Powerful Black History Month Ideas for Traveling Allies

Black History Month ideas, Anarcha, Betsey, and Lucy sculpture in Birmingham, Alabama | O'Phalen Adventures

It’s Black History Month 2024, and learning about Black History is an important aspect of our homeschooling studies. One of my favorite things to write and share about is how we integrate our full time travel life with ideas about justice and helping to co-create a better future for everyone. I have several Black History Month ideas I’d love to share for allies who love to travel, families who are educating non-Black children (either homeschooled or supplementing a school education!), or anyone seeking to learn and expand their own ideas about equity.

Please note that I am not Black, I’m not an “expert,” and I will always defer to the Black community for how the non-Black community should observe Black History Month and what Black History Month resources are appropriate for us to use. I have spent about a decade (not long enough!) on my intentional anti-racist journey, and my hope in writing this is to share what I’ve learned and how I integrate it with those who are newer on their journeys and eager to learn.

Black History Month Ideas for Traveling Allies:

Shop Black Owned Businesses

One way we strive to “vote with our dollars” is by supporting Black-owned businesses as we travel (also note: we capitalize the word Black! Here’s why if you’re curious). There are some ways we look to find these businesses in new places, an easy one is to simply google something like “Black owned restaurants in Phoenix,” for example. Here are some other strategies I use:

Use Yelp to search for “Black owned” and look for the app’s badge that notes where businesses have self-reported as being Black owned
Try an app like Blapp that lists only Black owned businesses in the area
Follow travel influencers and news outlets and save Black owned businesses to try later (they’re often especially recommended during Black History Month!)
When presented with similar options for things like Airbnbs or RV parks, choose to spend money at the one with a Black entrepreneur at the heart

Ultimately, it may take a few more minutes to investigate what the options are for a Black owned business in the area you live in or are traveling to (and it’s more complicated because of…you guessed it…systemic racism!). But it’s absolutely the right thing to do to put in the extra effort to support these businesses as a non-Black family, and I think committing to supporting more Black owned businesses is one of my most important Black History Month ideas. Also, it’s no sacrifice because these businesses are totally rad. I mean, just check out these birthday cupcakes I got in North Carolina:

Black-owned bakery cupcakes in North Carolina

Take a Black History Themed Trip

I honestly don’t see enough non-Black families doing this in my opinion. We did a long weekend civil rights trip to Montgomery, Alabama with my homeschooling bestie, and it was an absolutely unforgettable experience. I plan to write about that trip in more detail soon, but in the meantime, here are some Black History trips I’d recommend:

Selma, Montgomery, and Tuskegee, Alabama
Nashville, Tennessee
Topeka, Kansas and Kansas City, Missouri
Washington D.C.
Harlem, New York

The Civil Rights Trail website has more ideas for locations to visit and even some suggested itineraries by state that are highly worth checking out! I wonder if more families don’t take trips like this because it seems boring or a “downer.” I’m here to tell you that you can be reverent, engaged, and respectful, and your family can still really enjoy themselves on a trip like this:

Civil rights museum in Montgomery, Alabama; a Black History Month ideas | O'Phalen Adventures — Civil rights trip to Montgomery

Experiencing the places where landmark civil rights struggles took place was at times serious and heartbreaking, but it was also so moving and profound that I would recommend it to any family who approaches it with a thoughtful heart. As someone who probably loves who travel (since you’re on my blog!), I hope a Black History trip gets added to your Black History Month ideas list.

Visit a Black History Museum on Other Trips

Perhaps a Black History trip isn’t in the cards this year (although you’ve saved it for next year!). The good news is that there are incredible hands-on Black History Month ideas for learning basically anywhere. A quick google search for the museums in your area might turn up some surprising local results. And if there aren’t any “Black History” specific museums, consider searching for “famous Black people from [your state]” and visiting their historical homes or places honoring their lives and contributions.

We had a fantastic time learning about legendary athlete Jesse Owens in his Alabama hometown. It was a quick day trip from where we were staying in Huntsville to renovate our RV. Any vacation or road trip you already have planned is an excellent opportunity to investigate and prioritize a stop to learn some new-to-you Black history. Either in your destination or as a quick stop along the way, taking the time will be a worthwhile endeavor, especially this month. I challenge you to find some Black History Month ideas in person near you in February!

