Driving the Green Book
A Road Trip Through the Living History of Black Resistance
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Narrated by:
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Alvin Hall
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By:
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Alvin Hall
About this listen
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.
PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.
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In this adventurous, original book, NPR correspondent Frank Langfitt describes how he created a free taxi service - offering rides in exchange for illuminating conversation - to go beyond the headlines and get to know a wide range of colorful, compelling characters representative of the new China. They include folks like "Beer", a slippery salesman who tries to sell Langfitt a used car; Rocky, a farm boy turned Shanghai lawyer; and Chen, who runs an underground Christian church and moves his family to America in search of a better, freer life.
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Too political
- By dah551 on 06-26-19
By: Frank Langfitt
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Sign My Name to Freedom
- A Memoir of a Pioneering Life
- By: Betty Reid-Soskin
- Narrated by: Betty Reid-Soskin
- Length: 8 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
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In Betty Reid Soskin’s 96 years of living, she has been a witness to a grand sweep of American history. When she was born in 1921, the lynching of African-Americans was a national epidemic, blackface minstrel shows were the most popular American form of entertainment, white women had only just won the right to vote, and most African-Americans in the Deep South could not vote at all. From her great-grandmother, who had been enslaved until her mid-20s, Betty heard stories of slavery and the times of terror and struggle for Black folk that followed.
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How she stressed Creole, but I guess it was a badge if honor not being regular black.
- By Satisfied customer on 05-21-24
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Conditional Citizens
- On Belonging in America
- By: Laila Lalami
- Narrated by: Laila Lalami
- Length: 5 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
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What does it mean to be American? In this starkly illuminating and impassioned book, Pulitzer Prize-finalist Laila Lalami recounts her unlikely journey from Moroccan immigrant to US citizen, using it as a starting point for her exploration of American rights, liberties, and protections.
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Blew my mind!
- By Leila Jaafari on 10-20-20
By: Laila Lalami
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Stealing Home
- Los Angeles, the Dodgers, and the Lives Caught in Between
- By: Eric Nusbaum
- Narrated by: David Owen Nelson
- Length: 8 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
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Dodger Stadium is an American icon. But the story of how it came to be goes far beyond baseball. The hills that cradle the stadium were once home to three vibrant Mexican American communities. In the early 1950s, those communities were condemned to make way for a utopian public housing project. Then, in a remarkable turn, public housing in the city was defeated amidst a Red Scare conspiracy.
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Once Upon a Time at Dodger Stadium
- By James Gamble on 03-06-21
By: Eric Nusbaum
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The South
- Jim Crow and Its Afterlives
- By: Adolph L. Reed Jr., Barbara J. Fields - foreword
- Narrated by: Langston Darby
- Length: 4 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
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The last generation of Americans with a living memory of Jim Crow will soon disappear. They leave behind a collective memory of segregation shaped increasingly by its horrors and heroic defeat, but not a nuanced understanding of everyday life in Jim Crow America. In The South, Adolph L. Reed Jr.—New Orleanian, political scientist, and according to Cornel West, "the greatest democratic theorist of his generation"—takes up the urgent task of recounting the granular realities of life in the last decades of the Jim Crow South.
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Adolph Reed is a master.
- By Will Shogren on 06-07-22
By: Adolph L. Reed Jr., and others
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Reclamation
- Sally Hemings, Thomas Jefferson, and a Descendant's Search for Her Family's Lasting Legacy
- By: Gayle Jessup White
- Narrated by: Karen Chilton
- Length: 9 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
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A Black descendant of Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings’ family explores America’s racial reckoning through the prism of her ancestors - both the enslaver and the enslaved.
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Slow start, eventually a worthwhile story
- By ChocolateDweller on 12-17-21
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How the Word Is Passed
- A Reckoning with the History of Slavery Across America
- By: Clint Smith
- Narrated by: Clint Smith
- Length: 10 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
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Beginning in his hometown of New Orleans, Clint Smith leads the listener on an unforgettable tour of monuments and landmarks—those that are honest about the past and those that are not—that offer an intergenerational story of how slavery has been central in shaping our nation's collective history, and ourselves.
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Sincerely grateful read
- By Kelvin Dixon on 06-08-21
By: Clint Smith
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Learning from the Germans
- Race and the Memory of Evil
- By: Susan Neiman
- Narrated by: Christa Lewis
- Length: 20 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
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In the wake of white nationalist attacks, the ongoing debate over reparations, and the controversy surrounding Confederate monuments and the contested memories they evoke, Susan Neiman's Learning from the Germans delivers an urgently needed perspective on how a country can come to terms with its historical wrongdoings. Neiman is a white woman who came of age in the civil rights-era South and a Jewish woman who has spent much of her adult life in Berlin.
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This is an important book.
