,97/.'^
Broncos Voicc
March 1996
13
A/iya Madzimoyo, column editor
Walking For Our
Freedom
One morning during my
usual 3 mile walk around the
track, it occurred to me that
our people have always
walked and marched for our
freedom. I decided then that
the Fayetteville Walking for
Wellness program would
launch the “Walking for our
Freedom” Walkathon.
Still walking, I could see it
all: In September five hundred
Black women, men, children
and elders walking together to
celebrate our commitment to
continue on our road for free
dom, dedicated to keeping
ourselves healthy and strong.
It was very important to me
that our walkathon not consist
mainly of “ceremonial” walk
ers who come out and walk
just for the day. No, 1 saw in
dividuals and whole families
who had made walking an in
tegral part of their lives.
I then decided that “when
the next skeptic tells me or
hints at the notion that Black
people won’t walk for our
health and well-being,” I will
smile and remember that we
walked in the rain, cold and
scorching heat for over 365
days for miles and miles for
our freedom in 1955 in order
to break the back of Jim
V(/liolisfic Hcaltli Edu-Care M
GWS
Crow’s segregation. I then de
cided that we will do it again,
this time for increased health,
strength and vitality.
I continued thinking fur
ther back to the 1800’s, and I
saw Harriet Tubman and thou
sands of us again walking for
freedom by way of the Under
ground Railroad. We risked
everything - including our
lives - to escape our captors
who had forced us to labor
under gun. And indeed, many
of us did make it. We said, “we
must have a better way,” and
we took off, walking mainly
by night, sometimes in the rain
and the snow. We walked for
our freedom.
In the “Walking
for our Freedom”
program, we walk
and tell the stories of
our triumphant
walks for freedom
from Harriet ——i;
Tubman to Nelson
Mandela. We support each
other to continue making the
decision to free ourselves from
our mental and emotional en
slavement. As our ancestors
knew, we too know there is a
better way.
In the “Walking for
Wellness” program those of us
who walk regularly have re
ported good results. We feel
better. We eat and sleep bet
ter. We have lowered choles
terol and blood sugar levels.
We have reduced our chances
for heart disease, diabetes,
high blood pressure, stroke,
cancer and aids. We get the
boost and support we need to
continue making liberating
choices. Our ancestors didn’t
walk for social freedoms so
we could die of poor health,
drug addiction and hopeless
ness. Their spirits remind us
that health is not just
a blood pressure read
ing, a glucose level,
but a matter of holis
tic well-being.
In the “Walking
for our Freedom”
program we chal- —
lenge each other to
walk through the conflicts of
all areas of our lives, to make
healthy choices and to keep on
waking down the road of self-
love, self-knowledge and self
empowerment. We continue
to make these steps to freedom
for our health and well-being,
socially, mentally and physi
cally.
We started up the
Fayetteville “Walking for
Wellness” program in October
of 1995 with technical assis
tance from the National Black
Women’s Health Project. De
ciding to wallc on a regular
basis has been difficult for
many of us. Even when we
have felt committed to our
walking regimens, we have
often found ourselves slipping
back into notions of “I just
don’t have the time.” “I’ve got
to do so and so.” “My children
need me.” “My house needs
cleaning.” “My spouse or
empty, we don’t have a whole
lot more to give. It is most
definitely time to fill our own
cups, to rejuvenate, to cherish,
nurture and nourish ourselves,
and, in turn, each other. It is
time that each of us became
the most important person in
our own lives.
Those of us who under
stand that you can’t give what
It is my belief that those old
souls did not risk it all for
us to be living so miserably.
... we walked in the rain, cold,
and scordiing beat..tD break the
back of Jim Crowds segregathn.
friend just doesn’t support me
in doing this.” I have con
cluded that Black women have
been depended upon to take
care of our families, our par
ents, the church and commu
nity, and anyone else who
needs to be taken care of. Of
ten we find ourselves worn
out, feeling very enslaved to
expectations that are “just too
much for any one woman to
carry out.”
