0:00:00.648,0:00:04.374
T. Morgan Dixon: I would like to tell you[br]about the most powerful woman

0:00:04.398,0:00:05.728
you've never heard of.

0:00:07.017,0:00:09.102
This is Septima Clark.

0:00:09.126,0:00:10.910
Remember her name: Septima Clark.

0:00:10.934,0:00:14.671
Dr. King called her the "the architect[br]of the civil rights movement,"

0:00:14.695,0:00:17.362
because she created something[br]called Citizenship Schools.

0:00:17.386,0:00:20.602
And in those schools, she taught[br]ordinary women the practical skills

0:00:20.626,0:00:23.810
to go back into their communities[br]and teach people to read.

0:00:23.834,0:00:25.882
Because if they could read,

0:00:25.906,0:00:27.056
they could vote.

0:00:27.383,0:00:29.698
Well, these women took[br]those organizing skills,

0:00:29.722,0:00:32.795
and they became some of the most[br]legendary civil rights activists

0:00:32.819,0:00:34.294
this country has ever seen.

0:00:34.833,0:00:36.479
Women like Diane Nash.

0:00:37.092,0:00:38.267
You may know her.

0:00:38.291,0:00:41.523
She orchestrated the entire walk[br]from Selma to Montgomery.

0:00:41.547,0:00:45.247
She was a cofounder of the[br]Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee,

0:00:45.271,0:00:47.007
and they integrated lunch counters,

0:00:47.031,0:00:48.850
and they created the Freedom Rides.

0:00:48.874,0:00:50.637
Or you may remember Fannie Lou Hamer,

0:00:50.661,0:00:54.097
who sat on the floor[br]of the Democratic National Convention

0:00:54.121,0:00:56.410
and talked about[br]being beaten in jail cells

0:00:56.434,0:00:59.262
as she registered people[br]to vote in Mississippi.

0:00:59.286,0:01:01.088
And her most famous student,

0:01:01.112,0:01:02.406
Rosa Parks.

0:01:02.430,0:01:05.039
She said Septima Clark[br]was the one who taught her

0:01:05.063,0:01:07.007
the peaceful act of resistance.

0:01:07.031,0:01:08.258
And when she sat down,

0:01:08.282,0:01:10.880
she inspired a nation to stand.

0:01:12.174,0:01:14.662
These were just three[br]of her 10,000 students.

0:01:14.686,0:01:17.603
These women stood[br]on the front lines of change,

0:01:17.627,0:01:19.110
and by doing so,

0:01:19.134,0:01:22.481
they taught people to read[br]in her Citizenship School model

0:01:22.505,0:01:26.690
and empowered 700,000 new voters.

0:01:26.714,0:01:27.869
And that's not it.

0:01:27.893,0:01:31.091
She created a new culture[br]of social activism.

0:01:31.761,0:01:35.018
Pete Seeger said it was Septima Clark[br]who changed the lyrics

0:01:35.042,0:01:36.627
to the old gospel song

0:01:36.651,0:01:38.736
and made the anthem we all know:

0:01:38.760,0:01:40.401
"We Shall Overcome."

0:01:41.467,0:01:43.678
Vanessa Garrison: Now,[br]many of you may know us.

0:01:43.702,0:01:46.179
We are the cofounders of GirlTrek,

0:01:46.203,0:01:49.932
the largest health organization[br]for Black women in America.

0:01:50.335,0:01:51.675
Our mission is simple:

0:01:52.292,0:01:53.978
ask Black women,

0:01:54.609,0:01:57.537
80 percent of whom are over[br]a healthy body weight,

0:01:57.561,0:02:00.910
to walk outside[br]of their front door every day

0:02:00.934,0:02:04.952
to establish a lifesaving[br]habit of walking;

0:02:05.972,0:02:09.384
in doing so, ignite a radical movement

0:02:09.408,0:02:12.749
in which Black women reverse[br]the devastating impacts

0:02:12.773,0:02:14.088
of chronic disease,

0:02:14.112,0:02:16.413
reclaim the streets[br]of their neighborhoods,

0:02:16.437,0:02:19.242
create a new culture[br]of health for their families

0:02:19.266,0:02:21.975
and stand on the front lines for justice.

