Today is actually the last day of National Black Women’s history month and I wanted to celebrate it by discussing the Women’s Empowerment brunch that was this weekend.
HAULYP had its first Women’s Empowerment Brunch on Saturday and it was absolutely amazing. There was a full panel of speakers who discussed topics like mental and physical health. Experts on heart, lung, kidney and overall health gave up a few hours of their weekend to come and talk to us about making sure that our “houses” were in order. We as women tend to give so much of ourselves, but hardly take the time to make sure that we’re okay. We’ll run until we’re on empty and that’s not okay. One of the panelists stated a statistic that was along the lines of on average a woman will wait a full 60 minutes before calling 911 when feeling pain, versus the 1-5 minutes it takes for a man to do so. And that’s just physical pain! Don’t even get me started on the amount of mental and emotional pain women will endure from their loved ones before seeking help. Those figures are just staggering.
Our guest speaker for the event was Seneca Dunmore, a pint-sized powerhouse who was dropping truth bombs all over the place. She gave her testimony and took us to church before telling us to stop apologizing for our greatness. Y’all, I received that message! It’s one that was necessary and one that needed to be heard in that room that day. I even spoke with a few women afterward who said that her speech was the swift kick in the butt that they needed to make the decision they’ve been on the fence about.
Her speech also got me thinking about an interview I did recently. One of my friends was asking me a few questions about my life and asked me to share a piece of advice and I said “dream big”. When she followed up for clarification I shared this tidbit with her and I wanted to share it with y’all on my blog. I feel like often times we as Black women limit ourselves. We’re the most educated, most business-minded and philanthropic group in this nation, but Whether it’s in our careers or relationships, it’s not pushed on us that we can have it all. Beyoncé, Issa, Shonda, and Oprah shouldn’t be the exceptions, they should be the norms. We are powerful beings, and I feel like we limit ourselves so that we don’t outshine others, namely Black men (but that’s another topic for another day), and we shouldn’t do that. So I tell all girls, especially Black ones, dream big because the sky is the limit.
It was nice to take a day off kind pamper ourselves and discuss these things that are often seen as taboo not only amongst other women but in the black community; and I’m already looking forward to next year’s brunch!