This month, GirlTrek launched #TheBlackGirlJusticeLeague with the hope to mobilize 50,000 Black women to invade the polls together on Election Day.
From Sacramento to Brooklyn and Seattle to Cleveland, the national nonprofit will train Black women in voter registration across the U.S. According to the largest health movement dedicated to African American women, volunteers will set personal goals of trekking 50 miles, registering 50 voters or hosting pop-up registration tables in their very own communities prior to August 31.
READ: #BlackGirlHealing: “I Have Been Afraid That Stress Will Kill Me”
On the eve of the anniversary of the 19th Amendment giving women the right to vote, August 20, GirlTrek will stage pop-up voter registration tables at churches, beauty salons and other neighborhood spaces across the nation.
“We organize for Sojourner Truth, Fannie Lou Hamer, Ida B. Wells, Septima Clark and every other Black woman who stood in the gap to secure our right to vote,” GirlTrek co-founder, T. Morgan Dixon said in a press release. “Voter turnout will be critical this presidential election. Black women — as a voting bloc — are a key constituency. From police violence to reproductive rights, our issues matter. With a mission of self-care, our goal to show up and show out by inspiring 1,000 Black women to lead walks on voting day.”
Looking to become a GirlTrek #JusticeCrusader? The organization went on to say they’ll be publishing their crusade walks on a national map (searchable by zip code) found at girltrek.org.
“Picture it now: 10, 50, even 100 neighbors walking together to the ballot box on November 8th,” Dixon said. “Our mission isn’t just to walk for fitness –it’s about coming together and walking together to heal, to inspire, to empower, and to take ownership of neighborhood streets and communities. This is a revolution. Our walking is our activism.”
Of course, with millennials anticipated to have a major impact on this year’s controversial race between Hilary Clinton and Donald Trump, GirlTrek’s initiative to incorporate health and the voting process is not only genius but crucial to the state of the union.
In just a few short years, the nonprofit has grown considerably, to a force of more than 70,000 Black women who march daily in local parks, on trails and in their streets, getting healthy all the while reclaiming community space. “For these women, walking has become a keystone habit that leads to a cascade of tiny rebellions against disease by developing healthier life practices such as eating better, spending less time alone and increased vitamin D intake due to being out in nature more,” reads the press release.
As for what’s next, by the year 2018, GirlTrek intends to mobilize an epic 1 million Black women and girls, inspiring them to be influencers in their lives and communities.
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