One of the reasons for our 4-hour excursion to Houston was to see the museum exhibit The Green Negro Motorist Handbook at the Holocaust Museum before it moved on to other pastures (in this case Los Angeles, CA). For those who don’t know, during the Jim Crow days the Green Negro Motorist Handbook was a way for Black people to travel the country with grace and dignity, and just live with the freedom that car travel provides, despite the laws that restricted our rights. There is an interactive display where you can navigate a trip to grandma’s house, and you can choose to use the handbook or go without, to your own peril.

The exhibit is divided into regions, North, South, and West. The ingenuity of what it took to survive was, frankly, genius, such as many black men drove their own cars with chauffeur hats next to them, so in case the police stopped them they could claim they were driving their employers’ car, and taking the help home ( if your wife happens to be in the car with you). If you get a chance to see this please don’t hesitate. You can go to the website to see when the exhibit reaches your town here:  https://negromotoristgreenbook.si.edu/

There was a lot my 9-year-old son didn’t understand, but a lot he did. It was worth it to expose him to a part of the history of his people. We also explored the Holocaust museum, and it was a sobering experience to say the least. There was much to digest and think about, and anyone who denies it happened is simply insane.

Next in Part 3: Time to Eat! (and time to meet someone from the show!)