0:00:00.617,0:00:02.606
T. Morgan Dixon: I would like to tell you

0:00:02.606,0:00:05.811
about the most powerful woman[br]you've never heard of.

0:00:07.017,0:00:09.095
This is Septima Clark.

0:00:09.095,0:00:10.099
Remember her name --

0:00:10.099,0:00:11.103
Septima Clark.

0:00:11.103,0:00:14.695
Dr. King called her the "the architect"[br]of the civil rights movement

0:00:14.695,0:00:17.368
because she created something[br]called citizenship schools,

0:00:17.368,0:00:18.429
and in those schools,

0:00:18.429,0:00:20.626
she taught ordinary women[br]the practical skills

0:00:20.626,0:00:23.878
to go back into their communities[br]and teach people to read,

0:00:23.878,0:00:25.982
because if they could read,

0:00:25.982,0:00:27.050
they could vote.

0:00:27.383,0:00:29.836
All these women took[br]those organizing skills,

0:00:29.836,0:00:32.957
and they became some of the most[br]legendary civil rights activisits

0:00:32.957,0:00:34.432
this country has ever seen.

0:00:34.945,0:00:36.591
Women like Diane Nash.

0:00:37.164,0:00:38.195
You may know her.

0:00:38.362,0:00:41.617
She orchestrated the entire walk[br]from Selma to Montgomery.

0:00:41.617,0:00:45.307
She was the cofounder of the student[br]non-violent coordinating committee,

0:00:45.307,0:00:47.031
and they integrated lunch counters,

0:00:47.031,0:00:48.790
and they created the freedom rides.

0:00:48.991,0:00:50.709
Or you may remember Fanny Lou Hamer,

0:00:50.709,0:00:54.236
who sat on the floor[br]of the Democratic National Convention,

0:00:54.236,0:00:56.548
and talked about being[br]beaten in jail cells

0:00:56.548,0:00:58.983
as she registered people[br]to vote in Mississippi.

0:00:59.374,0:01:01.199
And her most famous student:

0:01:01.199,0:01:02.296
Rosa Parks.

0:01:02.430,0:01:04.348
She said Septima Clark was the one

0:01:04.348,0:01:06.707
who taught her the peaceful[br]act of resistance.

0:01:07.119,0:01:08.369
And when she sat down,

0:01:08.369,0:01:10.967
she inspired a nation to stand.

0:01:12.278,0:01:14.510
These were just three[br]of her 10,000 students.

0:01:14.686,0:01:17.720
These women stood[br]on the frontlines of change,

0:01:17.720,0:01:19.177
and by doing so,

0:01:19.177,0:01:22.631
they taught people to read[br]in her citizenship school model

0:01:22.631,0:01:26.529
and empowered 700,000 new voters.

0:01:26.746,0:01:27.781
And that's not it.

0:01:27.969,0:01:31.134
She created a new culture[br]of social activism.

0:01:31.881,0:01:35.042
Pete Seeger said it was Septima Clark[br]who changed the lyrics

0:01:35.042,0:01:36.747
to the old gospel song,

0:01:36.747,0:01:38.855
and made the anthem we all know:

0:01:38.855,0:01:40.496
"We Shall Overcome."

0:01:41.467,0:01:43.702
Vanessa Garrison: Now,[br]many of you may know us.

0:01:43.702,0:01:45.950
We are the cofounders of GirlTrek.

0:01:46.203,0:01:49.847
The largest health organization[br]for Black women in America.

0:01:50.447,0:01:51.787
Our mission is simple.

0:01:52.292,0:01:54.704
Ask Black women,

0:01:54.704,0:01:57.655
80 percent of whom are over[br]a healthy body weight,

0:01:57.655,0:02:00.974
to walk outside of their front[br]door every day

0:02:00.974,0:02:04.992
to establish a lifesaving[br]habit of walking.

