A concerning trend has presented itself in the United States: as obesity rates are rising, life expectancy is declining, and this change has become most prominent for African American women. According to the American Heart Association, Black women are more likely to die at a younger age than women of other ethnicities due to related health issues. Vanessa Garrison and T. Morgan Dixon have created GirlTrek, a nonprofit, to help Black women stay healthy and empowered through the act of walking.
Dixon told CNN that she and Garrison didn’t start the nonprofit out of love for walking. Instead, it was a necessity for them.
“It wasn’t because we were walking enthusiasts or because we love to walk. When we started we were just trying to save our own lives,” Dixon said. “How do we not fall into these pitfalls that our mothers and our aunts and our grandmothers have fallen into? Eighty percent of us are overweight and carrying that weight is killing us now at disproportionate levels. We can’t do it anymore. We can’t carry it anymore.”
Garrison expressed to the news outlet that she believes GirlTrek is doing more than just helping Black women be healthier; it is also helping them overcome a “cultural mindset” to improve their quality of life.
“We grew up in households where our mothers and grandmothers and our aunties always chose to come last; they would always push those extra couple of hours to give to their family. And we’ve modeled that behavior, and in fact, we celebrated that behavior, and it is the only way we know how to navigate this world and get by. We created entire identities around our service to others,” Garrison told CNN.
She added, “That is actually how you shift the entire dynamic of a culture by creating the habits that get passed from one generation to another.”
GirlTrek is beneficial not only for physical health but also for mental health. Dixon has noticed that many of these assembled walking groups have doubled as support groups.
“Women who are alone or women who are suffering any kind of depression or anxiety or stress can walk, talk, and slow down with friends. And that act of slowing down is radical,” she explained.
The sense of community and empowerment powered by Black history helps GirlTrek members stay motivated.
“We know that when Black women walk, things change, and that we walk in the footsteps of that legacy.” Garrison said, “And when we tell that story to women, they see themselves in those names. They see themselves as the next Ella Baker, the next Fannie Lou Hamer, the next Septima Clark, the next Harriet Tubman, and they are inspired by their history to start walking and create change in their communities…and themselves.”
Source: Black Enterprise
