It all began with two friends taking walks together in the streets of Los Angles in the late 1990s, but now it’s a nationwide movement that has more than 100,000 Black women walking for wellness and social justice.
“GirlTrek was just me and Morgan holding ourselves accountable and supporting each other in sisterhood and love,” says co-founder Vanessa Garrison about how she and co-founder Tanya Morgan Dixon met in college and bonded over shared beliefs in radical acts of self-care. The challenge of balancing life at the intersection of sexism and racism leaves many Black women overwhelmed, sometimes to the point of neglecting their own health. But, Garrison says,“we found so much joy and support in our friendship while getting outside together.”
The two young Black women were well aware of racial health disparities. Data have consistently shown throughout decades that Black Americans, particularly Black women, have higher rates of illness compared to Whites. Black women have the highest risk for Alzheimer's disease. They have significant rates of mental health issues with some of the lowest levels of treatment. Forty-eight percent of Black women over age 20 have hypertension, and 57 percent of Black women are considered obese. Sexual assault and domestic violence are also high among Black women.
[For more on this story by A. Rochaun Meadows, go to http://www.yesmagazine.org/peo...hout-the-us-20171115]
Photo: Through organized walking teams and promoting monthly challenges Girl Trek engages in health education and grassroots political organizing. Photos from GirlTrek.
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