Black Travel: Brothers, What Happened To The Code Of The Streets?
Whether you’re an OG traveler, Passport Bro, or brother on the road, many of us have forgotten an important element of Black culture. Keeping our mouths shut
Most of us come from the hood; if we are fortunate, we’re a generation away from it.
Even if we were raised in Bel-Air, we grew up on hip-hop and the culture; we know that we have the responsibility to occasionally hold shit down.
Not for any jail shit, but there are codes from our communities.
As we got older and gained knowledge of self, we understand that there are people on this planet, men and women, who don’t want to see Black men happy.
Unless certain people can benefit from it, they don’t want to see niggas crack a smile.
Whether we’re Ivy League, married to a corporate desk, or rep a set, many of us can recite the names of famous hustlers from around the way, many of whom mastered the art of getting over.
There was a level of respect because they beat the man. Even if it was momentary, many of the hustlers found a way to get over on a system and country that had oppressed and exploited our ancestors.
The smart ones may have had nice cars or clothing, but they understood that there was such a thing as too much visibility. The smart hustlers kept a low profile, and not everyone needed to know about their business.
They lived the code of the street.
Street nigga or square, we understand that we can learn from hustlers, their failures and successes.
Over the years, I noticed that very few hustlers got out of the game clean, and even fewer rode off into the sunset. Many of them fumbled the bag, because they decided to flex and not keep their mouths shut when they had something good — they didn’t maintain the code of the street.
When these hustlers deviated, there were often severe repercussions, the law or their opps caught them slipping.
Quite often, hustlers got comfortable in the game, and thought they were untouchable, they appeared on magazine covers, and others thought the American government would never test their gangster, and drew unnecessary heat.
They made the block hot, and fucked up the game for everyone.
For whatever reason, the levels of street awareness that Black men have in us, it diminishes when it pertains to travel. Passport stamps have become Jordans or spinning rims.
Over the last few years, Black travel movements have worked their way into the mainstream news, and whether we like it or not, the travel block has gotten hot.
We’ve broken a major code, not just of the streets, but an unwritten rule of travel.
The first time anyone ever mentioned Rio to me, or traveling for pleasure, was 1998. I was chasing I.T. money in Atlanta, and a brother I went to trade school with, via email, waxed poetically about the ladies in Brazil. He shared his excursions with a few of us, and it remained a secret.
Rappers didn’t talk about travel too much; for the most part, hood ninjas kept driving around in circles. Travel wasn’t a fashionable part of the culture, except for the frenzy fueled by Freaknik, which attracted people from across the country.
Years later, at a job in NYC, I befriended a few Asian guys at work. They eventually invited me to take a trip with them to Thailand. Still married to my career, I declined the offer.
However, the invitation was almost like joining a club; you had to be a special person to receive an invite.
There was an unwritten code, and everyone wasn’t allowed to go.
After 9/11, I saw the film THE BEACH, starring Leonardo Dicaprio. He plays a backpacker named Richard, who visits Thailand and finds out about a hidden beach on a remote island. He finds the island and is invited to live there with the other foreigners, provided he does not tell anyone else about the location.
Richard understood that he was living in a special place, and if the secret of the island was shared with everyone, it would be overrun with foreigners and ruined.
Richard had to maintain the secret of travel and live the code of the street.
Years later, in 2006 Jelani Cobb blew up the spot and made the block hot for all Black men who were traveling to Brazil. The 2006 Essence article, put a spotlight on Black men and their sexual adventures.
In the wake of that, brothers who were traveling for whatever reason, did so in a clandestine manner; they chatted on forums and kept their mouths shut. Travel hustlers moved in silence and lived the code of the streets.
By the time I got to Brazil in 2010, a trailer for a documentary called FRUSTRATED floated around. The film focused on several Black American men who were living in Rio de Janeiro and had successful relationships with Brazilian women.
There was minor press coverage. Brothers visited Brazil, but very few would actually live or work there. There was no social movement sparked by the film. Brothers shared the trailer amongst ourselves and kept it moving.
After six months in Rio, I prepared to return to the states. A friend and mentor who lived in Bahia warned me that family members and friends would be jealous of my journey.
Keeping that in mind, when I shared my experiences on Youtube I did not sensationalize them.
