the root trip
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#TheRootTrip: Try the Pig Ear Sandwich at the Big Apple Inn, Home of Authentic Southern Cooking in Miss.
You can’t visit Jackson, Miss., a surprisingly progressive city in a very conservative state, without checking out the Big Apple Inn Restaurant on 509 N. Farish St. A delightful hole in the wall that reeks of old, black Mississippi, the Big Apple Inn has become a darling of television shows looking for authentic, unfiltered, black…
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#TheRootTrip: In a Historic District in Jackson, Miss., a Chance at a Rebirth
It was onward to Jackson, Miss., and my first Green Book stop was at the former Shepherds Kitchenette at 604 North Farish St. During Jim Crow segregation, Farish Street was the center of the black business community, home to numerous record companies and restaurants, and it was the original home of Jackson State University. David…
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#TheRootTrip: Don’t Expect to Be Welcome at This Old-School Pool Hall Without a Little Home Training
I know these black men. I’ve known them all of my life. That was my first thought after I’d walked down the darkened hallway, past Stamper’s barbershop in Monroe, La., and into the pool hall where a dozen black men—ranging in age from mid-30s to “he been here forever”—sat around enjoying each other’s presence. Bones…
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#TheRootTrip: Good Times and Good Vibes at Shreveport, La.’s Bon Temps Coffee Bar
Nothing against Starbucks because Lord knows that over the years, I’ve spent a mortgage payment on venti iced chai lattes, but when I saw that Shreveport, La., had a black-owned coffee bar in its Red River District, well, I just had to make a stop and visit. Welcome to Bon Temps Coffee Bar, owned by…
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#TheRootTrip: Where a La. Hotel Once Stood, People From the Past and Present Have Been Forgotten
The next spot on my 1957 Green Book list was the Will Steward Hotel. I wasn’t able to find anything about Will Steward himself, but there were a number of Will Stewards who lived in the Shreveport area in the mid-1950s, although none of them seems directly connected to the building above. Now apartments, the…
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#TheRootTrip: To Experience This Shreveport, La., Dining Spot, You’ll Have to Use Your Imagination
As I rolled into Shreveport, La., my first Green Book location was simply noted in the guidebook as the intersection of Pierre and Looney, where the Grand Terrace Restaurant once stood. Remember, as part of #TheRootTrip, I’m not preselecting these locations, so what I find is what I find, and I do my research after…
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#TheRootTrip: Fill ’er Up Quick at Swift, One of the Few Black-Owned Gas Stations in Texas
Guess what, guys? I found another black-owned gas station! Swift Fast Food & Gas at 801 W. Kearney St. in Mesquite, Texas, is ready for your business. Not only do they have gas like any other gas station, as well as a full convenience store where you can buy all the chips, sodas and candy…
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#TheRootTrip: Dallas Vegan and Juice Spot Has Recipe for Success
Have you ever walked into a black business and immediately felt the authentic passion of the owners? How they hold a genuine love for their service and the black community? If you’ve never experienced that, then I suggest that you run, not walk, to Recipe, a new vegan and juice spot at 1831 S. Ewing…
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#TheRootTrip: The Island Spot Serves Up the Flavor of Jamaica in the Heart of Black Dallas
I’m a simple man. If there are oxtails within reach, then I’m going to eat said oxtails. See? Not complicated. So when readers said that I just had to visit the Island Spot, where they have oxtails, in the Oak Cliff neighborhood of Dallas, well, it seemed like a great suggestion. Founded by Richard Thomas—a…
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#TheRootTrip: A Police Station May Have Replaced the Hotel Jim, but Not the Legacy of the Black Owner
You can’t expect to find every address from the 1957 Negro Travelers’ Green Book intact. Sixty years’ worth of city renewal, knocking down buildings for other buildings and then knocking down those buildings a few decades later, can transform a block. As such, the building at 413 Fifth St. in Fort Worth, Texas, isn’t the…