Travel can be a great way to connect with history and discover cultures. But for Black people, traveling to new destinations has not always been safe.
This Black History Month, Pinterest is hoping to help Black people find safe travel destinations through a campaign called Find Your Routes.
Launched on Wednesday and created in-house by Pinterest’s internal group for Black employees and allies, Blackboard, the campaign features a curated Black travel hub intended to help Black travelers find safe locations, brands, experiences and Black-owned businesses to connect with on their trips.
It is inspired by The Negro Motorist Green Book, also known as “The Green Book,” a guidebook for Black travelers during the Jim Crow era that provided a list of accessible hotels, boarding houses, taverns, restaurants, service stations and other establishments throughout the country that served Black patrons.
Pinterest hopes to help Black Americans pay homage to their past while feeling safe and secure traveling to new destinations in the future.
According to Malik Ducard, chief content officer at Pinterest, travel discovery and trip planning is one of the top use cases for Pinterest.
“Traveling as a Black person has not always felt safe or welcoming. There are still pockets of seemingly undiscovered Black culture all over the world,” he said.
Destinations and organizations highlighted in the hub include Smithsonian Curator, a photographer and author of The Overground Railroad; Candacy Taylor, a creator who will curate Pinterest boards to visualize the history of Black travel in the U.S.; Travel Noire, which publishes content about Black travel highlighting locations, vacations outfits and couple’s vacation aesthetics; and a number of creators sharing travel inspiration.
Content available covers things to do solo in Cartagena Colombia, the ultimate five-day itinerary for Montego Bay, Jamaica and restaurants to try in Brazil.
The campaign comes as searches on Pinterest like “Black couple travel aesthetic” and “Black girl travel aesthetic” are up 130% and 82% year over year, respectively, Ducard said. “Travel not only exposes us to new perspectives, but it can also tie us to our history, and we wanted to help people tap into wanderlust and find inspiring travel for them."
In addition to the travel hub, Pinterest plans to honor Black-owned brands by hosting a 60-minute Shopping Black Travel event on Pinterest TV, featuring Black-owned African skincare brand 54 Thrones. Brand founder Christina Tegbe will showcase the products and celebrate the brand’s history.
Throughout Black History Month, Pinterest is also hosting a company event to help its employees learn about the history, present and future of Black travel, including how to be a more mindful traveler and opportunities to donate to nonprofits that support, uplift, educate and empower the Black community.
This story first appeared on campaignlive.com.