During my video series, I spoke frankly about the harsh realities of living in a foreign country. It was hard work, and it wasn’t the ongoing vacation I envisioned.
I honestly thought that Rio De Janeiro was overrated. The women were beautiful, but the lack of infrastructure, racism and crime were huge detractors.
Keeping the code of the streets in mind, there are many things about Rio that I’ve never shared with anyone.
I filed all that shit in the vault and kept it pushing.
Years later, I got to Southeast Asia and realized several things about many foreigners, especially in places like Cambodia; many of the expats who settled there cut corners to start their businesses.
They never broadcast their criminality or history, but stories were told, and everyone was in on the secret.
The smart travel hustlers, stacked their cash, got a bitch and started a legit business, all with the intention of riding off into the sunset.
At that time, if you were a traveler in SE Asia, if you were willing to get your knuckles dirty, you too could make some quick money, get a bitch, and ride off into the sunset.
It was up to you, whether you had the courage to be a travel hustler and live the code of the streets.
During my 4.5 years traveling through Asia, I also learned that there were plenty of Black men already living abroad, and most were doing so incog-negro. I’d run into them or meet people who would tell me about Black men who were retired, and living out in the cut.
The smart ones got their money up, started a business, got a shorty; all with the intention of riding off into the sunset.
When I ran into them, they would grin and nod affirmingly.
Nothing had to be explained; these brothers lived the code of the streets.
These days, it seems that many Black men who travel, have forgotten the codes, that enabled many successful hustlers.
I’ve also noticed that Black travelers, have a bad habit of arriving at a location late and think it’s a flex.
When I was preparing for my trip to Brazil in 2010, I vividly remember a Caucasian posting to a forum, discussing Black men who were traveling to Rio De Janeiro.
I’ll paraphrase, but I believe he said the following “Men have been traveling to Rio for the women for years, Black men are the last to arrive at the party.”
Black men are especially late for the Thailand party.
Post-COVID, the Passport Bros rejuvenated that country’s entire tourism economy. Brothers got there after the lockdown and thought it was a flex. Caucasians had already smutted that place out years earlier.
This applies to Colombia as well. Men went there for the coke and stayed for the women.
The current social media Colombia flex is getting drugged, robbed and making a video about it. Some niggas are even in videos, boasting about how many thousands they lost.
That violates all major travel and street codes.
Regarding travel, there is such a thing as too much attention.
Youtuber Mad Bus Driver, creator of the acronym SYSBM (Save Your Self Black Man) mentioned a major issue the Passport Bros have saying “The problem that you guys are having, is that you’re advertising heavy.”
There have always been reprecussions for advertising heavy.
Infamous drug dealer Big Meech and the Black Mafia family were so arrogant that they posted billboards around Atlanta, advertising themselves while they were still heavy in the drug game. Meech can deny it if he wants, but according to other BMF members, the billboards contributed to the heat and their downfall.
The Passport Bros have made the block hot for all so-called Black men who travel. Their movement, should have never made it beyond facebook groups or private chats. It should have been a whisper, and everyone who was not in the clique or in the know, should have stayed clueless.
When it comes to travel, everybody can’t go; everybody shouldn’t know.
Passport Bros aren’t necessarily doing anything illegal. But in a world of White supremacy, they’re encouraging so-called Black men to get free, and that is a huge threat to so many people.
In addition to unnecessary exposure in the media, the Passport Bros brand has been sullied and they are labeled as sex tourists.
Now, any Black man who travels, any brother who is headed to the airport, has to be worried about being labeled a Passport Bro and associated with their tainted brand.
The Black travel game, especially on social media, is a mess. All of us, OG traveler, Passport Bro or brother on the road, we’re all in it, tryin to hustle and hopefully, stack some cash, get a bitch and ride off into the sunset.
We have to understand that right now, the block is very hot. Too many of us are advertising our happiness; historically, that has never been good for hustlers.
Keep traveling brothers.
Have a plan to exit the game and remember the stories of travel hustlers who rode off into the sunset, especially those who lived the code of the streets.
Clarke Illmatical is a writer from Queens, NY.
He is the author of HOMEBOY AND THE PYRAMIDS: A TRAVEL GUIDE FOR THE SO-CALLED BLACK MAN.