A Way Forward
July 1, 2020 - Update!
We just reached 800,000 members! Not only is this a powerful milestone in GirlTrek's march to a million, but today is special. You may have heard the big story on NPR’s morning edition. We just completed the biggest walking campaign in GirlTrek's history! That's right. 100,000+ women completed the 21-day walking meditation called Black History Bootcamp. You can catch up on all the goodness below:
Day 1: Audre Lorde
Day 2: Ella Baker
Day 3: Shirley Chisholm
Day 4: Georgia Gilmore
Day 5: Toni Morrison + Breonna Taylor
Day 6: Nina Simone
Day 7: Olive Morris
Day 8: Sojourner Truth
Day 9: Zora Neale Hurston
Day 10: Esther Jones
Day 11: Marsha P. Johnson
Day 12: Eartha Kitt
Day 13: Lucille Clifton
Day 14: Angela X
Day 15: Ida B. Wells
Day 16: Stagecoach Mary
Day 17: Rosetta Tharpe
Day 18: Dovey Johnson Roundtree
Day 19: Mamie Till-Mobley
Day 20: Ruby Dee
Day 21: Octavia Butler
Day 22: The Victory Lap
May 29, 2020 - Invitation
“What is beauty?”
I asked Angela Davis this question because I was struggling to see the light in my own face. Because the world keeps trying to bury us.
...but they don’t know we are seeds.
They don’t know that Sojourner Truth’s children were stolen from her and sold down river. And that, in her fury, she crashed a convention and asked, “Ain’t I a Woman?”
They don’t know that Fannie Lou Hamer was given a forced hysterectomy by white doctors without her consent. But she didn’t let them win. She told her story, adopted two girls and went on to organize 60,000 people in Mississippi to vote. Ashé.
They don’t know...
That Harriet‘s husband was free. And that after she risked everything to free herself and walked back to him — he was with another woman. They don’t know what that feels like. But we do. Harriet taught us how to press on, how to make a way out of no way. She taught us all about that “clack, clack.”
And the world is just now celebrating Ida B. Wells. …but they don't understand that it was her actual friends, 3 successful Black store owners, who were lynched by their white competitors. In that moment, she could not look away — so she wrote THE blueprint for dismantling the system of hatred we face today.
In this moment, as we fight for our very sanity, our communities, our babies, ourselves, our men — we turn to the most beautiful source, the Black women who walked before us. We are not invisible. You will not break us, steal from, reject us, murder us — then demand that we do the labor of turning the world right-side up. We are the #daughtersof freedom fighters, of waymakers, strategists and builders of nations …authors, artists, soldiers, and spies. And in order to know where we’re going in this moment we need to know where we have been. This is a call to action for special times.
Introducing...
Black History Bootcamp: An epic, 21-day walking meditation to remember where we came from and to gather strength for the road ahead. Let’s take #daughtersof to the streets! Sign up here to join the June walking challenge.
HOW IT WORKS: Each day, bright and early, you will receive a top-secret email celebrating one Black woman in history. It will include a playlist of her most inspiring words, survival tips, speeches + dedicated songs to listen to during your walk. And that’s not it. Each and every day, we will convene a conversation with thousands of you by phone to stay connected, have fun, and organizing a national agenda. But you must sign up for the challenge to receive the dial in number and code.
I’m starting June 1st. Vanessa is joining me. All of GirlTrek’s National staff and thousands of volunteers are in. Today, we are inviting you, hundreds of thousands of Black women, and asking you to share this news with millions more - across the diaspora.
PLEASE SPREAD THE WORD. Don’t let this movement stop in your inbox. Forward this email to 3 friends or hit the social share button up top. Invite your church, your book club, your chapter. Tell the newspapers to contact jewel@girltrek.org. And if you lead a Black women’s organization, we invite you to co-sign this action, send your logo to jewel.
It’s on y’all.
So here’s Angela Davis’ full call to action:
“Beauty is a million Black women walking with GirlTrek.”
I’m calling it done.
Welcome to the movement.
STAY SAFE: The CDC recommends fresh air, sunshine, and daily exercise. We recommend not acting a fool. Y’all. We love you. Please use this opportunity to walk alone - to build yourself up. Because of the reckless behavior of some, our advisors tell us that a second wave of Coronavirus will likely come - so do not relax, do not walk in groups or teams. And we press on, safely, faithfully for healing. Shout out to the Black mayors like Mayor Breed of San Francisco who are opened their streets to encourage walking. And to Dr. Regina Benjamin 18th US Surgeon General who always encourages us that walking 30 minutes a day at least five days a week is the single most powerful thing you can do to improve your health.
SOLIDARITY BLUE: we want to see your service, unpack your “superhero blue” GirlTrek shirt and let us see you in the gram. #GirlTrek #Daughtersof. If you are new to the movement, brilliant! Welcome sis. You can shop for your favorite style.
And so it begins,
We love you.
Morgan (and V!)