When we think of road trips, the smell of gas stations, the mouthwatering taste of cheeseburgers, and the occasional squabbling with our siblings come to mind. This was especially the case in the 1950s when car ownership peaked in U.S. households. For most families, road trips were rollicking adventures filled with moving landscapes and incomparable memories. For Black families, however, they were perilous.
Louisiana Public Broadcasting's digital-first series Safe Haven: Louisiana's Green Book gives viewers an inside look at how
Black families travelled across the country during the Jim Crow era,
particularly in Louisiana. Simply put, travelling was a dangerous pursuit for Black
families, mostly due to segregation, racial profiling, and the existence of
sundown towns, which imposed curfews on Black people.
Created by
co-producers Emma Reid and Kara St. Cyr, the series highlights the history and
purpose behind Victor Green's The Negro Motorist Green Book, which
compromised a range of safe destinations for Black families to visit. Some of
the many "safe havens" for Black families traveling to Louisiana included The
Dew Drop Inn & Hotel, Poro's Beauty School, and Horatio's Esso Service
Station No. 2. This helped Black families to not only find a place to frequent
but also steer away from potential racial violence.
"It's hard
to believe if I would've traveled just 70 years ago, this little guide could
potentially save my life," St. Cyr said.
It's also
worth mentioning that ExxonMobil helped make road trips safer for Black
families by selling them green books, offering service to Black motorists, and
hiring Black employees who would potentially become scientists, engineers, and
marketing executives for the company--so it's no big surprise that ExxonMobil
Baton Rouge helped sponsor the series.
"[We] really
wanted to focus on our state's role, and we knew LPB could help," Stephanie
Cargile, public and government affairs manager for ExxonMobil Baton Rouge,
said. "It's an important part in the history of race relations in our state."
Along with
the Friends of the Capitol Park Museum, LPB invites you to a free
screening of the digital series on Saturday, November 13 from noon to 3 p.m.
The event will take place in conjunction with the immersive Smithsonian
traveling exhibit "The Negro Motorist Green Book," which is currently on
display at the museum.
"I can
appreciate my ancestors even more now that I understand the sacrifices they
made just to live," St. Cyr said.
For
more information about the screening and to register, visit lpb.org/programs/green-book.
