Black Travelers Put Aside Fear and Racism to Experience the World: ‘It’s Ours to Enjoy Too’

When so many young Black American travelers faced discrimination after booking housing through AirBnB, two companies, Innclusive and Noirbnb, stepped in to resolve the problem.

But shelter wasn’t the only issue facing Black travelers. They also needed resources to guide their journeys.

And that’s where Evita Robinson stepped in. In 2011, Robinson created Nomadness Travel Tribe, whose website describes it as an “online social community” of people bonded by Blackness who wish to travel worldwide.

“I think mass media doesn’t always do the best job of showing the Black narrative either at all or correctly,” Robinson told the Indianapolis Recorder Newspaper. “Now that we are in a social media age, we have the ability to own our own story and share our experiences.”

She added, “We can tell our stories. We can make a difference. The message of the Black Travel Movement is that the world is ours to enjoy, too.”

Nomadness Travel expanded to a web series, The Nomadness Project, in 2015 to showcase online the travels of its 15,000+ members. Executive produced by “Insecure” creator and star Issa Rae, the series is uploaded on her YouTube page to more than 230,000 subscribers.

But Robinson is not the only one who believes in the importance of trotting the globe. Claudia Johnson spoke to the Indianapolis Recorder Newspaper and said she needed to travel solo, leading her to visit Paris. Although many Black travelers have faced racism abroad — as detailed by a Reddit user who traveled to Russia and exposed the violence committed against Blacks there — Johnson didn’t let that deter her.

“I’ve heard that some Black travelers experienced difficulties overseas, but I did not experience any treatment I would consider racist or discriminatory. There was one night that was so magical — exploring the city at night and having an amazing conversation with a good-looking Frenchman. It was straight out of a movie how romantic it was.” Johnson said.