Driving the Green Book

An audio journey through the segregated South.

In the summer of 2019, award-winning broadcaster and educator Alvin Hall and activist Janée Woods Weber hit the road for a trip from Detroit to New Orleans. The route they drove was based on information from the historic travel guide, The Negro Motorist Green Book. During segregation and Jim
Crow, African American travelers all over the country relied on this book as a vital resource to quell fears, find safe havens, and travel with dignity. Wherever Alvin and Janée went, they asked about The Green Book. The stories from this trip turned into the Driving the Green Book podcast.

The route Alvin and Janée drove was based on information from The Green Book. They knew that thousands of African Americans would have made a similar trip when returning South to visit family during and after the Great Migration—a period when many Black Americans moved north and west for
better jobs, better lives, and better futures. In each city they collected powerful, personal testimony from locals: former Motown musicians, activists, politicians, professors, historians, artists, and more.

Driving the Green Book is also available in book form!

A few interviews took place in New York; however, during the road trip Alvin and Janée talked to people in:

Detroit, MI
Columbus, OH
Cincinnati, OH
Louisville, KY
Nashville, TN
Memphis, TN
Jackson, MS
Birmingham, AL
Selma, AL
Montgomery, AL
Mobile, AL
New Orleans, LA

As they drove the Green Book, what surfaced were inspiring and heartbreaking tales that tell a different story from what Hollywood would have you believe.

Driving the Green Book is a living history podcast that preserves a powerful legacy and honors the stories of those who lived through the era, supported and uplifted each other, and fought for equality.
Contact Alvin Hall is an award-winning television and radio broadcaster, bestselling
author, and renowned financial educator. His numerous radio programs include The Green Book (BBC Radio 4), Alvin Hall Goes Back to School (The Takeaway, PRI with WNYC), and Jay-Z: From Brooklyn to the Board Room (BBC Radio 4). Joining Alvin on the road is Janée Woods Weber, an activist
and social justice trainer. Her writing about antiracism and other social justice issues has appeared in several publications including The Root, Quartz, and Guernica.

If you’d like to share your own stories about the Green Book with us, you can reach out via Twitter. We would love to hear from you!

Follow Alvin on Twitter @alvin_d_hall
Follow Janée on Twitter @janeepwoods

Watch Alvin’s interview with his alma mater, Bowdoin College.

Bonus Content

Apple Collaboration

Macmillan is thrilled to collaborate with Apple across its ecosystem of services
to elevate this important story about a vital resource and the powerful legacy
that it represents.

Customers will be able to listen to:

Listen to Driving the Green Book for free on Apple Podcasts
See the locations documented in The Negro Motorist Green Book with a
new, dedicated Guide in Apple Maps
Hear music created by artists during this historic period on Apple Music
Explore a collection of Green Book-related titles curated by Alvin Hall on Apple Books

Learn More about The Negro Motorist Green Book

To browse copies of the different editions and to learn more about this important publication, you can visit the New York Public Library’s digital archive.