0:02:21.999,0:02:25.078
Today, all across America,

0:02:25.102,0:02:30.180
more than 100,000 Black women[br]are wearing this GirlTrek blue shirt

0:02:30.204,0:02:32.611
as they move through their communities --

0:02:32.635,0:02:34.369
a heroic force.

0:02:34.983,0:02:38.157
We walk in the footsteps of Septima Clark.

0:02:38.478,0:02:42.002
She gave us a blueprint for change-making.

0:02:42.852,0:02:45.573
One, to have a bold idea,

0:02:45.597,0:02:47.611
bigger than anyone is comfortable with.

0:02:47.635,0:02:51.774
To two: root down in the cultural[br]traditions of your community

0:02:51.798,0:02:55.050
and lean heavily on what has come before.

0:02:55.074,0:02:57.580
To three: name it --

0:02:57.604,0:03:01.351
that one thing that everyone[br]is willing to work hard for;

0:03:01.375,0:03:06.851
a ridiculously simple goal[br]that doesn't just benefit the individual

0:03:06.875,0:03:08.440
but the village around them.

0:03:09.906,0:03:11.069
And to, lastly:

0:03:12.529,0:03:15.240
never ask permission[br]to save your own life.

0:03:15.730,0:03:19.560
It is our fundamental right[br]as human beings

0:03:19.584,0:03:22.922
to solve our own problems.

0:03:25.578,0:03:29.589
TMD: So to the women all out there[br]gathered in your living rooms,

0:03:29.613,0:03:32.616
rooting for us, acting crazy[br]on social media right now --

0:03:32.640,0:03:33.799
we see you.

0:03:33.823,0:03:34.831
(Laughter)

0:03:34.855,0:03:37.293
We see you every day. We love you.

0:03:37.317,0:03:38.666
You are not alone,

0:03:38.690,0:03:41.501
and our bigger work starts now.

0:03:41.525,0:03:44.121
VG: You got us onto this stage --

0:03:44.145,0:03:45.649
your leadership;

0:03:45.673,0:03:48.416
auditing blighted streets in Detroit;

0:03:48.440,0:03:51.784
working with hospitals[br]and health care systems in Harlem;

0:03:51.808,0:03:57.264
praying over the streets of Sacramento,[br]Charlotte, Brooklyn, Flint

0:03:57.288,0:04:00.190
and every community that has seen trauma;

0:04:00.214,0:04:02.760
changing traffic patterns,[br]making your streets safer;

0:04:02.784,0:04:04.295
and most importantly,

0:04:04.319,0:04:06.948
standing as role models.

0:04:06.972,0:04:10.939
And it all started with[br]your commitment to start walking,

0:04:10.963,0:04:13.658
your agreement to organize[br]your friends and family

0:04:13.682,0:04:16.316
and your belief in our broader mission.

0:04:17.017,0:04:20.067
TMD: It's important to me[br]that everyone in this room understands

0:04:20.101,0:04:22.428
exactly how change-making[br]works in GirlTrek.

0:04:22.452,0:04:26.628
One well-trained organizer has the power[br]to change the behavior

0:04:26.652,0:04:27.873
of 100 of her friends.

0:04:27.897,0:04:29.063
We know that is true,

0:04:29.087,0:04:32.212
because the [1,000] women[br]blowing up social media right now

0:04:32.236,0:04:37.603
have already inspired[br]over 100,000 women to walk.

0:04:38.640,0:04:43.304
(Applause)

0:04:44.282,0:04:46.000
But that is not nearly enough.

0:04:46.766,0:04:50.580
And so our goal[br]is to create critical mass.

0:04:51.341,0:04:52.611
And in order to do that,

0:04:52.635,0:04:56.975
we have an audacious plan[br]to scale our intervention.