0:02:06.068,0:02:07.402
In doing so,

0:02:07.402,0:02:09.408
ignite a radical movement

0:02:09.408,0:02:12.773
in which Black women reverse[br]the devastating impacts

0:02:12.773,0:02:14.112
of chronic disease,

0:02:14.112,0:02:16.518
reclaim the streets[br]of their neighborhoods,

0:02:16.518,0:02:19.266
create a new culture[br]of health for their families

0:02:19.266,0:02:21.810
and stand on the front lines for justice.

0:02:22.054,0:02:23.166
Today,

0:02:23.166,0:02:25.237
all across America,

0:02:25.237,0:02:30.252
more than 100,000 Black women[br]are wearing this GirlTrek blue shirt

0:02:30.252,0:02:32.772
as they move through their communities --

0:02:32.772,0:02:34.506
a heroic force.

0:02:35.031,0:02:38.131
We walk in the footsteps of Septima Clark.

0:02:38.518,0:02:42.042
She gave us a blueprint for changemaking.

0:02:42.940,0:02:45.684
One, to have a bold idea,

0:02:45.684,0:02:47.721
bigger than anyone is comfortable with,

0:02:47.721,0:02:48.771
to two,

0:02:48.771,0:02:51.798
root down in the cultural[br]traditions of your community

0:02:51.798,0:02:55.074
and lean heavily on what as come before,

0:02:55.074,0:02:56.666
to three --

0:02:56.666,0:02:57.684
name it.

0:02:57.684,0:03:01.375
That one thing that everyone[br]is willing to work hard for --

0:03:01.375,0:03:04.035
a ridiculously simple goal

0:03:04.035,0:03:06.985
that doesn't just benefit the individual,

0:03:06.985,0:03:08.550
but the village around them.

0:03:09.906,0:03:12.645
And to lastly ...

0:03:12.645,0:03:15.240
never ask permission[br]to save your own life.

0:03:15.754,0:03:19.730
It is our fundamental[br]right as human beings

0:03:19.730,0:03:22.928
to solve our own problems.

0:03:25.658,0:03:26.954
TD: So to the women,

0:03:26.954,0:03:29.691
all out there getting gathered[br]in your living rooms,

0:03:29.691,0:03:30.687
rooting for us,

0:03:30.687,0:03:32.702
acting crazy on social media right now,

0:03:32.702,0:03:33.704
we see you.

0:03:33.704,0:03:34.702
(Laughter)

0:03:34.702,0:03:35.916
We see you every day.

0:03:35.916,0:03:37.033
We love you.

0:03:37.413,0:03:38.886
You are not alone,

0:03:38.886,0:03:41.581
and our bigger work starts now.

0:03:41.581,0:03:43.968
VG: You got us onto this stage.

0:03:44.130,0:03:45.463
Your leadership.

0:03:45.777,0:03:48.567
Auditing blighted streets in Detroit,

0:03:48.567,0:03:51.968
working with hospitals[br]and health care systems in Harlem,

0:03:51.968,0:03:57.407
praying over the streets of Sacramento,[br]Charlotte, Brooklyn, Flint

0:03:57.407,0:04:00.332
and every community that has seen trauma,

0:04:00.332,0:04:01.637
changing traffic patterns,

0:04:01.637,0:04:02.876
making your streets safer,

0:04:02.876,0:04:04.398
and most importantly,

0:04:04.398,0:04:06.807
standing as role models.

0:04:07.050,0:04:11.040
And it all started with your[br]commitment to start walking,

0:04:11.040,0:04:13.780
your agreement to organize[br]your friends and family,

0:04:13.780,0:04:16.414
and your belief in our broader mission.

0:04:17.029,0:04:20.375
TD: It's important to me that everyone[br]in this room understands exactly

0:04:20.375,0:04:22.326
how changemaking works in GirlTrek.

0:04:22.572,0:04:25.702
One well-trained organizer has the power

0:04:25.702,0:04:27.897
to change the behavior[br]of 100 of her friends.

0:04:27.897,0:04:29.087
We know that is true

0:04:29.087,0:04:32.367
because the 100,000 women[br]blowing up social media right now

0:04:32.367,0:04:37.735
have already inspired[br]over 100,000 women to walk.

0:04:38.784,0:04:43.448
(Applause)

0:04:44.338,0:04:46.931
But that is not nearly enough,

0:04:46.931,0:04:50.592
and so our goal[br]is to create critical mass.

0:04:51.341,0:04:52.803
And in order to do that,

0:04:52.803,0:04:57.065
we have an audacious plan[br]to scale our intervention.

0:04:57.678,0:04:59.676
1,000 organizers is not enough.

0:05:00.288,0:05:04.002
GirlTrek is going to create[br]the next citizenship school.

0:05:04.286,0:05:05.452
And in doing so,

0:05:05.452,0:05:09.836
we will train 10,000[br]front line health activists,

0:05:09.836,0:05:12.751
and deploy them into the highest-need[br]communities in America

0:05:12.751,0:05:13.752
because when we do,

0:05:13.752,0:05:14.893
we will disrupt disease;

0:05:14.893,0:05:16.750
we will create a new culture of health.

0:05:16.750,0:05:19.050
And what we will do is create[br]a support system

0:05:19.050,0:05:22.484
for one million Black women[br]to walk to save their own lives.

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

0:05:29.475,0:05:31.924
And our training is unparalleled.

0:05:32.830,0:05:34.153
I just want you to imagine.

0:05:34.153,0:05:36.243
It's like a revival, tent-like festival,

0:05:36.243,0:05:39.541
not unlike the civil rights[br]movement teach-ins,

0:05:39.541,0:05:42.035
and we're going to go[br]all across the country.

0:05:42.035,0:05:44.240
It is the biggest announcement this week.

0:05:44.240,0:05:47.487
Vanessa and I, and a team[br]of masterful teachers,

0:05:47.487,0:05:49.761
all to culminate next year,

0:05:49.761,0:05:51.501
on sacred ground

0:05:51.501,0:05:53.507
in Selma, Alabama,

0:05:53.507,0:05:59.136
to create a new annual tradition[br]that we are calling "Summer of Selma."

0:05:59.482,0:06:02.234
VG: Summer of Selma will be[br]an annual pilgrimage

0:06:02.234,0:06:04.256
that will include a walk --

0:06:04.256,0:06:05.841
54 miles,

0:06:05.841,0:06:08.567
the sacred route from Selma to Montgomery.

0:06:08.801,0:06:11.152
It will also include rigorous trainging.

0:06:11.403,0:06:12.563
Picture it:

0:06:12.563,0:06:16.900
as women come to learn organizing[br]and recruitment strategies,

0:06:16.900,0:06:18.706
to study exercise science,

0:06:18.706,0:06:20.471
to take nutrition classes,

0:06:20.471,0:06:22.221
to learn storytelling,

0:06:22.221,0:06:25.315
to become certified[br]as outdoor trip leaders

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

0:06:28.474,0:06:30.306
TD: This is going to be unprecedented.

0:06:30.461,0:06:33.440
It's going to be a moment in time[br]like a cultural institution,

0:06:33.440,0:06:34.544
and in fact,

0:06:34.544,0:06:37.191
it's going to be the Woodstock[br]of Black girl healing.

0:06:37.325,0:06:39.221
(Laughter)

0:06:39.221,0:06:42.296
(Applause)

0:06:43.076,0:06:45.701
VG: And the need ...

0:06:45.701,0:06:47.645
it's more urgent than ever.

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

0:06:54.664,0:06:58.065
Black women are dying in plain sight.

0:06:59.349,0:07:03.179
And not only is no one talking about it,

0:07:03.179,0:07:07.312
but we refuse to acknowledge[br]that the source of this crisis

0:07:07.312,0:07:09.500
is rooted in the same injustice

0:07:09.500,0:07:12.656
that first propelled[br]the civil rights movement.

