Source: GirlTrek / GirlTrek
Woven in the sacred seams of Black womanhood are intergenerational wisdoms passed down from mother to daughter. The oral thread ties us to our ancestors — their recipes for healing, liberating anecdotes and self-care routines that still protect us today. Our lineage is rich in secrets that can only be decoded by whom they are intended. Essentially, Black women are born with integral scriptures about self-care on the brain as it is pertinent to our survival.
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“Self-care is a seditious way of talking about the total liberation of Black women. Given the history of exploitative labor practices, our rest is revolutionary and requires covert communities of healing,” says T. Morgan Dixon, co-founder of GirlTrek — the largest health movement and non-profit organization that encourages women to indulge in radical self-care. “GirlTrek is one such community,” she adds.
Source: GirlTrek / GirlTrek
GirlTrek was founded in 2010 by cofounders Vanessa Garrison and T. Morgan Dixon and has over 625,000 active members. GirlTrek is on a mission to inspire one million Black women to walk in the direction of their healthiest, most fulfilled lives by the end of 2020 and it all starts with taking the pledge at GirlTrek.org.
“The world would panic if they knew that we were taking whole weeks off for restoration, that we were making ancient healing balms in our kitchens and that we were constructing entire new organizing structures and businesses that prioritize the needs and passions of Black women. ”
Girl Trek’s Daughter Of documentary explores the relationship between Black mother and daughter in a stunning cinematic experience that features Black women calling their mothers names while sharing lessons and anecdotes they’ve learned.
Source: GirlTrek / GirlTrekDaughters Of is a cinematic collection of bad a** Black women telling their stories. “I’ve had the great honor of having intimate conversations with the great poet Sonia Sanchez. She once whispered to me ‘We’ve got to teach our daughters the art of sedition.’ After I googled sedition to confirm that this tiny little lady was as radical as she seemed, I remembered that the sheer survival of Black mothers was a master class on self-care,” she recalled. “The fact that we braided okra seeds in our hair in the middle passage or learned to turn bones into broth is magic.”
Source: T. Morgan Dixon / GirlTrek
Source: T. Morgan Dixon / GirlTrek
Black women’s survival has always been tied to our self-care. “I think mothers should teach their daughters all the secrets of care and survival. And yes, we should practice that wisdom together. My mom and I pray together. I still lay on her lap. She still boils special pots of fruit and herbs and honey when I’m sick and rubs my chest with blessed oil. We have to teach our daughters the art of sedition.”
Influencers like Tiffany “The Budgetnista” Aliche are also involved in the liberating project. “I got involved in this amazing project when my sister-friends Shantrelle and Morgan asked me to participate. I’m passionate about this project because I am the sum total of the women that came before me. I have my mother’s heart, my grandmother’s smile, and my great-grandmother’s sass. Through this project, I’m able to share the souls of the women that made me, ME with the world,” Tiffany told us in an exclusive quote.
Mother’s Day weekend will mark the jumping-off point of GirlTrek’s #DaughtersOf campaign. According to the official press release, #DaughtersOf is a multifaceted-initiative to examine the immediate and critical importance of self-care and healing for Black women through the lens of their matrilineal traditions.”
The campaign will come to life in what is sure to a special meeting of minds between Angela Davis and Nikki Giovanni on Facebook Live. You can watch the digital event at 7pm on Friday, May 8.
“We could not have imagined a more purposeful way to birth this special campaign nor two iconic women more passionate about the collective wellness of Black women,” adds Garrison.
Watch the trailer for Daughters Of, below:
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GirlTrek Launches ‘Daughters Of’ Campaign, A Tribute To The Wisdom Of Black Mothers was originally published on hellobeautiful.com
