Traveling While Black

Traveling While Black is a 360 video documentary that immerses audiences in the long history of restriction of movement for black Americans during the Jim Crow era.

Filmed largely at locations in present day Washington DC, the site of the largest number of historic Negro Motorists Green Book entries in the U.S, the viewer is transported to historic Ben's Chili Bowl on U Street in an intimate series of moments with several patrons. Original residents and their descendants still living in this vibrant area of DC reflect on their experiences and memories of restricted movement and race relations in the U.S.

Academy Award winner Roger Ross Williams serves as a guide as we follow him on a journey re-tracing routes across the United States taken by African American travelers of the past. As Williams encounters stories of discrimination, resilience and courage, he too shares his own family history and personal experiences as a black man, bridging the gap between the past and present.