Follow Black Travel Influencers on Social Media

The algorithm intentionally shows you people who are just like you, and that includes racially (ugh!). It takes intentionality to have a multicultural Instagram feed, but I highly, HIGHLY recommend it. If you love to follow travel influencers, consider replacing some of your lesser faves with some amazing Black travel influencers instead. Some of my faves are The Mom Trotter, Black Adventure Mom, The Traveling Child, Black Adventure Crew, and Mr Crim (who’s not strictly a “travel” influencer, but I found him because he taught me about St. Louis before we visited!).

Mitigate the Impact of Your Travel on Black Communities

This one is heavy and difficult, and there are no simple answers. But let’s take a deep breath and walk through it together for a moment. Just as we consider the impact we have on natural resources as we travel, we should be considering the impact our travel has on Black communities, as well. There are so many ways we can talk about this, but a few of the main ones that come to mind are gentrification, police violence, and climate impact.

Gentrification, where a neighborhood’s current residents are displaced by wealthier (and likely whiter) residents, is a real problem in Black neighborhoods. Airbnb and other short term rentals definitely exacerbated the problem, as well. That’s one of the many reasons why I sought to rent from Black owned Airbnbs when we used them, because at least the wealth was staying within the community more frequently that way. There’s no simple answer to the question “how do we stop gentrification?” but it’s a problem we should be aware of and talk about within the traveling community to avoid contributing more than we have to.

The other big elephant in the room when it comes to white folks traveling in historically Black neighborhoods is police violence. Nice white people (I’m including myself here!) were raised to think of police officers as community helpers and to call 911 in any emergency. And while I’m not saying to *never* call the police, I am advocating for white folks to be extremely, extremely careful about calling the police in any instance where non-white folks are present. Having lived in a predominantly Black neighborhood in Brooklyn, I can say that calling the police is a serious decision that many white people take way too lightly.

Finally, one of the most shocking statistics I read recently is that, because of the legacy of racist redlining, Black communities on average tend to be a full degree hotter than white communities. As we consider how to reduce our climate impact as travelers, we should keep in mind that the communities that suffer the most from climate change will not be the white ones. This section is definitely not the easiest on the Black History Month ideas list, but I feel it’s important enough to be worth saying in this post.

Black History Month Ideas for All Families

Listen, Watch & Read Black History Resources with Your Kids

Whether your children are homeschooled or not, it’s almost certain that their curriculum could use more Black History. Here are some Black History Month ideas to watch, listen to, and read.

John Lewis is a family hero after watching Good Trouble

Here are some resources we’ve loved watching together:

Good Trouble documentary about the Civil Rights Movement and John Lewis (**We watched together and paused about 20 minutes in for a brief discussion of the N word**)
Clotilda: Last American Slave Ship documentary
High on the Hog: How African American Cuisine Changed America docuseries (particularly good for recognizing that Black history didn’t begin with slavery!)
I Have a Dream speech in its entirety, which is much more interesting than the pull quotes
Hidden Figures
And definitely check out the sections in Netflix and Disney highlighting Black stories this month

Here are some things we’ve loved listening to together (pulled from our favorite podcasts!):

There are just too many amazing books for me to list, but I’ve started a Black History Month ideas book list here with some of our favorites. Don’t forget to check out your local library for book recs, too! And I highly recommend following Stories of Color on Instagram for amazing kid book recommendations all year long.

Black History Month Ideas for Anyone

Pay Community Level Reparations

What are reparations? The NAACP calls for “a race-centered economic empowerment package for African Americans that builds generational wealth and accounts for not only slavery but the decades upon decades of economic pillaging.” So basically, money to pay back hundreds of years of stolen labor and subsequent racism that Black Americans have endured and which continue to set Black families behind.

So far, the political will isn’t there for nationwide reparations, but as individuals, we can do our own part. Consider a Black-led organization in your community to donate to or fundraise for this month. And remember that this isn’t charity, it’s owed.

Remember That Every Month is Black History Month.

Implement these ideas all year long, whether it’s February or not. Much like our family prioritizes learning Indigenous People’s history and culture whether it’s November or not, we also prioritize learning about the historical and current Black community all year, as well. We hope you do, too.

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For more about how we travel and learn thoughtfully, check out these posts: