Photo courtesy of Travel Noire
A nomadic couple has created one of the most extensive lists for Black-owned Airbnbs on the platform.
Jessica E. Boyd and partner Steven M. Hughes launched the “Black Airbnb” initiative to combat discrimination many Black Americans have experienced while using the services. The South Carolina entrepreneurs decided to sell all of their belongings in July 2021 in hopes of settling in a new city to start a family, BTWC reported.
While traveling the country together, the young couple decided to share their experiences with family and friends by creating a blog called Journey Black Home. The blog documented their cross-country adventures, restaurants, and stays while supporting Black-owned businesses.
“For several years, we’d been making loose plans to move from our hometown of Columbia, S.C., to a bigger metro area. We eventually settled on a few new cities to consider but ended up putting the thought of moving on pause when the pandemic hit full force in 2020. After locking down for over a year, in July 2021, we revisited the idea of finding a new home. Rather than just pick a place and go, though, we decided to sell nearly 90% of our belongings to travel Black America and live nomadically on Airbnb,” Boyd told the outlet.
The couple explained how difficult it was to find Airbnbs that Black people owned. However, they were determined to start the initiative due to the discrimination many encountered on the app.
“It didn’t take us long to realize that there should be an easier way for Black travelers to book Black-owned or hosted Airbnbs. So, we decided to put together an extensive list of Black-owned stays all over the country, not only for ourselves but for the benefit of the Black travel community,” Boyd added.
Earlier this year, the couple broadened their list by searching cities and listings on the platform, narrowing it down to a list with more than 200 plus Black-owned or hosted Airbnb stays across the nation.
The company has launched Project Lighthouse, an initiative that partners with other organizations such as NAACP to dismantle the growing discrimination on the app. However, Boyd and Hughes believe their list is much easier for Black guests and Black hosts to find, offering a quick and immediate solution to the problem.
“We’ve kept in touch with many of the Black hosts we’ve stayed with over the last seven months. We launched a separate Instagram account, @blackairbnbs, to amplify the Black-owned Airbnb listings from our blog and also share tips from the guest perspective to help [Black] hosts attract more bookings on the app,” Hughes said via press release.
While on the west coast, the couple said they plan to continue expanding their list domestically before transitioning into international travels. They provide their subscribers with monthly-updated emails and accept submissions on a rolling basis. The couple hopes their list can inspire the company to adapt to new and inventive ways to support Black guests and Black hosts.
“We want The Black-Owned Airbnb List to be the first stop for Black travelers and nomads when they’re looking for temporary housing in the U.S. A lot of social commentary we’ve seen in response to the list has likened it to the original Green Book, and we believe it can serve a similar purpose in helping Black people navigate domestic travel with greater ease and peace of mind,” Hughes told BTWC.