0:04:57.646,0:04:59.644
A thousand organizers is not enough.

0:05:00.192,0:05:04.218
GirlTrek is going to create[br]the next Citizenship School.

0:05:04.242,0:05:09.683
And in doing so, we will train[br]10,000 frontline health activists

0:05:09.707,0:05:12.599
and deploy them into the highest-need[br]communities in America.

0:05:12.623,0:05:14.697
Because when we do,[br]we will disrupt disease;

0:05:14.721,0:05:16.580
we will create a new culture of health.

0:05:16.604,0:05:18.962
And what we will do is create[br]a support system

0:05:18.986,0:05:22.420
for one million Black women[br]to walk to save their own lives.

0:05:22.785,0:05:27.274
(Applause)

0:05:29.276,0:05:31.725
And our training is unparalleled.

0:05:32.639,0:05:33.939
I just want you to imagine.

0:05:33.963,0:05:36.091
It's like a revival, tent-like festival,

0:05:36.115,0:05:39.390
not unlike the civil rights[br]movement teach-ins.

0:05:39.414,0:05:41.885
And we're going to go[br]all across the country.

0:05:41.909,0:05:44.179
It is the biggest announcement this week:

0:05:44.203,0:05:47.334
Vanessa and I and a team[br]of masterful teachers,

0:05:47.358,0:05:49.696
all to culminate next year,

0:05:49.720,0:05:51.437
on sacred ground,

0:05:51.461,0:05:53.365
in Selma, Alabama,

0:05:53.389,0:05:59.018
to create a new annual tradition[br]that we are calling "Summer of Selma."

0:05:59.482,0:06:02.070
VG: Summer of Selma will be[br]an annual pilgrimage

0:06:02.094,0:06:04.093
that will include a walk --

0:06:04.117,0:06:05.679
54 miles,

0:06:05.703,0:06:08.721
the sacred route from Selma to Montgomery.

0:06:08.745,0:06:11.379
It will also include rigorous training.

0:06:11.403,0:06:12.630
Picture it,

0:06:12.654,0:06:16.750
as women come to learn organizing[br]and recruitment strategies,

0:06:16.774,0:06:18.682
to study exercise science,

0:06:18.706,0:06:20.447
to take nutrition classes,

0:06:20.471,0:06:22.197
to learn storytelling,

0:06:22.221,0:06:25.291
to become certified[br]as outdoor trip leaders

0:06:25.315,0:06:27.547
and community advocates.

0:06:28.474,0:06:30.376
TMD: This is going to be unprecedented.

0:06:30.400,0:06:33.327
It's going to be a moment in time[br]like a cultural institution,

0:06:33.341,0:06:34.463
and in fact,

0:06:34.487,0:06:37.139
it's going to be the Woodstock[br]of Black Girl Healing.

0:06:37.163,0:06:38.833
(Laughter)

0:06:38.857,0:06:41.932
(Applause)

0:06:43.012,0:06:44.266
VG: And the need --

0:06:45.605,0:06:47.421
it's more urgent than ever.

0:06:48.691,0:06:53.088
We are losing our communities'[br]greatest resource.

0:06:54.569,0:06:58.068
Black women are dying in plain sight.

0:06:59.317,0:07:02.318
And not only is no one talking about it,

0:07:03.075,0:07:05.192
but we refuse to acknowledge

0:07:05.216,0:07:09.374
that the source of this crisis[br]is rooted in the same injustice

0:07:09.398,0:07:12.554
that first propelled[br]the civil rights movement.

0:07:13.234,0:07:16.941
On December 30 of 2017,

0:07:17.717,0:07:18.957
Erica Garner,

0:07:20.116,0:07:22.451
the daughter of Eric Garner,

0:07:22.475,0:07:25.146
a Black man who died[br]on the streets of New York

0:07:25.170,0:07:26.974
from a police choke hold,

0:07:26.998,0:07:29.300
passed away of a heart attack.

0:07:30.276,0:07:32.574
Erica was just 27 years old,

0:07:32.598,0:07:34.721
the mother of two children.

