Somebody's mama use sing " I go to the rock for my salvation.   I go to the stone that the builders rejected .  I run to the mountain and the mountain stands by me."

If you need some foundation this morning and - like me - get overwhelmed by the lack of action during Black History Month, I would like to offer you three things:

1. A BOLD call to action and service solution
    
2. Some goose bump-inducing inspiration,
    
3. A little bit of Black Women's History to start the month off right and,

A CALL TO ACTION

NEED SOME INSPIRATION?

I am inspired to action by three things today:

  

A LITTLE HERSTORY

 

We can't forget the road we've trod.

 The blood, sweat, sacrifice.

 

...and that we can't just ride on that legacy....no.  

It's time for us to put some points on the board.

 

Why does GirlTrek fight for Black Girl Healing?  

Because, when we are well, our families are well.  We believe that the lynchpin to so much of the devastation in our community today is the current state of Black women's health.

 

We are sick. 

 

And nobody is talking about it.

 

We have been sick for generations and generations. 

 

Fannie Lou Hamer was sick.  She sacrificed her body for our freedom, gained weight working in field offices late hours, registering people to vote. She died at way too early at 49, her body riddled heart disease and  cancer and in the words of R. Boylorn, "never saw death coming because she was too busy taking care of others." 

 

Sojorner Truth was sick.  Think about the mental toll of her life - raped by her owner, bore a child, her baby stolen and sold.  Her worth directly connected to her labor.

 

Harriet Tubman was sick. Forced to work like a man. At seven years old, she was beaten mercilessly and she nearly froze to death in the icy marshes of Maryland.  She contracted a near fatal case of measles.  Years later Harriet was hit in the head trying to escape.  She suffered narcoleptic "fainting spells" for the rest of her life.

 

Sick.

 

Generations of this bridge called my back.

 

Sacrificing Black-girl-bodies for freedom.

 

...and winning it!!!

Fannie STILL registered 60,000 voters, Sojourner opened her blouse, bare her chest and gave the feminism movement LIFE with "Ain't I a Women!!  and Harriet...well...we know what Harriet did.  She became the greatest freedom fighter this country has ever seen.

 

But what about today?

 

How will we use that freedom hard fought for and won?

 

Right now - like this very moment - so many of us are sitting down.  Not poetically, we are actually sitting down - behind computers, desks, TVs.

 

Did you know that sitting is deadlier than cigarette smoking.

 

HARD FACTS

 

6 out of 10 of us engage in no leisure-time physical activity.  No walks in the parks, no zumba, no nothing.  Ever.  Research tells us - and I know for myself - that Black women are the least physically active group in the country.  We use our free time to sit down somewhere, because we are exhausted.  I know.  Deeply, deeply exhausted.

 

As a result, in 2016, Black women are dying at higher rates than ANY OTHER GROUP of women in the country from PREVENTABLE disease like diabetes and heart disease.  8 out of 10 of us are carrying unhealthy weight that causes these diseases.

 

This is not freedom.

But we're changing that. One woman at a time #28in28

 

NATIONAL SERVICE:  GIRLTREK GOES TO FLINT

 

...we are building an army of women and girls who can ignite and change.  #28in28 is just a training ground for a national act of service.

 

In recent months, GirlTrek's national staff and volunteers have been deeply saddened by the events unfolding in Flint, Michigan.  It is difficult to live healthy and fulfilled lives in the context of failing infrastructure and unsafe drinking water.  African-American women and girls are the largest demographic in Flint. As the largest health nonprofit serving African-American women, with over 40,000 neighborhood walkers involved, GirlTrek is uniquely positioned to serve.

 

During women's history month, GirlTrek will deploy a fleet of talented public health volunteers to activate women to be changemakers in their own lives and communities. We will organize 25 neighborhood-walking teams to help mothers get healthy and create support networks so that, together, they can be agents of change!!!

 

GirlTrek's two-day service event will take place on March 4-5, 2016 and will include a day of canvassing neighborhoods for inspired team leaders and a full day training that includes a high-energy "Reclaiming Our Streets" Neighborhood Walk.  At the end of the day, women will earn GirlTrek's Team Leader Certification and be awarded a GirlTrek Organizer Kit that will include a team shirt and hat, a free pair of sneakers or hiking boots and a self-care kit.

 

Our goal is to identify and encourage 100 women to attend the training and to support at least 25 of the new leaders to succeed at running neighborhood teams by the end of 2016. 

That's the game plan. 

 

So THIS Black History Month...we will NOT sit on the couch.

 

This is personal. I'm sick of being strong ...wearing my mother's armor of survival.    I want to live.  ...be open, flexible, full of light, breath, resilience.  Connected.

 

GirlTrek has saved my life.  I am healthier, more energized ready to make change.  Full of vitality.  That's my testimony.  And This Black History Month, I am on a personal mission to inspire as many of my friends and family to sign up for this movement for #BlackGirlHealing.

 

Please join me.

 

Feet to the pavement,

 

Morgan (Vanessa is working on the new website right now!)