[5][6] According to researchers Alana Dillette and Stefanie Benjamin, the movement developed in response to "underrepresentation of Black people in the travel sphere" and is informed by critical race theory.
[7] Affluent Black people in the United States first commonly travelled for leisure in the late 1800s via rail and steamship.
[1] Those who travelled abroad often commented on the relative sense of freedom they felt when outside of the United States.
[7] The invention of the automobile further increased opportunities for affluent Black Americans to travel, as it removed obstacles of segregation on railroad cars, but travel by car also increased the risk of inadvertently stopping at segregated lodging and dining establishments or driving through a sundown town.
[1] According to Dillette and Benjamin, as of 2018 the industry continued to primarily depict white travelers in images.