Stellar tale of Black travel in America
Caribbean Life, JANUARY 10-16, 2020 39
By Terri Schlichenmeyer
Your tickets have been purchased.
Reservations were made in
your name and all that’s left
is packing. Yep, you’re heading
out for the weekend, a week,
a month, gone on the trip of
a lifetime and as you’ll see in
“Overground Railroad” by Candacy
Taylor, it’s a trip your
grandparents might’ve been
denied.
Ron was just seven years old
when he was told to sit still and
be quiet in the backseat of his
parents car, where he listened
as a police officer questioned
his father by a country road.
Even when he was an old man
and stepdad to Candacy Taylor,
he remembered the tension
coming from the front seat of
that car.
Her stepfather’s stories
helped Taylor understand many
things, including why he and
Black folks his age preferred to
travel at night, on side roads. At
about this same time, Taylor’s
white friends began expressing
outrage over white supremacists
and she replied with facts
about incarceration of black
men. To her, the three histories
were one: Black people have
always been denied equality.
In the twentieth century,
that inequality largely resulted
from Jim Crow laws which,
among other humiliations,
allowed restaurants, hotels,
and gas stations to refuse service
to Black travelers. On the
road, brave or desperate African
Americans risked violence
or even death by testing the
laws; in years following the
Depression, those laws gave
Victor Green an idea.
Green lived in Harlem,
worked as a mailman, and saw
a future where Black people
owned cars (rare, in the 1930s)
they could insure (also rare).
With help from other mailmen,
information on Black-owned
businesses that Black travelers
could visit was gathered and published in a book that was
Book cover of the “Overground Railroad.”
initially Harlem-centric. Subsequent
editions of The Green
Book led African American
travelers to safe restaurants,
hotels, and gas stations across
the country.
Says Taylor, Green never
made much money from his
project, but “his reward was
much more valuable… for
every business he listed, he
may have saved a life.”
As a history of African American
travel in the Twentieth
Century, “Overground Railroad”
is incredible, filled with
great continuity and plenty of
side-stories to make it come
alive. Author Candacy Taylor
makes it exquisitely personal
with tales from her stepfather
and her deep appreciation
for all he’d endured, leading
to other stories of DWB; how
the travel industry foolishly
thwarted African American
travel and its buying power;
how things changed; and the
constant reassurance of The
Green Book.
That history makes this book
incredibly fascinating.
It could’ve been even better,
had Taylor stuck with the
topic.
Instead, occasionally and
from the beginning, mass
incarceration and institutional
racism are inserted into this
narrative on travel. One could
perhaps argue that they’re
peripherally relevant but,
though it’s not overwhelming,
that feels like a discussion for a
different book.
Still, ignore the distraction.
Don’t let it chase you away
from this stellar tale, told with
detail and an abundance of
photos. If you’re looking for
a lively, well-rounded history
book, “Overground Railroad” is
just the ticket.
“Overground Railroad:
The Green Book
and the Roots of Black
Travel in America” by
Candacy Taylor
c.2020, Abrams Press
$35.00 / $44.00
Canada 360 pages
Former Queens Borough President and President and CEO of the Flushing Willets Point
Corona LDC, Claire Shulman.
Claire Shulman talks about her political career
On this edition of Power
Women, Schneps Publisher
and President, Vicki Schneps
is joined by Former Queens
Borough President and President
and CEO of the Flushing
Willets Point Corona LDC,
Claire Shulman, who talks
about her illustrious career
in Queens local politics and
so much more. Claire takes
us to the earliest points in
her journey and talks about
the connection that her
nursing background had
with her transition into politics.
Finally, Claire gives our
listeners her best advice and
explains the importance of
knowledge and preparation
as tools in any career. Check
out this and our other podcasts
at podcasts.schnepsmedia.
com and download wherever
podcasts are found.
Listen and enjoy!
Former Queens Borough
President and President and
CEO of the Flushing Willets
Point Corona LDC, Claire
Shulman.