With our cups running
you ain’t got, and that neglect
ing yourself doesn’t mean that
you help others, understand
what time it is. It is time that
Black sisters drink from a re
vitalizing, reenergizing
stream, pull on the strength of
our mothers and fathers who
have walked before us so that
we can continue this walk to
freedom.
In our group right now ap
proximately 10 of us have
made walking an active part
of our lives. We walk at least
three to five times per week.
Now, we want lo get all of us
involved, the whole family
walking and talking and stron
ger to continue on.
Black women. Black men.
Black children. Black elders:
I invite all of you to join us in
walking to keep yourselves
strong and motivated; to keep
us ever cognizant of our health
and well-being. The fight
against oppres-
sion is a hard one.
We live in a hos
tile world that re
peatedly sends
messages that we
are worthless,
criminal, cheat
ers, apathetic, re
verse discriminators, etc. We
must nurture ourselves to op
timal health and well being to
insure that we can continue
this fight against the ever-
pressing hand of oppression.
The boycotting, the walk
ing, of the Montgomery Bus
Boycott began a movement
that meant increasing, geo
graphical freedoms for all of
us. As a result of those walks,
•^ve can now go out to any pub
lic restaurant, check in to any
hotel that we can pay for. It is
my belief that those old should
did not risk it all for us to be
living so miserably. No, not
for us to have all these high
blood pressures, high blood
sugars, cancers and weakened
immune systems. Consider the
scenario of an individual ex
ercising his/her freedoms by
voting, attaining a graduate
degree, getting a “good job”
only to be wracked with stress
and strife, never taking time
for self, rarely eating
nourishing food, never
exercising, and having
a stroke or heart attack
between age 45 and 50.
No, our loved ones did
not do all that walking
and marching for that.
Harriet Tubman,
Marcus Garvey, Rosa Parks,
Martin Luther King Jr.,
Winnie and Nelson Mandela
all worked and walked for our
freedom, triumphing over the
notion that our place was at the
“back of the bus,” in the white
man’s shadow. The
Fayetteville “Walking for our
Freedom” program is inspired
by them. Listen to the words
of Nelson Mandela:
“I have walked that long
road to freedom. 1 have
taken a moment here to rest,
to steal a view of the glori
ous vista that surrounds me,
to look back on the distance
I have come. But I can rest
only for a moment, for with
freedom comes responsibili
ties, and I dare not linger,
for my long walk is not yet
ended”. (Nelson Mandela,
1994).
We believe we can walk
ourselves right into the light
of this new freedom for health
and vitality and good feelings
about ourselves and each
other. Join us.
The “Walking for our
Freedom” program pro
vides structured support to
individuals who wish to es
tablish or maintain a regu
lar walking regimen.
The program will celebrate
its success in September with
a Walkathon. We need Lead
Walkers to help with the or
ganizing and coordinating.
Call Afiya today at 630-
1267.
Cheer
from pg. 3
squad. A letter was sent to the
squad members informing
them of their suspensions,
vaguely describing the condi
tions of the suspensions.
Since the suspensions were
issued without conferring with
Cheer-Phi, the squad appealed
their case to Interim Chancel
lor Dr. Benson to air their
grievances. In the end, the sus
pensions stood.
A new air of hope arose
with the arrival of FSU’s new
chancellor, Dr. Willis Mcleod.
His anthem of “put the stu
dent first” offered a fresh and
objective perspective to a very
painful, tense, and frustrating
situation. At their initial meet
ing, Dr. McLeod appeared vis
ibly shocked by what Cheer-
Phi revealed to him. He as
signed Special Assistant Mr.
James Scurry to investigate
the matter. The end result of
the “investigation” was to re
move three suspensions and to
uphold all other suspensions.
This left six cheerleaders
see "Cheer, ” pg. 14