Girl Trek

 

Sunday Inspiration: Every Sunday, Meet the Visionaries who are inspiring our community.

Meet T. Morgan Dixon and Vanessa Garrison of Girl Trek

T. Morgan Dixon and Vanessa Garrison are the co-founders of GirlTrek, the largest health movement for Black women in America. "Through national campaigns, community leadership, and health advocacy, they mobilize Black women to be change makers in their lives and communities – simply by walking." The GirlTrek Movement was born in 2010 when the college friends decided to challenge their friends and families to walk with them. "We walk to heal our bodies, inspire our daughters and reclaim the streets of our neighborhoods. They personally saw the toll health problems had on their own family. Their concern was validated by the statistics showing Black women are at higher risk for high blood pressure, heart disease and strokes than white women. They are also more likely to die in childbirth, the culprit maybe the high level of hormonal stress and generational trauma on Black women due to racism. Acknowledging the need for more maternal support, they encourage mothers to prepare for their journey with healthy physical, spiritual and emotional activities. 

Mom To Be - Casey Ferrand

"The goal is to reestablish walking as a healing tradition in Black communities, as tribute to those who walked before us. Our focus is to help save the lives of Black women by inspiring them to take charge of their self-care, to own their joy, to claim what's their best lives,” explains GirlTrek’s Ebony Andrews. “And one of the primary ways we do that is through encouraging community and encouraging walking.” 

Members would walk together in teams but the pandemic has changed that. Now, to unite all of the now-solo walkers across the country,  Andrews said the group launched a podcast, called Black History Bootcamp, focusing on African American women’s history. Their message is always about self care, community and reaching as many women as they can. Today their membership is one million strong and growing. https://www.girltrek.org/