When were greenbooks used
Was it a.īAXTER: It was a hotel reservation. But Jennifer reminded me of one time where we had reservations. Then he would come out after a few minutes and say, OK, we can go in. And I remember the routine had been my dad would get out first, check it out, and we sat in the car. (SOUNDBITE OF DOCUMENTARY, "THE GREEN BOOK: GUIDE TO FREEDOM") Their names are Jennifer Ivy (ph) and Karen Allen Baxter (ph), who speaks first. And I want us to hear a little scene from the film where we hear two sisters reminiscing about traveling when they were kids. So the automobile is very significant for the African-American population.ĭAVIES: Well, let's talk a little bit about kind of what conditions were like that led to the need for the Green Book. Helped us as we came out of the South from the Great Migration and get these jobs in the car factories, enter the middle class and the upper class. It was about African-Americans traveling for, you know, vacation, to visit family and what their experience was like.Īnd also the industry, the automobile industry, as we say in the film, was a huge employer of African-Americans. And I really wanted to have a home-movie feel to it because that's what "The Green Book" was about. And as soon as I started to see this footage, this amazing home-movie footage of African-Americans traveling, vacationing, working, I wanted to tell the film through this archival footage. YORUBA RICHEN: Well, in terms of the footage, we initially went down to the National African Museum of History in Washington, D.C. One of the things that makes the film so great is footage from the era and interviews from people who recalled these events. Well, Yoruba Richen, welcome to FRESH AIR. Her previous films include "The New Black" and "Promised Land." Richen spoke to FRESH AIR'S Dave Davies about the Green Book.
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Yoruba Richen is the director of the Documentary Program at the City University of New York's Graduate School of Journalism. The film shows the challenges and dangers black travelers faced, the limited options they had while on the road and the role business owners listed in the book played in the civil rights movement. She tells the story through archival home-movie footage and interviews with descendants of African-Americans who used the Green Book and the children of business owners who were listed in the guide.
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Our guest is the director of the documentary, Yoruba Richen. In 1967, following the signing of the Civil Rights Act, the Green Book stopped publication. The Green Book was a travel guide that was first printed in 1936, in the era of segregation, listing restaurants, hotels, shops and gas stations that would serve African-Americans and that were safe for them. We're going to talk about the new documentary "The Green Book Guide To Freedom," which will be shown on the Smithsonian Channel tonight.
WHEN WERE GREENBOOKS USED MOVIE
The movie "Green Book" won three Oscars last night, including best picture.