by Troy Landrum Jr.

“The House of the Rising Sun,” a traditional folk song made most famous in 1964 by the band The Animals, bellowed through Chiyo’s Garden in the Chinatown-International District. On the stage stood a young musical apprentice. Through his technical range and vocal discipline, this student transported everyone in the audience. It was this and many other live performances during the opening ceremony of Black & Tan Hall’s “Seattle Green Book Self-Guided Tour” that moved our bodies and took us back to that time period between 1936 and 1966, a time when the Green Book symbolized the Bible to Black folks traveling throughout the United States. The Green Book gave travelers the knowledge of which businesses, cities, and states would be accepting of them and their money while traveling to their final destinations.