Driving the Green Book: A Road Trip Through the Living History of Black Resistance

Written by Alvin Hall

Narrated by Alvin Hall

Join award-winning broadcaster Alvin Hall on a journey through America’s haunted racial past, with the legendary Green Book as your guide.

For countless Americans, the open road has long been a place where dangers lurk. In the era of Jim Crow, Black travelers encountered locked doors, hostile police, and potentially violent encounters almost everywhere, in both the South and the North. From 1936 to 1967, millions relied on The Negro Motorist Green Book, the definitive guide to businesses where they could safely rest, eat, or sleep. 

Most Americans only know of the guide from the 2018 Green Book movie or the 2020 Lovecraft Country TV show. Alvin Hall set out to revisit the world of the Green Book to instruct us all on the real history of the guide that saved many lives. With his friend Janée Woods Weber, he drove from New York to Detroit to New Orleans, visiting motels, restaurants, shops, and stores where Black Americans once found a friendly welcome. They explored historical and cultural landmarks, from the theatres and clubs where stars like Duke Ellington and Lena Horne performed to the Lorraine Motel where Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated. Along the way, they gathered memories from some of the last living witnesses for whom the Green Book meant survival—remarkable people who not only endured but rose above the hate, building vibrant Black communities against incredible odds.

Driving the Green Book is a vital work of national history as well as a hopeful chronicle of Black resilience and resistance.

Supplemental enhancement PDF accompanies the audiobook.

• Language: English
• Publisher: HarperAudio
• Release date: Jan 31, 2023
• ISBN: 9780063271999

Alvin Hall

Alvin Hall is an award-winning television and radio broadcaster, author, political activist and renowned financial educator. His numerous radio programs include The Tulsa Tragedy that Shamed America, The Green Book, and Jay-Z: From Brooklyn to the Board Room, all on BBC. For five years he hosted the highly rated and award-winning BBC series Your Money or Your Life. He lives in New York City.

Reviews for Driving the Green Book

[holly crowley · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This is an incredible book about the history of The Green Book in America. Why it came into being and how it was used. Woven through the era of the Green Book and segregation are stories told from those who lived it. They describe their experiences and how they feel about race relations today. Hall does a fantastic job narrating his book and describing his own experiences in where he grew up and what he encountered on road trips following the paths Blacks would have taken using The Green Book.
There is so much here and the final chapter summarizes the overall positives and negatives of this history and the beauty and grace and resilience of Blacks to find a way to enjoy life despite the many obstacles.
Highly recommend this to anyone who wants to learn about history that is often ignored in a classroom setting but important to our united future as a diverse society in America.