0:07:13.234,0:07:17.828
On December 30 of 2017,

0:07:17.828,0:07:20.243
Erica Garner,

0:07:20.243,0:07:22.601
the daughter of Eric Garner,

0:07:22.601,0:07:25.170
a Black man who died[br]on the streets of New York

0:07:25.170,0:07:26.998
from a police chokehold,

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

0:07:30.276,0:07:32.598
Erica was just 27 years old;

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

0:07:35.425,0:07:39.516
She would be one of 137[br]Black women that day --

0:07:39.516,0:07:42.197
more than 50,000 in the last year

0:07:42.197,0:07:45.207
to die from a heart-related issue --

0:07:45.207,0:07:48.092
many of their hearts broken from trauma.

0:07:49.559,0:07:54.466
The impacts of stress on Black women

0:07:54.466,0:07:58.318
who send their children and spouses[br]out the door each day

0:07:58.318,0:08:01.526
unsure if they will come home alive,

0:08:01.526,0:08:05.326
who work jobs where they are paid 63 cents

0:08:05.326,0:08:07.879
to every dollar paid to white men,

0:08:07.879,0:08:11.272
who live in communities[br]with crumbling infrastructure

0:08:11.272,0:08:14.620
with no access to fresh[br]fruits or vegetables,

0:08:14.620,0:08:17.773
with little to no walkable[br]or green spaces.

0:08:19.033,0:08:22.902
The impact of this inequality[br]is killing Black women

0:08:22.902,0:08:27.924
at higher and faster rates[br]than any other group in the country.

0:08:28.133,0:08:30.296
But that is about to change --

0:08:30.296,0:08:31.501
it has to.

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

0:08:37.890,0:08:40.282
About three weeks ago --

0:08:40.282,0:08:42.093
many of you may have watched --

0:08:42.093,0:08:45.286
Vanessa and I and a team[br]of 10 women walked 100 miles

0:08:45.286,0:08:47.317
on the actual underground railroad.

0:08:47.660,0:08:49.287
We did it in five days --

0:08:49.287,0:08:51.340
five long and beautiful days.

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

0:08:53.821,0:08:56.106
Three million people[br]watched the live stream.

0:08:56.178,0:08:57.311
Some of you in here,

0:08:57.311,0:08:58.311
the influencers,

0:08:58.311,0:08:59.346
shared the story.

0:08:59.422,0:09:01.965
Urban radio blasted it across the country.

0:09:01.965,0:09:05.371
VG: Even the E! news channel interrupted[br]a story about the Kardashians,

0:09:05.371,0:09:06.929
which, if you asked us,

0:09:06.929,0:09:08.716
is just a little bit of justice --

0:09:08.716,0:09:09.719
(Laughter)

0:09:09.719,0:09:13.450
to report that GirlTrek had made it[br]safely on our hundred-mile journey.

0:09:13.450,0:09:18.269
(Applause)

0:09:20.429,0:09:22.165
TD: People were rooting for us.

0:09:22.469,0:09:27.187
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.

0:09:32.548,0:09:34.892
We saw America up close[br]and personal as we walked.

0:09:35.136,0:09:37.805
We walked through historic towns,

0:09:37.805,0:09:39.349
through dense forest,

0:09:39.349,0:09:41.804
past former plantations,

0:09:41.804,0:09:43.668
and one day,

0:09:43.668,0:09:47.228
we walked into a gas station[br]that was also a café,

0:09:47.228,0:09:48.596
and it was filled with men.

0:09:49.172,0:09:51.916
They were wearing camo[br]and had hunting supplies,

0:09:51.916,0:09:53.805
and out front were all of their trucks,

0:09:53.805,0:09:55.743
and one of them had a confederate flag.

0:09:55.743,0:09:57.582
And so we left the establishment,

0:09:57.582,0:10:00.443
and as we're walking along[br]this narrow strip of road,

0:10:00.443,0:10:04.699
a few of the trucks reared by us so close,

0:10:04.699,0:10:08.318
and out of their tailpipe[br]was the specter of mob violence.

0:10:08.591,0:10:09.957
It was unnerving.

0:10:11.367,0:10:12.676
But then it happened.

