Death Knocked On Their Door But They Walked The Other Way

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PushBlack
June 20, 2019

Black women are at grave risk of chronic diseases that are linked to lack of physical activity, like heart disease, stroke, and diabetes. 

So when friends Vanessa Garrison and T. Morgan Dixon decided to care for their health, they formed the nonprofit GirlTrek to reclaim their health through walking, but with a social justice twist... 

“No health program for black women can succeed without addressing institutionalized racism," Dixon says. “The way black women treat themselves is too tied up in how they are treated by society.”

GirlTrek is the country's largest public health nonprofit for Black women, with more than 1,000 organizers of local neighborhoods walks and 100,000 participants. They have events and competitions for Black churches.

GirlTrek also draws inspiration from the Civil Rights movement, like their route along the Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad Byway and this year’s "Road to Selma.” Their hope for 2020 is to get a million Black women to commit to walking daily.

"When women are walking and talking together, it's transformative,” says Dixon. Check them out and see about starting your own walking group!

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