PENSACOLA, Fla (WKRG)- – The movie the ‘Green Book’ won Best Picture at the Oscars and one Pensacola historian says this is great for the area.
The movie surrounds a famous musician named Dr. Don Shirley who goes on tour in the south during the early 1960s and faces discrimination and racism.
African American Heritage Society Director Cheryl Howard says the win draws some curiosity back to the Pensacola area and its history. Shirley grew up in Pensacola and he was the son of a priest.
Howard also spoke about the importance of the ‘Green Book’ during segregation times, when people of color could see where they could eat and sleep without any trouble.
Howard says Shirley was a musical genius that was gifted in playing the piano.
“Of course people were always very proud, his hometown has always been very proud but now the entire nation and even the world knows about Dr. Don Shirley.”
