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Join award-winning broadcaster Alvin Hall on a journey through America’s haunted racial past, with the legendary Green Book as your guide.
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.
The event is free to all, but pre-registration is required. Sign up now to register for the in-person or virtual option!
The first 300 in-person attendees will each receive a free copy of Driving the Green Book.
Join us for refreshments and a book signing with Alvin Hall immediately following the keynote presentation.
Alvin Hall is a broadcaster, author and financial educator. Alvin created, produced and hosted the podcast series “Driving the Green Book” by Macmillan Podcasts. The series received the 2021 Ambie Award for the “Best History Podcast” and the 2021 New York Festivals Gold Award for “Best Narrative Documentary Podcast.” While hosting the pioneering BBC television series “Your Money or Your Life,” he authored a number of best sellers, including “You and Your Money: It’s More than Just the Numbers,” as well as the children’s book “Show Me the Money” which has been published in 20 foreign language editions.
The presentation is sponsored by UWSP Sentry School of Business and Economics, UWSP Diversity and College Access, and the Tommy G. Thompson Statewide Speaker Series. This event is part of the Smiley Professional Events program, the innovative outside-the-classroom professional development series in the Sentry School of Business and Economics. Students may attend in person to earn two Pro Events credits; attendance will be taken at event. Students attending online will earn one Pro Event credit; be sure to register with your UWSP email address.