Picturing the all-American road trip (and its many hazards) for Black drivers
By Cate McQuaid Globe Correspondent,Updated December 30, 2020, 2:00 p.m.
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MassArt professor Amani Willett interspersed family snapshots with archival news photography for his new book, A Parallel Road. Suzanne Kreiter/Globe staff
Photographer Amani Willett was documenting former stops on the Underground Railroad when the link to the past hit him. Black Americans still travel almost like fugitives, constantly aware of dangers on the road.
âThe American road trip was always talked about as this ideal of ultimate freedom, the American dream, exuberance,â said Willett, who teaches photography at Massachusetts College of Art and Design.