Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/704649
B M & T ••• March/April 2016 ••• www.blackmeetingsandtourism.com 22 W hen Arnold Donald became president and CEO of Carnival Corporation (which is the parent company for Carnival Cruise Line ) and when Anthony Foxx was appointed by President Obama as the United States Secretary of Transportation, they became iconic representatives ushering in the new paradigm of African-American travel. In today's world, almost every American citizen would consid- er TRAVEL as one of those inalienable rights perhaps as pre- cious as life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. To African- Americans, travel represents an even greater level of freedom. One that did not come without years of struggle and challenge. Looking back on the long history of African-Americans in this country, it is certainly clear that we are not strangers to travel. It can be said that we have come from literally trav- eling across the oceans as cargo in slave ships to being first class passen- gers aboard the world's luxury cruise liners. Africans in America traveled to escape the bondage of slavery on the dangerous trails of the historic Unde- rground Railroad so that current generations of their descendants can now travel to the most fascinating and exotic destinations on the planet. If you are among the millions of African- Americans planning to take a road trip this year, you might need an updated map quest, an electronic device to research websites and to book hotel reservations, THE NEW GREEN BOOK AFRICAN-AMERICAN TRAVEL GUIDE Enjoying The Freedom of Travel INSIGHTS on The Historic GREEN BOOK By Calvin Ramsey I was born when Jim Crow laws were still in effect and I am a child of what is called, The Great Migration. My parents traveled to the Northeast from North Carolina and Virginia. From 1910 through 1970 over six million African- Americans from southern states migrated east, west, and mostly north. Victor Hugo Green, the eld- est of three children by Alice and William Green felt the pull of this migration, although he was born in NYC and grew up in Hackensack New Jersey. His wife, Alma Duke was from Richmond Virginia. This exodus was about running to something as well as running from something. In my opinion, America would not be the same America without this mass movement of its Black citizens during this span of history. Duke Ellington migrated from DC to NYC, Dr. Carter G. Woodson from the West Virginia and Kentucky coal-mines, and Jackie Rob-inson's mother went from Georgia to Calif- ornia. In this period of transi- tion and uncertainty a travel guide compiled by Victor Hugo Green in 1936 made the journey for a better life a lot easi- er, serving to decrease the potential for any humilia- BY GLORIA HERBERT