All posts tagged: black travel

Colorful mural in downtown Baltimore feature jazz great Billie Holiday and the Royal Theatre

U.S. Black History Destinations for Business Insider

In honor of Black History Month, Business Insider tapped me to round up great U.S. destinations to learn about Black history. Or, as I like to make note, great U.S. destinations to visit for a well rounded view of American history. I can’t note enough that African American history is American history. I’m very proud of this story. To combat today’s racial ignorance, we need to acknowledge and remedy past mistakes in American history. Only then can we truly begin to heal. While this list highlights some places, like plantations, that can be uncomfortable reminders, it also celebrates Black joy and perseverance featuring Black owned restaurants and hotels. We hope you use this as inspiration to explore and to learn about the beautiful, and not-so-beautiful, history of our country. From colorful beach communities you didn’t know had a Black history to majority Black cities making a comeback as small businesses thrive, we’ve rounded up great destinations that highlight the historical and present-day contributions of African Americans in the US. And stay tuned because I’m going …

New Byline! Travel + Leisure Destination of the Year: Italy!

I have a new byline in Travel + Leisure’s latest issue, Destination of the Year: Italy. This byline is extra special as I produced and styled a fashion shoot to go along with it! When Travel + Leisure’s editor-in-chief Jacqui Gifford told me that Travel + Leisure’s Destination of the Year for 2021 was Italy, I was excited. Travel + Leisure decides the destination of the following year as early as the previous spring. Italy was still in the throws of the first round of the coronavirus. This was before Covid-19 ravaged the U.S. It is an honor to contribute and I wanted to tell a part of the Italian experience that is a blind spot from travel publications, tourism boards, bloggers etc. There are indeed Black people in Italy! ITALY IS A MULTICULTURAL PLACE AND NOT ALL ITALIANS ARE WHITE! Is the world not letting the perception of what Italy is today evolve or is Italy choosing to portray an archaic notion of its culture to the world for the sake of “heritage branding?” …