Driving the Green Book

In this bonus episode, Alvin and Janée talk with two women whose families used The Negro Motorist Green Book.

Hear an excerpt from the new book, How We Can Win: Race, History, and Changing the Money Game That's Rigged. In it, author and activist Kimberly Jones delves into the impacts of systemic racism, revealing how her formative years in Chicago gave birth to a lifelong devotion to justice. It's inspired by her viral video during the George Floyd protests and her analysis of the enduring economic disparities Black Americans face. With an introduction from Green Book host Alvin Hall, you can hear the first chapter of the audio book now. Get your copy here or wherever books or audiobooks are sold.

Although Driving the Green Book is over, today we're sharing a clip from another powerful story about the fight for racial equality. The new book Buses Are A Comin' by Charles Person is an account of the Freedom Riders movement, written by the youngest original Freedom Rider. In this exclusive excerpt, you'll hear the first chapter of the audiobook. Get your copy today here or wherever books or audiobooks are sold.

Now a National Civil Rights Monument, and best-known as the site where Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated, the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee hosted not only civil rights leaders, but a range of famous musicians and black celebrities during its heyday.

Places like Paradise Valley in Detroit and Idlewild, Michigan, catered to African American communities, whether it be to create a thriving district of Black-owned businesses or allow your family to take a trip where you could be comfortable and free of any harassment or prejudice.

The A.G. Gaston Motel in Birmingham, Alabama was considered top-tier lodging for African Americans and an epicenter for the civil rights movement during its heyday in the 1950s.

We explore the emotional legacy of The Negro Motorist Green Book and the inherited wisdom passed down from generation to generation.

The elders who lived through segregation pass down the wisdom and knowledge they gained as they learned to safely navigate extremely tense, frightening, and humiliating situations.

We head to Nashville to trace the legacy of Jim Crow, segregation, and The Negro Motorist Green Book through different generations of one family: The Nettles.

How did Black travelers use Mother Wit—common sense insights—to help them survive during the Jim Crow era?