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#TheRootTrip: In Irving, Texas, Thereās a Black-Owned Franchise Hotel Hidden in Plain SightĀ
Until the passage of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, most hotels and motels actively discriminated against blacks. And hotel and motel ownership was a rare instance unless the building was completely built by the African-American hotel owner from the ground up (more on that later). The idea that blacks would own a corporate hotel franchise…
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#TheRootTrip: An Abandoned Grocery Now Stands Where a Tourist Home Once Stood in El Paso, Texas
Just a 10-minute jog to the Mexican border sits what was listed in the 1957 Negro TravelersāĀ Green Book as the A. Winston Tourist Home at 3205 Alameda Ave., El Paso, Texas, which was owned by Anderson and Gertrude Winston. The Winstons lived in El Paso for most of their lives, with Anderson being trained as…
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#TheRootTrip: A Food (and Family) Connection in Phoenix
I asked folks, āWhich black businesses should I check out in Phoenix?ā and universally people said, āLo-Loās Chicken and Waffles.ā I agreed. But what they didnāt know is that the owner of Lo-Loās is my cousin Larry White. Hereās the quick-and-dirty black-family story of how weāre cousins: Larryās mother, Elizabeth White, is my Aunt Bethy,…
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#TheRootTrip: A Ghost of the Green Book in Phoenix
The dilapidated neighborhood sits in the dark shadow of downtown Phoenix, an American shantytown that time forgot. Itās a block with boarded-up, lean-to homes with glass windows that have been replaced by Home Depot plastic sheeting. Lingering are beaten-up F-150 trucks with giant American flags as their only point of pride, and desperate shirtless men…
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#TheRootTrip: The 1st Green Book Stop Tells a Tale of 2 Louises
On the outskirts of Phoenix, on a nondescript street of a forgettable block, sits an extraordinary relic of black motoring past, and my first Green Book stop. Itās the former home of Louis Jordan, or, as itās listed in the 1957 Negro Travelersā Green Book, the Louis Jordan Tourist Home at 2118 Violet Drive. Jordanāone…
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#TheRootTrip: The Blackest Voyage Begins at L.A.ās Only Black-Owned Gas Station
Dawn hadnāt broken at 5 a.m. PDT when I jumped into the Mustang and headed east. #TheRootTrip is officially underway, and the first destination was Hooperās Shell at 11913 Compton Ave., Los Angeles. Hooperās is the only black-owned gas station in Los Angeles, so of course it made sense to fill up the Mustang for…
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Drive Black, Buy Black: The Root Goes on the Blackest Road Trip Ever With Author Lawrence Ross
Whatās up, everyone! My name is Lawrence Ross, and if thereās one thing you should know about me, itās that I love black people. Yeah, I know people like to say that, but I truly do. Iām fascinated by who we are, where weāve been and where weāre going. And over the past 20 years,…