0:07:35.369,0:07:39.492
She would be one of 137[br]Black women that day --

0:07:39.516,0:07:42.081
more than 50,000 in the last year --

0:07:42.105,0:07:44.346
to die from a heart-related issue,

0:07:45.159,0:07:47.922
many of their hearts broken from trauma.

0:07:49.431,0:07:54.442
The impacts of stress on Black women

0:07:54.466,0:07:58.294
who send their children and spouses[br]out the door each day,

0:07:58.318,0:08:01.433
unsure if they will come home alive;

0:08:01.457,0:08:07.767
who work jobs where they are paid 63 cents[br]to every dollar paid to white men;

0:08:07.791,0:08:11.112
who live in communities[br]with crumbling infrastructure

0:08:11.136,0:08:14.461
with no access[br]to fresh fruits or vegetables;

0:08:14.485,0:08:17.776
with little to no walkable[br]or green spaces --

0:08:18.954,0:08:22.800
the impact of this inequality[br]is killing Black women

0:08:22.824,0:08:27.963
at higher and faster rates[br]than any other group in the country.

0:08:27.987,0:08:30.176
But that is about to change.

0:08:30.200,0:08:31.405
It has to.

0:08:35.537,0:08:37.108
TMD: So let me tell you a story.

0:08:37.890,0:08:39.501
About three weeks ago --

0:08:40.282,0:08:41.828
many of you may have watched --

0:08:41.852,0:08:45.022
Vanessa and I and a team[br]of 10 women walked 100 miles

0:08:45.046,0:08:47.077
on the actual Underground Railroad.

0:08:47.660,0:08:49.126
We did it in five days --

0:08:49.150,0:08:51.580
five long and beautiful days.

0:08:51.604,0:08:53.447
And the world watched.

0:08:53.821,0:08:56.154
Three million people[br]watched the live stream.

0:08:56.178,0:08:59.265
Some of you in here,[br]the influencers, shared the story.

0:08:59.289,0:09:01.716
Urban Radio blasted it across the country.

0:09:01.740,0:09:05.293
VG: Even the E! News channel interrupted[br]a story about the Kardashians --

0:09:05.317,0:09:08.397
which, if you asked us,[br]is just a little bit of justice --

0:09:08.421,0:09:09.430
(Laughter)

0:09:09.454,0:09:13.376
to report that GirlTrek had made it safely[br]on our hundred-mile journey.

0:09:13.400,0:09:18.219
(Applause)

0:09:20.429,0:09:22.399
TMD: People were rooting for us.

0:09:22.423,0:09:27.163
And they were rooting for us because[br]in this time of confusion and contention,

0:09:27.187,0:09:31.350
this journey allowed us all to reflect[br]on what it meant to be American.

0:09:32.548,0:09:35.031
We saw America up close[br]and personal as we walked.

0:09:35.055,0:09:37.701
We walked through historic towns,

0:09:37.725,0:09:39.246
through dense forest,

0:09:39.270,0:09:41.702
past former plantations.

0:09:41.726,0:09:42.946
And one day,

0:09:43.636,0:09:47.128
we walked into a gas station[br]that was also a café,

0:09:47.152,0:09:48.520
and it was filled with men.

0:09:49.092,0:09:51.813
They were wearing camo[br]and had hunting supplies.

0:09:51.837,0:09:55.508
And out front were all of their trucks,[br]and one had a Confederate flag.

0:09:55.532,0:09:57.391
And so we left the establishment.

0:09:57.415,0:10:00.253
And as we were walking along[br]this narrow strip of road,

0:10:00.277,0:10:03.789
a few of the trucks reared by us so close,

0:10:04.619,0:10:08.488
and out of their tailpipe[br]was the specter of mob violence.

0:10:08.512,0:10:09.878
It was unnerving.

0:10:11.232,0:10:12.541
But then it happened.

0:10:13.280,0:10:15.777
Right on the border[br]of Maryland and Delaware,

0:10:16.840,0:10:18.712
we saw a man standing by his truck.

