(ThyBlackMan.com) I often wonder what would have happened if Sister Harriet Tubman was not capable of running. So many lives would have remained in bondage and would have been just another soul trying to break free. If history has taught us nothing black people need to know when to sit, stand, fight and run. With that in mind we need our body. Too many black people in this country are facing severe health challenges both physically and mentally.
Working hard to get an education is a gift indeed, but without a functioning body we can find ourselves to be a liability to our family because we can not get up an move. We are seeing type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, and heart disease at younger ages among our people. Too many of our children are policing their own diets and are surviving on the poison in fast food. This all leads to the issues with obesity that lead back to the diseases we are seeing at an alarming rate.
You can’t be woke while not caring for the temple that has to keep your mind. Fighting for the people is more than research and conversations. We must get up and get the body active. Community building starts with having bodies to work with. Its time we embrace each other by coming together to exercise and truly care for our health. In places where it is feasible this could lead to growing raising our own food. This would allow us to know exactly what we are putting in our body while being physically active.
The truth is we don’t know what the cost of this administration will be, and for many of our elders they tend to be of a mind that says we have survived worse. Though that is true in a history book…there are oppressions we have not faced and battles we have not fought. We must strengthen our people to face whatever could challenge us be it foreign or domestic. Strong minds, strong spirits and able bodies are a necessity.
We don’t have to be stellar athletes to ensure we are strong. However, its time we re-evaluate what we eat and why. Before we can change a community, we must start with one home at a time. An elder once told me, as her life was coming to a close, that if I had my health I could achieve anything. I am inclined to believe her. Violence is not the only killer of our people…we are also dying from the dinner table.
If we have to pick up and move, fight a different fight for freedom, or continue battling the oppression before us we need out body. We will need all the strength we have to ensure our children have the best future. We will need our bodies to keep us as we empower our minds to build up our community. We can’t afford to lose precious people to disease if, and when, we can prevent that end.
Staff Writer; Christian Starr
May connect with this sister over at Facebook; https://www.facebook.com/christian.pierre.9809 and also Twitter; http://twitter.com/MrzZeta.