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

0:10:16.848,0:10:18.736
We saw a man standing by his truck,

0:10:18.736,0:10:20.199
the tailgate was down,

0:10:20.199,0:10:22.109
he had on a brown jacket;

0:10:22.109,0:10:23.675
he was standing there awkwardly.

0:10:23.675,0:10:25.246
The first two girls in our group,

0:10:25.246,0:10:26.252
Jewel and Sandria,

0:10:26.252,0:10:28.404
they walked back because[br]he looked suspicious.

0:10:28.404,0:10:29.398
(Laughter)

0:10:29.398,0:10:30.442
But the bigger group,

0:10:30.442,0:10:32.114
we stopped to give him a chance,

0:10:32.114,0:10:33.818
and he walked up to us and he said,

0:10:33.818,0:10:35.412
"Hi, my name is [Jake Green.]

0:10:35.866,0:10:37.948
I heard you on Christian[br]radio this morning,

0:10:37.948,0:10:40.598
and God told me to bring you supplies."

0:10:41.849,0:10:43.785
He brought us water,

0:10:43.785,0:10:44.992
he brought us granola,

0:10:44.992,0:10:46.400
and he brought us tissue.

0:10:46.400,0:10:47.395
(Laughter)

0:10:47.395,0:10:50.653
And we needed tissue because[br]we had just walked through a nor'easter;

0:10:50.653,0:10:51.664
it was 29 degrees;

0:10:51.664,0:10:53.074
it was sleeting on our faces.

0:10:53.074,0:10:57.213
Our sneakers and our socks were frozen[br]and wet and frozen again.

0:10:57.512,0:11:01.110
We needed that tissue more than he[br]could have possibly understood.

0:11:01.317,0:11:02.322
So on that day,

0:11:02.322,0:11:03.322
in that moment,

0:11:03.322,0:11:06.700
Jake Green renewed[br]my faith in God for sure,

0:11:06.700,0:11:09.316
but he renewed my faith in humanity.

0:11:10.260,0:11:12.226
We have a choice to make.

0:11:14.145,0:11:18.864
In America, we can fall further[br]into the darkness of discord or not.

0:11:19.067,0:11:20.273
And I am here to tell you

0:11:20.273,0:11:23.031
that the women of GirlTrek[br]are walking through the streets

0:11:23.031,0:11:25.263
with a light that cannot be extinguished.

0:11:25.489,0:11:27.612
VG: They are also walking[br]through the streets

0:11:27.612,0:11:32.358
with a mission as clear and as powerful[br]as the women who marched in Montgomery.

0:11:32.767,0:11:34.938
That disease stops here.

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

0:11:38.817,0:11:41.020
And with your support,

0:11:41.020,0:11:43.448
and in our ancestors' footsteps,

0:11:43.448,0:11:49.177
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.

0:11:51.857,0:11:56.894
And they will return to their communities[br]and model the best of human flourishing.

0:11:57.675,0:11:59.260
And we --

0:11:59.260,0:12:00.818
we will all celebrate.

0:12:01.034,0:12:04.000
Because like Jake Green understood,

0:12:04.000,0:12:06.518
our fates our intertwined.

0:12:07.433,0:12:10.705
Septima Clark once said,

0:12:10.705,0:12:15.131
"the air has finally gotten to a place[br]where we can breathe it together."

0:12:16.319,0:12:18.525
And yet,

0:12:18.525,0:12:21.021
the haunting last words of Eric Garner

0:12:21.021,0:12:24.159
were "I can't breathe."

0:12:24.735,0:12:28.399
And his daughter Erica[br]died at 27 years old

0:12:28.399,0:12:30.709
still seeking justice.

0:12:31.033,0:12:32.156
So we --

0:12:32.156,0:12:35.089
we're going to keep doing Septima's work

0:12:35.089,0:12:38.325
until her words become reality;

0:12:38.325,0:12:43.979
until Black women are no longer dying;

0:12:43.979,0:12:47.715
until we can all breathe the air together.

0:12:48.163,0:12:49.164
Thank you.

0:12:49.164,0:12:52.279
(Applause)