0:10:18.736,0:10:20.175
The tailgate was down.

0:10:20.199,0:10:22.016
He had on a brown jacket.

0:10:22.040,0:10:23.583
He was standing there awkwardly.

0:10:23.607,0:10:26.071
The first two girls in our group,[br]Jewel and Sandria,

0:10:26.095,0:10:28.300
they walked by because[br]he looked suspicious.

0:10:28.324,0:10:29.331
(Laughter)

0:10:29.355,0:10:32.008
But the bigger group, we stopped[br]to give him a chance.

0:10:32.032,0:10:33.741
And he walked up to us and he said,

0:10:33.765,0:10:35.359
"Hi, my name is Jake Green.

0:10:35.746,0:10:37.805
I heard you on Christian[br]radio this morning,

0:10:37.829,0:10:40.479
and God told me to bring you supplies."

0:10:41.793,0:10:43.627
He brought us water,

0:10:43.651,0:10:44.913
he brought us granola,

0:10:44.937,0:10:46.444
and he brought us tissue.

0:10:47.180,0:10:50.476
And we needed tissue because[br]we had just walked through a nor'easter;

0:10:50.500,0:10:52.791
it was 29 degrees,[br]it was sleeting on our faces.

0:10:52.815,0:10:57.456
Our sneakers and our socks were frozen[br]and wet and frozen again.

0:10:57.480,0:11:01.128
We needed that tissue more[br]than he could have possibly understood.

0:11:01.152,0:11:02.942
So on that day, in that moment,

0:11:02.966,0:11:06.575
Jake Green renewed[br]my faith in God for sure,

0:11:06.599,0:11:09.215
but he renewed my faith in humanity.

0:11:10.196,0:11:12.162
We have a choice to make.

0:11:14.010,0:11:19.024
In America, we can fall further[br]into the darkness of discord, or not.

0:11:19.048,0:11:20.258
And I am here to tell you

0:11:20.282,0:11:23.007
that the women of GirlTrek[br]are walking through the streets

0:11:23.031,0:11:25.284
with a light that cannot be extinguished.

0:11:25.308,0:11:28.163
VG: They are also walking[br]through the streets with a mission

0:11:28.187,0:11:32.687
as clear and as powerful[br]as the women who marched in Montgomery:

0:11:32.711,0:11:35.158
that disease stops here,

0:11:35.182,0:11:37.491
that trauma stops here.

0:11:38.769,0:11:40.818
And with your support

0:11:40.842,0:11:43.336
and in our ancestors' footsteps,

0:11:43.360,0:11:49.153
these 10,000 newly trained activists[br]will launch the largest health revolution

0:11:49.177,0:11:51.156
this country has ever seen.

0:11:51.730,0:11:56.767
And they will return to their communities[br]and model the best of human flourishing.

0:11:57.675,0:11:59.088
And we --

0:11:59.112,0:12:00.954
we will all celebrate.

0:12:00.978,0:12:03.921
Because like Jake Green understood,

0:12:03.945,0:12:06.463
our fates are intertwined.

0:12:07.321,0:12:09.474
Septima Clark once said,

0:12:10.657,0:12:15.083
"The air has finally gotten to a place[br]where we can breathe it together."

0:12:16.231,0:12:17.446
And yet,

0:12:18.334,0:12:23.835
the haunting last words of Eric Garner[br]were: "I can't breathe."

0:12:24.671,0:12:28.358
And his daughter Erica[br]died at 27 years old,

0:12:28.382,0:12:30.838
still seeking justice.

0:12:30.862,0:12:32.013
So we --

0:12:32.037,0:12:34.947
we're going to keep doing Septima's work

0:12:34.971,0:12:37.375
until her words become reality,

0:12:38.206,0:12:41.603
until Black women are no longer dying,

0:12:43.891,0:12:47.490
until we can all breathe the air together.

0:12:47.895,0:12:49.046
Thank you.

0:12:49.070,0:12:53.793
(Applause)