Beyond the Shores: A History of African Americans Abroad by Tamara J. Walker

 

Hello my lovely readers! This book reinvigorated my love for travel. Let's get into it!

SYNOPSIS
Part historical exploration, part travel memoir, Beyond the Shores reveals poignant histories of a diverse group of African Americans who have left the United States over the course of the past century. Tying these tales together is Dr. Tamara J. Walker’s personal account of her family’s–and her own–experiences abroad, in France, Brazil, Argentina, Austria, and beyond. Together, the interwoven stories highlight African Americans’ complicated relationship to the United States and world at large.

Beyond the Shores is not just about where African Americans stayed or where they ate when they traveled, but about why they left in the first place and how they were treated once they reached their destinations. Drawing on years of research, Walker chronicles their experiences in atmospheric detail, taking readers from well-known capital cities to more unusual destinations like Yangiyol, Uzbekistan and Kabondo, Kenya. She follows Florence Mills, the would-be Josephine Baker of her day, in Paris, and Richard Wright, the author-turned-actor and filmmaker, in Buenos Aires. She relays tender stories of adventurous travelers, including a group of gifted Black crop scientists in the 1930s, a housewife searching for purpose in the 1950s, a Peace Corps volunteer discovering his identity in the 1970s, and her own grandfather who, after losing his eye fighting in World War II and returning to a country that showed no signs of honoring his sacrifice, set out with his wife and children on a circuitous journey that sent them back and forth across the Atlantic.

By sharing the histories of those who escaped the racism of the United States to try their hands at life abroad, Beyond the Shores shines a light on the meaning of home and the search for a better life.

MY THOUGHTS

This book was an absolute delight to read and it made me nostalgic for my various jaunts abroad.

The way I travel now is a clear departure from my solo travel days. Now, I'm checking a bag and carrying a two-year old and waiting for my husband to finish using the bathroom, whereas before it was simply Naomi, her carry-on, zip, bam, boom all around the world.

I miss those days but I'm grateful that I'm still able to travel, even if it is a bit more cumbersome.

The memoir bits were neither here nor there. They could've been left out and I don't think it would've made a difference. I loved that this book covered several Black travelers and their lives abroad ACROSS the globe. Sometimes, travel biographies, anthologies etc primarily focus on one area of the world and then will throw in a few other countries to make it seem diverse, but not this book! We went to Japan, Vietnam, Argentina, France, Africa etc and I loved every minute of it.