How Black Heritage Travel Can Help Heal

COVID-19 has stopped most travel in its tracks. The senseless killing of George Floyd has pushed even the idea of travel off to the side. But as our nation travels toward an uncertain future, this is the year to travel with purpose. This post contains information about more than a dozen Black heritage travel sites worth a visit.

NOTE 8/29/20: The sports world was upended this week when the Milwaukee Bucks (and then other teams and leagues) decided not to play. This follows the police shooting of Jacob Blake, a Black man who was shot 7 times while the man’s children watched. The incident happened in Kenosha, Wisconsin, not far from Milwaukee. As a white man, I can’t pretend to understand the hurt that’s being felt in the Black community. But I can listen, learn, vote, and be part of the solution. To that end, and keeping in mind that this is a travel site, I am bumping up this post from earlier this summer. I hope you’ll find some inspiration for your upcoming travels.

—–

When SpaceX launched the other day, social media played up the astronauts leaving Earth as the lucky ones. Leaving now, during a pandemic? Leaving now, while our country so troubled? Yeah, good idea.

If We’d Only Known About 2020…

This hasn’t been a good year. More than 100,000 people in the United States have died from COVID-19. Nearly 400,000 have succumbed worldwide. And the number of new confirmed cases is growing faster than ever. The American economy has suffered, and along with it, the people whose livelihoods it supports.

Then on May 25th, a police officer in Minneapolis put his knee to George Floyd’s neck for 8 minutes, 46 seconds. Onlookers pleaded with the police to let the man breathe, but to no avail. He was unresponsive for nearly three minutes.

The country has responded with outrage and demands for systemic change. Most protests have been peaceful, some have devolved into violence. Some police departments have acquitted themselves well. In Camden and Flint, the police marched in solidarity with protesters. Other departments, in their behavior, have clearly demonstrated why reform is so badly needed. Police in Huntsville, AL, preemptively unleashed tear gas on protesters and journalists.

Each day this week, I’ve tried to begin a new blog post about travel. Each day this week, I’ve been sidetracked by news events. This is a big moment for our nation. It’s a moment to choose between more of the same, or a real course correction. Right now, travel doesn’t seem all that important.

Travel Can Make Us Better

Still, this is a travel blog and we will travel again. Travel is good for us and can make us better people. Because travel is often the first big step toward understanding the experiences of others. In a survey of business travelers, 87% said their travels made them more empathetic to others. Empathy, trying to put yourself in someone else’s shoes, can change your outlook on people. It can change your outlook on life. Empathy is our best defense against an “us vs. them” mentality, and travel sets us on its path.

Covid-19 has closed international borders and forced us to rethink our travels this year. That sucks, I get it. I love to travel, and Americans can’t even go to Canada. But when life gives you lemons…

Learn About the Black Experience

There is no better year than 2020 to travel domestically, nor is there a better year to learn about the Black experience in America. I plan to take this opportunity to visit some of the important Black heritage travel sites near my home.

The Lynching Memorial

Among them, the National Memorial for Peace and Justice in Montgomery, Alabama. Opened in 2018, the memorial gives voice to more than 4,400 African-American men, women and children murdered by white mobs in the United States. The “Lynching Memorial,” as it’s also known, is a sobering testament to a history of violence against people of color.

Root for the Home Team

The Negro Leagues Baseball Museum in Kansas City feeds my sports fandom. Inside its walls, visitors can revel in the national pastime and celebrate legendary players like Leroy “Satchell” Paige and Buck O’Neil. But of course, the Negro Leagues existed only because Major League Baseball was a strictly segregated, “whites only” league. The museum serves as both a joyful tribute to the leagues (there were actually several) and a place to tell the story of segregation in sports.

Celebrate with Music

The African-American experience gave rise to two distinctly American forms of music: blues and jazz. The American Jazz Museum shares a building with the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum and is worth a visit. But if you want to be fully immersed in the culture of jazz, head to its birthplace: New Orleans. LIkewise, the best place to experience the blues is in Memphis and south into Mississippi — down Highway 61, along the Mississippi Delta.

Black Heritage Travel Highlights

Black historic and cultural sights are concentrated in the South, as well as the big industrial cities of the North — where many African-Americans migrated in search of jobs and a better life. But throughout this nation, Black men and women have contributed to its growth and development. Their stories are everywhere. They are stories of success and triumphs, suffering and dying, innovation, genius and creativity. Their stories aren’t hard to find, if you’re open to hearing them. In addition to those already mentioned, here are a few places to start:

National Museum of African-American History

A branch of the Smithsonian Institution, this museum opened its permanent home on the National Mall in 2016. It hosted 2 million visitors in 2019 and is one of the nation’s top Black heritage travel sites. (Washington, DC)

Motown Museum

“Hitsville USA” gave us the Motown Sound and some of the greatest songs of its era. The studio was opened in 1959 and is located in a modest house in Detroit.

National Underground Railroad Freedom Center

This museum tells the story of the Underground Railroad. Through the stories of Black men and women escaping slavery, we learn the meaning of inclusive freedom. (Cincinnati, Ohio)

Beale Street Historic District

If you visit Memphis, chances are you’ll visit Beale Street. Enjoy incredible music, great food, and a melting pot of people.

National Civil Rights Museum at The Lorraine Motel

Dr. Martin Luther King was assassinated at this nondescript motel in Memphis. But here, we learn the ongoing story of the civil rights movement.

Whitney Plantation

Most plantation tours gloss over the ugly truth of plantation life. But not here. This Louisiana plantation focuses exclusively on the lives of the slaves who made it work. (Edgard, LA)

Old Slave Mart

When you visit Charleston, South Carolina, make a stop at this museum. It’s housed in one of the last remaining buildings that hosted slave auctions.

Black American West Museum and Heritage Center

Yes, there were Black cowboys. This small museum in Denver tells the story of African-Americans who came out west, aiding in its growth.

Martin Luther King Jr. National Historical Park

This popular attraction encompasses the boyhood home of Dr. King and the church in which he grew up. And it’s located in Atlanta, a city that’s been called the Black Mecca of the South.

Covid-19 Closures

Keep in mind that, at the time of this writing, many sites remained closed due to Covid-19. Check with the site before you make the trip.

Final Thoughts

Thanks to the novel coronavirus, many Americans are thinking a bit differently about their summer travel plans — avoiding the uncertainty of international travel, staying closer to home. As you plan your summer vacation, consider a stop at one of the Black heritage travel sites listed here.

But more than that, talk to your Black friends and co-workers. Use travel to meet people who have different lives and experiences from yours.

I can’t pretend to understand the Black experience. I lived in a mostly white suburb, and just one African-American attended my high school. My worst run-in with police happened when I was just 16-years-old. I politely told a cop that his headlight was out, something I’d have done for anyone. With no provocation, the office threw me in the back of his car. For a headlight. Minutes later, I was released.

I’ve thought a lot about that experience lately and tried to imagine what would’ve happened if I’d been a Black teenager. My guess is that I would have said nothing. A Black teenager would have been taught to avoid the police altogether.

That’s white privilege. I felt comfortable approaching the police, believing they were on my side. Can African-Americans say the same?

As our country looks to its future, we all need a better understanding of its past, and its present. We need to understand that not all Americans live in the same America. Let’s use travel to help foster that understanding — that empathy — and put our country on the path toward healing.