Sometimes, the most powerful thing you can do is to walk it out. GirlTREK, a national walking group and the largest health movement for Black women in the country can attest to that. For over ten years GirlTREK has existed at the intersection of sisterhood, healing and liberation, merging exercise with social justice initiatives. This summer has been no different. One of the organization’s latest initiatives, a collaborative community health walk in Chicago with the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) is a literal manifestation of what the organization was built for. Garnering over 500 attendees, the event provided the opportunity for free skin cancer screenings, access to meditation and mindfulness exercises, and engaging youth games. Among the community members who were in attendance was Swin Cash, a WNBA legend and Barbara Bush, Senior Vice President of Social Impact and Inclusion for the National Basketball Association (NBA). Members of GirlTREK and the greater community indulged in a morning filled with movement, garnering the chance to connect as a community for the greater good of Black women’s health.
When co-founders Vanessa Renae and Tanya Morgan Dixon M.ED embarked on their quest to organize a space where Black women could walk, talk, and solve problems as a collective, events like the community health walk serve as an amalgamation of their vision. Now, the mission is only getting bigger, while the organization’s reach continues to expand. “At GirlTREK, we organize Black women to walk, talk, and solve problems together as a strategy to fight the three deadly I’s — inactivity, isolation, and injustice. Walking is just the beginning,” Renae told EBONY. “As women walk together, they build trusted relationships, identify the challenges facing their neighborhoods, and organize to…
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