Is Travel Really a Balm for Racism?

This winter, I felt paralyzed, not by cold, but by an inescapable sense of terror and grief. Wildfires devoured neighborhoods in my hometown of Los Angeles, displacing friends and family members. The Trump administration’s dismantling of DEI programs and its assault on Black America intensified. And as a Black queer woman, I watched the president strip away my rights, not through legislation, but by a barrage of executive orders targeting LGTBQ+ folks.& As a journalist, I couldn’t look away. But as a human, I needed a break.& & So I left.Inspired by revolutionary Black artists and activists who left the United States in search of rest and relief from anti-Blackness — think James Baldwin in Paris and Maya Angelou in Ghana —& I headed to the United Kingdom and Europe.& Even before the election, Americans were stressed out about politics and the future of the nation. An October 2024 survey by the American Psychological Association found that 47% of Black, 47% of Latino/a/e, and 50% of folks who identify as LGBTQ said worries about their personal safety were a major stressor.But most Black people haven’t had the opportunity to get a break from either political worries or racism in the...