We all know that Black History Month was founded in 1926 by Carter G. Woodson and was originally set aside as “Negro History Week”. Dr. Woodson chose the second week of February to study “Negro life” because it marks the birthdays of two men who had tremendous influence on Black America: Frederick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln. Since that time, Black History month has been expanded and celebrated all over the country and even in some communities outside of America.




As with everything else, African-Americans set the trend for “National *insert favorite cause or cultural group* Month. March happens to be “Women’s History Month” and has been informally celebrated as such 1980. This year, The National Women’s History Project has chosen the theme, “Writing Women Back into History” and Alumni Roundup is ready to do just that, with a focus on women’s health and wellness.



By all historical accounts, women are nurturing and selfless to a fault. We neglect our own health needs, while attending to every detail of our children, spouses, parents or even co-workers and neighbors. We would rather focus on our career than on our own well-being. As a result, we have created a legacy of high risk behaviors, attitudes and practices that is literally killing us. Our self-lackadaisical lifestyle has made heart disease, cancer, stroke, diabetes, and HIV/AIDS lethal threats to female survival. As history would have it, Black women are more likely to die from each of these than any other group. Unfortunately, we are not only talking about older women dying to these conditions, but women under 40 and an increasing number of adolescents and young adults are falling victim to these ailments, as well.



Contrary to conventional wisdom, most diseases are not passed down, instead, the unhealthy lifestyle is passed down, which make the disease more likely to occur. In other words, we are not going to blame our poor health or unhealthy decisions on “Big Mama’s suga” or “Aunt Johnnie Mae’s pressuh” anymore. We are going to be accountable for our own health and happiness. It is time to re-write Ourstory in health and wellness. We can start now by taking a look at our 4 biggest health risks: high blood pressure, obesity, sedentary lifestyle, unsafe sexual practices.

Throughout the month of March, take a few important steps to learn more about your own health numbers: blood pressure, cholesterol, and body-mass index (BMI); and take the courageous step to learn your HIV status. We will talk more about what these numbers mean in the near future. As women, we basically just want to make our parents proud and teach our children well. We cannot do either unless we are living our best lives; which at the very core includes our health and well-being. Let’s commit now to re-write our legacy of health for the future generations of strong, determined, trail-blazing women.

Jada Wright
Women’s Wellness Consultant
One Touch Wellness, Inc.
www.onetouchwellness.org