The Green Book | Safe Space Strategies

The Green Book: A Safe Space Strategy
Guiding The Journey We're Still On

A Signature Story by Alexis J. Smith, Founder of Safe Space Strategies, LLC

Here in October 2025, as we join Creative Suitland in a moment of pause, reflection, and celebration, the truth of the Green Book (both then and now) has deeply permeated the Safe Space Strategies ecosystem. We welcome the steeping.

Because the truth is, safety is still sacred work. When I imagine our ancestors opening that Green Book, searching for a safe place to rest; I’m reminded that the human need for safety hasn’t changed. We still want safe places to rest our heads. Safe places to nourish our bodies. Safe places to plan, to recover, and to dream beyond survival.

Safe Space Strategies exists to help people build those places. We don’t construct every wall with our own hands, but we help strengthen the ecosystem: the families, nonprofits, and community leaders already doing the work; so that the ecosystem itself becomes sustainable. We call that the S.O.W. Method™ Strategy, Operations, and Wellbeing. It’s how we help people plant ideas that can grow without exhaustion, without confusion, and without losing the heart of why they started. Our goal isn’t simply success; it’s sustainability. Not just provision, but protection. Not only impact, but inheritance.

There’s something holy about a resource that keeps people moving. The Green Book did not need validation to be valuable; it was valuable because it worked.

That’s how I view Safe Space Strategies. We aren’t chasing permission, approval, or validation - from anyone. We’re fulfilling purpose. We exist so that purpose-driven people can move forward safely, wisely, and with legacy intact. The Green Book began as a guide for safe travel; for us, it’s become a guide for safe building: moving from calling to clarity, from vision to structure, from effort to endurance. This is our north star. This is our ministry of direction. And this is how we honor those who left the light on for us.

The Green Book was built on shared knowledge. In that same spirit, Safe Space Strategies curates resources for education, entrepreneurship, and community design. Check out the SSS "Green Book" Resource Hub.

Explore the Legacy

Support the Present (Black Owned Book Stores)

Mahogany Books, Harriett’s Bookshop, Semicolon Chicago, The Lit Bar, Loyalty Bookstores, Marcus Books

Experience the Continuation

Modern Green Book App

Learn and Teach

Download the SSS Green Book Resource Library (Google Sheet) — curated documentaries, lesson plans, and oral histories.

The Work Continues: Our Safe Space Strategies for Co-Journeyers

That inheritance of faith, family, and forward thinking became the soil for Safe Space Strategies. Through our model, the S.O.W. Method™ (Strategy, Operations, and Well-Being) we help families, nonprofits, and small businesses build ecosystems that grow with structure and soul. It’s not just about success; it’s about sustainability. Not only provision, but protection. Not only impact, but inheritance. Because we know that every seed sown with intention deserves a system that helps it survive the season.

Safe Space Strategies has never been a solo assignment. We are travelers and co-journeyers together: builders, believers, caregivers, creatives; all moving toward the fulfillment of purpose. The original Green Book worked because travelers became co-journeyers. They didn’t compete; they connected. They left notes, names, and light for one another along the road. That’s the same covenant we live by: to walk with intention, share lessons, celebrate milestones, and ensure the road remains open for whoever comes next.

The SSS Co-Journeyer Covenant

We Move with Purpose. We discern before we decide.
We Build with Clarity. A clear map serves everyone.
We Protect Capacity. Rest, reflection, and renewal are non-negotiable.
We Steward Resources Wisely. Time, money, and ideas are seed — planted with legacy in mind.
We Practice Reciprocity. Giving and receiving are both sacred acts.
We Uphold Integrity. Truth early, trust always.
We Multiply Legacy. Every co-journeyer leaves something behind for the next one.

“Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor: if either falls, one can help the other up.” — Ecclesiastes 4:9–10

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The Green Book: A Safe Space Strategy Guiding The Journey We're Still On

A Green Book Resource Hub

​​There’s something holy about a resource that keeps people moving. The Green Book did not need validation to be valuable; it was valuable because it worked.