Theres a blueprint for this moment, I remind myself.
You may have learned tosocial distancewhile remaining emotionally present.
You might have grievedcoronavirusdeaths with friends and watched family members get sick.
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Youve probably consoled loved ones (and yourself) through fears, frustrations, boredom, andlayoffs.
More than ever, people are seeming to realize that systemic racism kills Black people.
People are activated and leaving their place on the sidelines in droves.
What do we do when normal coping strategiescobbled together before COVID-19arent as accessible as they once were?
For more than 120,000 Black women, the answer involved putting one foot in front of the other.
Though the termboot campmight conjure images of callous drill sergeants, the Black History Bootcamp involves none of that.
Instead, when you sign up, you commit to walking for 30 minutes a day for 21 weekdays.
(GirlTrek also offers recordings of the calls in podcast form.)
Themes like forgiveness, activism, self-worth, and spirituality regularly come up.
Walking, Dixon explained during a Girltrek Bootcamp call, is how we save our own lives.
First, theres the physical health aspect: Walkingismore beneficial for this than you might think.
TheCenters for Disease Control and Prevention(CDC) recommends 150 minutes of moderate physical activity per week.
Walking, the CDC says, can help improve sleep and relieve stress and anxiety symptoms.
Whats more, the purpose of the Bootcamp extends far beyond the physical.
I didnt expect the daily calls to improve my mental health, but they did.
Its not easy, Garrison tells SELF of her decision to be so vulnerable on each call.
But when we hang up those calls, women really have our phone number.
By looking at our foremothers, its obvious that Black women have special tools to navigate this moment.
I genuinely feel joyous, and Morgan genuinely feels joyous.
We are filling our well up in this amazing way.
Before I started this Girltrek Bootcamp, my own well was empty.
Because Id made the decision to abstain from attending protests, I felt like I didnt deserve joy.
But during each call, Dixon and Garrison made space for learningandlaughing.
They were modeling Black joy in the midst of resisting.
This isnt just about the Black womenwritten about in books.
This is about Black women and girls in the individual corners of everyday life.
