3 U.S. Travel Destinations to Celebrate Black History -
February is considered to be Black History month in the United States and I wanted to share some domestic destinations we can look to go to, to celebrate and learn Black history.
Now these aren't just places you need to travel to just in February, like celebrating Black history which we should do all year, you can travel to these places at any point in the year.
I just wanted to spotlight these three destinations as some of my favorite picks if you and your family or friends are looking to get informed and celebrate Black history!
Auburn, New York (Cayuga County)
Cayuga County in Auburn, NY (courtesy of tourauburnny.com)
The first we have is Auburn, New York.
Did you know Auburn is considered to be the chosen home of Harriet Tubman?
Harriet Tubman was born on the Eastern Shore of Maryland in 1822 and spent years of her life enslaved in Maryland until she started working on the Underground railroad to save slaves in the south and lead them to freedom.
However, Auburn is where she spent the last 50 years of her life. It’s where she owned property, married her second husband and where she is laid to rest.
I had the opportunity to go to Auburn this past November and it is such a special experience.
If you visit, you can actually go to her 32-acre farm property and walk her land. I was even able to sit on her porch where her family mentioned she would often sit to find peace. If you plan in advance you can tour one of the homes on the property and hear a reenactment of her life.
On Harriet Tubman’s Porch in Auburn
Another fun fact is that Harriet Tubman has two national parks named after her.
One is in Maryland and the other is in Auburn. So part of the park includes her home property in Auburn and also her home church, where she was a member and where her funeral was held. The church was recently restored and holds events and retellings of her life.
After visiting her church you can drive down the street to Fort Hill Cemetery where she is laid to rest. She is under the largest pine tree in the cemetery, which was planted by her nieces and nephews.
Harriet Tubman’s gravesite in Fort Hill Cemetery
There are also a host of museums in the city, including the Equal Rights Heritage Center, which features a collection of exhibits that highlight the history of the equal rights movement and pioneers in the movement in the New York region.
Auburn is also just an incredibly vibrant and enjoyable town. It’s in the Finger Lakes region and has all these beautiful lakes you can visit and do water activities in the spring and summer.
There are farms, wineries, a thriving arts scene downtown thanks to the Auburn Public Theater and so much more!
To get there, you can fly into Syracuse Hancock International Airport and then drive around 45 minutes to get to Auburn.
2. Montgomery, Alabama
Montgomery, Alabama (Courtesy of https://experiencemontgomeryal.org)
So now I want to talk about somewhere a little further South, which is Montgomery Alabama, a 2.5 hour drive from Atlanta, GA.
I am specifically talking about 2 places in Montgomery and they are The Legacy Museum and The National Memorial for Peace and Justice, often jointly referred to as The Legacy Sites.
The Legacy Museum was established by the Equal Justice Initiative in 2018 and it is a museum dedicated to sharing the history of slavery and racism in America. This museum contains more data on racial lynchings than anywhere else in the U.S. as well as previously unseen information on the domestic slave trade.
The Legacy Museum in Montgomery, Alabama
I’ve been to many museums around the country, including in Washington D.C., and I have to say I felt like this one had the greatest impact on me. I will also add that the tickets to enter are only $5 and open Wed-Sun.
Another interesting thing about this museum is that it is built on a former slave auction site. So essentially, they reclaimed that land and gave it a greater purpose.
The museum has interactive exhibits and one powerful exhibit that I still hold with me is the immersive art installation by Ghanaian sculptor Kwame Akoto-Bamfo. It’s an installation you walk through and it really gives you the feeling of what it felt like for those Africans who were carried here through the middle passage.
In conjunction with this museum and just 5 minutes down the road, is The National Memorial for Peace and Justice, which is first national memorial to victims of lynching in the US.
There are over 800 large, hanging steel monuments that cover the 6 acre memorial and each one has a county where a lynching take place engraved on the top and below the county are the named and dates of those who were lynched. They also hold space for those who went unidentified.
More than 4,400 Black people killed in racial terror lynchings between 1877 and 1950 are remembered at this memorial.
The Legacy sites also opened up a third space in 2024, the Freedom Monument Sculpture Park, so you can visit that for your last stop as well.
Like I mentioned, this is less than 3 hours driving from Atlanta so you could even make this entire experience a day trip when in Atlanta!
Also, visiting these places can definitely be a heavy and heart-wrenching experience but it brings to mind, the word Sankofa, which is a Twi word from the Akan people of Ghana that means "to go back and get it". It refers to the importance of knowing where you came from to know where you’re going. Which is very important for us to do.
3. Oakland, California
Oakland, California (Courtesy of www.redfin.com)
Now we are going to make our way to the west coast to Oakland, California!
I love Oakland, I have family there so I go pretty often and I was able to spend a few weeks there over the summer in 2024.
Many know that The Black Panther Party was founded Oakland, California and with that there is so much rich cultural history in the city.
While I was there over the summer, I was able to visit The West Oakland Mural Project (WOMP) which is a mural, museum, and community center in Oakland, California dedicated to educating visitors about the Black Panther Party and their many community programs.
As stated on their site, ‘The mural recognizes African American women’s integral contributions to the organization’s community programs like free breakfast, medical and dental care. Inside is a 1000-square foot museum dedicated to the organization’s history. WOMP also serves as a community center and has hosted block parties, served meals, and distributed groceries.
“The mural is the first and only permanent public art piece that honors women in the Black Panther Party and the museum is the first dedicated solely to the Black Panther Party.”
The West Oakland Mural Project in Oakland, California
Oakland also has a host of Black owned businesses you can visit and support. One of my personal favorites was the Blk Girls Greenhouse, which is A plant, coffee and home-goods specialty shop located in West Oakland CA.
Lastly, I want to share about The Black Joy Parade which has taken place every February since 2018.
The Black Joy Parade is a hyper-positive non-profit based in Oakland, CA that celebrates the Black experience and community's contribution to history and culture with its signature parade and celebration, partnerships and events.
Its mission, as taken from its website is, “to provide the Black community and allies a live experience that celebrates our influence on cultures past, present and future. We will unite a diverse community by creating a space to express each of our unique contributions to the Black experience. We invite you to be creative, be open, be present, be free.”
Oakland is truly a gem and has so much to offer!
That’s my list for this year! I hope you can make a visit to one or all of these destinations as you look to learn and celebrate history.
Happy Traveling!
