‘Green Book’ Helped Keep African Americans Safe on the Road | Soul Food Junkies | Independent Lens
Written by Black Hot Fire Network on February 27, 2024
January 10, 2013 by 826chi in Beyond the Films
In Soul Food Junkies, filmmaker Byron Hurt briefly describes what it used to be like for African Americans to travel in the United States. He talks about how blacks would take along boxed lunches in order to avoid being turned away from restaurants or dining cars. And he mentions in passing a guide called The Negro Motorist Green Book, later known as The Negro Travelers’ Green Book, or more commonly, simply The Green Book.
Because of the limitations of the film’s length, the documentary couldn’t devote much time exploring this sidebar in black history. So we decided to delve a little more deeply into the guide many considered indispensable for safe and “embarrassment-free” travel.