- By Amazon Customer on 05-29-20
By: Susan Neiman
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The South Side
- A Portrait of Chicago and American Segregation
- By: Natalie Y. Moore
- Narrated by: Allyson Johnson
- Length: 8 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
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In this intelligent and highly important narrative, Chicago native Natalie Moore shines a light on contemporary segregation on the South Side of Chicago through reported essays, showing the lives of these communities through the stories of people who live in them. The South Side shows the important impact of Chicago's historic segregation and the ongoing policies that keep it that way.
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Eyeopening!
- By Ladybug on 09-07-16
By: Natalie Y. Moore
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The Book of Pride
- LGBTQ Heroes Who Changed the World
- By: Mason Funk
- Narrated by: Mason Funk, Robin Miles, Eileen Stevens, and others
- Length: 10 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
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The Book of Pride captures the true story of the gay rights movement from the 1960s to the present, through richly detailed, stunning interviews with the leaders, activists, and ordinary people who witnessed the movement and made it happen. These individuals fought battles both personal and political, often without the support of family or friends, frequently under the threat of violence and persecution.
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Pure Joy for EVERYONE
- By Micah D on 06-03-19
By: Mason Funk
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My Grandfather's Son
- A Memoir
- By: Clarence Thomas
- Narrated by: Clarence Thomas
- Length: 11 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
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Provocative, inspiring, and unflinchingly honest, My Grandfather's Son is the story of one of America's most remarkable and controversial leaders, Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, told in his own words.
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Wonderful read
- By Amazon Customer on 10-17-21
By: Clarence Thomas
What listeners say about Driving the Green Book
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Anonymous User
- 02-11-23
Terrific listen
I thoroughly enjoyed listening to Alvin’s reading of Driving the Green Book, he brings his own research alive in a dynamic fashion! A great complement to the audio podcast!
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- Diddy
- 12-24-23
Green Book history
I think books like this, should be made part of the curriculum for students in school right now. This part of hidden history should be taught in history classes. The author, Alvin Hall did an excellent job.
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2 people found this helpful
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- Lynda Dickson
- 04-05-23
Wonderful!
An important contribution to our understanding of traveling while Black the late Jim Crow era. The book brought back positive memories of my own childhood trips across the country, especially the shoebox lunches! The one concern I must make is in the author’s decision to narrate his book. It was strikingly stilted and almost seemed he was unfamiliar with the words on the page. I think I might have enjoyed the book more hade I read rather than listened to the book. Still, a thorough, enlightening discussion!
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1 person found this helpful
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- RC
- 03-18-23
Excellent!
There is so much history included in this book. The author magically ties the theme of “driving the green book” together with the reason for needing the green book in the first. The writer is thoughtful, brilliant and careful to preserve this sad piece of American history while also highlighting how clever black people had to be to be in order to maneuver oppressive structures that appear to be repeating and re-emerging even today. Just take a look at what is happening in Florida. Thank you Mr. Hall!
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- Andrew
- 04-11-23
First-Hand Way to Learn Some History
This book was a first-hand way to learn about recent American history. The book details how the Green Book was conceived, created, and evolved. It explains how the US has changed in the last 80 years. Victor Green, the Guide's creator, was practical, entrepreneurial, and philanthropic in creating a guide enabling black families to travel the roadways of the US. This book provides many stories and antidotes of how black families survived multi-day road trips, including stopping for gas, bathrooms, meals, and lodging. I listened to the book on a road trip. I learned fascinating perspectives on historical events I could remember as a child, such as details about the motel where Martin Luther King was Assinated. The book cites examples of how cities have changed via Urban Development and the construction of the Interstates Roadways that we all use now. We often view these changes as progress, but they can also be scrutinized as how the system keeps the power with the powerful. It is a fascinating book and a good listen detailing how things were and how they have changed over time.
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- Alday
- 05-16-23
a trip down memory Road
excellent account of black history. detailing extremely well the tribulations not often pondered by many Americans when thinking of the United States tumultuous history of Oppression.
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- Vasken Kalayjian
- 03-18-24
Unveiling African American Resilience: 'Driving the Green Book' Delivers a Powerful Narrative of Resistance
Alvin Hall’s 'Driving the Green Book' is a compelling journey through the hidden history of African American resilience and resistance. Hall’s personal narrative and exploration of Green Book routes shed light on the impact of racial segregation in America. This book is essential reading for anyone interested in American history and the ongoing fight for social justice.
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- Nessa Warmath
- 06-04-23
Great book that should be READ
I very much enjoyed getting to hear the transcripts from conversations with people who remembered the experience of needing to use the Green Book, including the unexpected positive memories of various Little Harlems across the country. However, having said that, you should really read this yourself. The author does the narration and he's a horrible reader. He reminds. Me. Of listening. To students. Taking turns. Reading. Aloud. In junior high. Very little inflection, way too many pauses in his speech. The only thing that kept me going was my interest in the subject matter. I kept increasing the speed bit by bit to get through it. I was listening at double speed by the end and still annoyed at his voice. Lovely writer, not so much of a reader.
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1 person found this helpful