It is quite shocking to me that I have never heard of "The Negro travellers' Green Book Guide to travel & vacations" If you are as unaware as I was I'll let you know what it's all about ...
This, I can only imagine, indispensable book points a safe route to travel in segregated America, it lists hotels, gas stations tailors, restaurants that would serve blacks in those dark days of segregation, so that if you were fortunate enough to be able to travel it could give you at least some hope of surviving America as it was then.
This book must have been a must have for every band traveling Jim Crow America so every tour manager, bus driver, booking agent & more MUST have known about it and it was a published for 30 years ... let me say that again 30 YEARS! and yet it is not common knowledge how can this be ?
Now, hear me clearly I'm not saying that it should be known to simply point out another injustice inflicted upon blacks that is a valid point to be sure but let's take a look at the other points that might make this an incredibly interesting topic for radio, television, and print ( and not only during black history month)
1. somehow in 1936 Victor H. Green found a way to compile and get published the first edition!
2. This book WITHOUT DOUBT saved countless lives by pointing a safe route of travel
3. It was printed for THIRTY YEARS!
4. Victor Green used his contacts in the postal service to compile his list of safe havens for the African American Traveler.
5. It was printed for THIRTY YEARS!
Printed on its cover were the words: Carry your "Green Book" with you, You may need it.
It must have been widely known & widely used so ... what happened?
Why did the knowledge of this book and Victor H. Green fade away into the mists of time?
The answer may not be as obvious as you think... after all in this case the bulk of the information was and is being held in "the community", my own mother, who lived through those times and spent some part of her life in the south must have come across it not to mention uncles, aunts Grandparents, friends, relatives...
so ...
I ask again...
What happened?
Why are there so many blank spots in the history of Black Americans?
Once we didn't know there were cowboys, and what happened to the free blacks we see from time to time in photographs of the 1800's ?
There has never been any doubt that there are uncountable omissions in the telling of the story of America...
I am beginning to think that it just may be access and use of the internet that will bring many of these obscured stories to light... wouldn't that be something?
Tales of Abolitionists, Librarians, shopkeepers, Travelers, Settlers...
What would happen if we (and I mean the all inclusive "WE" of humankind) could uncover the lost stories and complete the history?
Lets hope we find out soon.
Because it's been too long coming
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