. My favorite example of this is Victor & Alma’s Negro Motorist Green Book, a Black Travel Guide that’s one of the best things to come out of the Harlem Renaissance.
From 1900 - 1970’s more than 5 million Black people left the South and ventured to major cities in the North, West, and even Alaska. Fueled by a lack of economic opportunity, the weight of the racist South, and the promise of better prospects in the North (thanks to the burgeoning manufacturing industry).
Victor Hugo Green was a November Scorpio born in Manhattan, New York in 1892 to Alice A. Holmes and William H. Green. He was the eldest of three children and grew up in Hackensack New Jersey. In around 1913 he began working as a Postal Carrier in Bergen, New Jersey and in 1918 he married his wife Alma Duke of Richmond, Virginia. Victor’s job as a Postal worker inspired the couple to create a much needed Black Travel Guide. Alma, a June Gemini (with the same birthdate as my Nana) played a large role in The Green Book’s creation. She co-published each edition: sifting through inquiries to advertise, organizing the layout, and kept track of businesses welcoming Black patrons. Following Victor’s death in 1960, the Green Book continued its annual release for 6 more years with Alma as Publisher. The later issues were extended to the Caribbean, Mexico, and Canada. It was largely available through mail order and a Gas/Service Station chain called Esso Station.
fig. 1 – Left, original front cover of 1946 Green Book issue. Right, facsimile scanned page of 1962 International copy of the Green Book
Counter-mapping America
Their Guide featured everything from hotels, to mechanics, to restaurants, to gas stations that took no issue with serving Black people. Together Alma and Victor created one of the most prolific travel agencies in America. One that creates a window into the strategies of navigating such traumatic social dynamics.
This treasure in counter-cartography or counter-mapping (a process of creating maps that challenges the status quo and dominant power structures in cartography and society) was born from a moment when the world felt apocalyptic on both a macro and micro scale. The first issue was released in 1936, three years before WWII, the final year of the American Dust Bowl, during the height of the Great Depression (which impacted Black folks the most), and in the heart of Jim Crow. I imagine though, that the Harlem Race Riot of 1935 created an urgency for them to serve the needs of their community more urgently than anything else.
fig. 2 – scanned pages 80 and 81 from the facsimile copy of 1962 Green Book
Utilizing a national network of postal workers to populate and distribute this feat in counter cartography, The Green Book was published yearly from 1936 - 1967. Victor’s vision was that it could serve as a safe alternative to traveling while the systemic atmosphere shifted and eventually no longer be needed. Indeed he was right as the final publication was during the Civil Rights Movement of the 60’s when the law caught up to common sense, leading to Desegregation and Constitutional Amendments (Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth). The Green Book is a pristine example of revolution, resistance, and represents the counter cartographies foundational to Black American culture. This annual guide made it easier to pursue joy, relaxation, and adventure without having to center the White World. Within 100 years of the Emancipation Proclamation, Victor and Alma’s Travel Guide brings us into an empowering realm where the parameters of Jim Crow and hatred do not contain the Black Experience.
This futuristic vision of what can be bustled alongside the youthful Automotive industry. Henry Ford’s car manufacturing plants in Detroit quickly became the largest employer of black men in the early 1900’s (who left their families down south as they made way to Michigan to work in these facilities), and with this, the automotive industry became a literal vehicle for Black Americans to enter the Middle Class. With the Cars’ increase in popularity, a new pathway of freedom and exploration began running parallel to the desires of Black Folk. A desire to zoom out of White Supremacy and to hone in on the land they’ve involuntarily stewarded for generations. Black folk were already reckoning with White Fear in the South, but would soon learn that although the North didn’t feature racism to the same intensity, the North was equally imaginative in that regard.
fig. 3 – scanned page 25 of facsimile copy of 1962 Green Book
There’s a seriousness to traveling while Black
And while this Automotive Roadmap served as a reliable umbrella for The Weather, the arid conditions persisted. Take Route 66 (aka The Mother Road or The Main Street of America), for example, a 2,448 mi highway that stretches from Chicago to Los Angeles. It represented freedom and accessibility to the entire country. Even in recent years Route 66 is still regarded as the backdrop for budding “coming of age” road trips amongst teens who are eager to traverse this American landscape. We all know the vision for this freedom was a white one. In fact, The Main Street of America claimed countless Black lives, in part due to exhaustion from driving hundreds of miles in one go, but the root of this exhaustion is wanting to avoid Sundown Towns.
Phoenix Arizona is about 100 miles north of where I currently live in Tucson. It’s barely a two hour drive, not too bad. But can you imagine driving hundreds of miles knowing that you can’t stop anywhere? Even worse, if you happened to stay too long in a place, you’d face the possibilities of lynchings, displacement, or assault.
Out of the 89 counties along Route 66, forty-four of them were Sundown Towns. Travelers dealt with this by packing everything from extra food (in anticipation of not having any accessible restaurants), bed sheets to create partitions for restroom breaks, and extra medication just in case of an emergency. The lawful institution of Sundown Towns meant that if black folk were caught in white towns as the sun began setting, at the very least they faced jail time. You can imagine the very worst.
As daunting as this reality is, Black folk, Green Book in tow, still ventured to places like the Grand Canyon, YellowStone and Yosemite National Parks, and wanted to explore this nation. They still understood that the terrors of White supremacy primarily caged those that upheld it; it had nothing to do with the land itself. No, they pursued the land over and over, and with The Green Book, they pursued each other. They created their own roadmaps and wayfinding methods. They nurtured their communal economies and carved space on the land they were never supposed to feel at home in.
Black Americans are multilingual and able to hold many cartographies in view at once. It’s exhausting and I hope I don’t sound as if I’m glorifying the horrors of constantly navigating racism, but I do find the enduring spirit and ways we’ve created space admirable and one that should be a source of empowerment. Encouraging us to stand upright and forward facing.
The Astrology
The first Green Book was published in 1936 when
Uranus was in Taurus –where it is now,
Saturn was in Pisces – where it is now
Jupiter was in Sagittarius – now it’s opposed in Gemini,
Pluto was in Cancer – now it’s opposed in Capricorn.
These outer planet patterns reflect a spiraling moment. One where global instability runs parallel to the hope and conjuring of a new future. One where we are determined to forge a way forward even in fire. These distant beings represent the restructuring of society at large which requires a reweaving at the most personal levels. Reflecting on 1936 reminds us that the tension of life is where genius and innovation is born. Then, they had: automobiles, the electric guitar, helicopters, and photocopiers. Now, we have: advancements in AI, cryptocurrency, automation, apps that further convenience, and tools to combat climate change.
The parallelling rivers intersect at remembrance.
We are 12 years away from the 100 year anniversary of the Green Book’s first edition. In these coming years, what can we imagine that nourishes that sown seed of counter cartography? What can we build together?
Victor H. Green transitioned on October 16th in 1960 at the age of 67. Following his death his wife Alma Duke continued publishing Green Book’s until 1967. The Green Book was born from necessity with the intention to mend the mess. As we celebrate Victor’s 64th death date I encourage you to take pause and consider what it means to create something that truly serves the moment.
Yes the world is a cruel, burning, and rigid place but it gave birth to you.
And in you lies a medicine that is so complete and perfect for this time.
You are full of life and ability, you need only nurture both.
