Weekly Call to Action: We Want Economic Freedom
GirlTREK SOS Dispatch
Saving Our Sisters | Saving Ourselves
Weekly Motivation for a Million+ Strong
September 2, 2025 | Demand: We Want Economic Freedom
Opening Word
Praise report: Sometimes the best workweeks begin on a Tuesday. After a long weekend of rest, reflection, and resistance, we step into this week on a high — and if you are tapped into the GirlTREK community, we know you’re feeling it too.
Since our founding, GirlTREK has marked Labor Day with a declaration: our value is not in our labor. For years, we gathered in the mountains of Colorado for the #StressProtest, a sanctuary of rest and healing. Today, that sanctuary has multiplied. It lives in the hands of our crew leaders and the hearts of women walking everywhere.
And we saw it all week long: the crew from Bolingbrook, Illinois celebrated 10 years of walking; crews from across the DMV tracing the steps of the Underground Railroad; the Waldorf Warriors marking 6 years with daughters ready to lead the next generation; crews in New Orleans honoring the 20th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina; and solo trekkers across the country naming the women behind bars they were walking for.
This is what sanctuary looks like now — multiplied, rooted, alive.
And this week’s demand flows directly from that truth:
“We want economic freedom. We will engage in collective bargaining for mutual aid. We demand fair pay, and an end to exploitative labor practices and predatory lending. We seek deep investments in community-owned solutions to the health crisis.” -GirlTREK’s 10-Point Plan for Joy & Justice
Walk
This week, we walk for economic freedom by walking to support the Black businesses in our neighborhoods. Lace up and walk to one near you. Buy from them. Post about them. Celebrate them. Every step towards their doors is a step towards building wealth and sustainability in our communities.
Talk
The Harlem Sole Divas are a crew that embodies the GirlTREK way: walk, talk, and solve problems together. Every Saturday, they gather in Central Park to move, heal, and build community.
For weeks, they walked past a rock defaced with a swastika. One day, they decided to act. On their next walk, they came armed with paint and brushes and transformed that symbol of hate into a bright, bold heart.
This is what happens when sisters walk together — we see what’s broken, and we fix it.
Do you have a story like this? A testimony of how walking has healed you, or how your crew has solved problems in your neighborhood? We want to hear it:
Solve Problems Together
This week, we spotlight our systems change partner: The Highland Project.
“At The Highland Project, we take a holistic approach to expanding prosperity for all with Black women and their allies, imagination, and community care at the center.
Black women have made it clear where we stand on the economy. Our recent poll revealed that Black women’s economic concerns surged from 40% to 87% in the last year. These aren’t just numbers. They reflect a lived reality where Black women are experiencing a daily erosion of economic stability, trust, and hope. It’s a forecast of what’s to come if we continue on this trajectory without bold, care-centered solutions.
Black women are sounding the alarm. We need structural solutions that challenge exploitation and exclusion, while building pathways to futures where Black women can thrive economically and beyond. This is our mission at The Highland Project. We’ve invested in a coalition Black women leaders and allies constructing new models of wealth, health, and belonging. Their work is proof that when we trust and resource Black women's dreams, we can transform entire communities.
As we make the vision for a liberatory future a reality, we invite you to journey with us at thehighlandproject.org, @leadhighland, and Meet Me at the Highland™—our podcast and sacred space centering Black women’s leadership, imagination, and legacy. The future is ours to build together. We hope to see you at the Highland.”
Do you have connections to organizations in your community advocating for economic freedom? We want to know about them! Click here to tell us a bit more.
Events | Where to Show Up
Join us for The Blue Brigade: A Mental Wellness Experience, an empowering interactive event designed specifically for GirlTREK Mental Health First Aid Responders.
Register here.
Closing Word
The #StressProtest taught us that rest itself is resistance — that healing is economic justice. What began in the mountains of Colorado has now spread across neighborhoods, parks, and city blocks where women walk every day.
And we’re not done. Our plan is to bring the #StressProtest back — in a way that is sustainable for our movement and supports our demand for economic freedom.
If you know potential partners, donors, or funders who want to support the return of the #StressProtest or any of GirlTREK’s work, please connect them with our Chief Growth Officer, Ayanna Taylor at ayanna@girltrek.org.
We are living the vision. We are building the blueprint for longer lives and a freer future.
Keep walking, sisters.
Freedom is on the move.
The GirlTREK National Crew