While on any day it is good to be a Black woman, on September 30^th it was an especially good day as the Foundation for Black Women’s Wellness celebrated the 15^th Annual Black Women’s Wellness Day at Monona Terrace. Close to 1,000 people came out to celebrate with the Foundation as a surge of energy seemed to take hold as the crowd of primarily African American women learned and felt what it takes to be a well woman.

Founder Lisa Peyton-Caire founded the Wellness Day in Maryland 15 years ago in response to her mother’s premature death. She held a relatively small gathering to promote healthy lifestyles and practices for Black women and to alert the community the huge health disparities that they experience.

Peyton-Caire brought the tradition to Madison where the first Black Women’s Wellness Day held in Madison attracted about 40 women to the Urban League of Greater Madison’s community room. My how it has grown.

The first floor of Monona Terrace was reserved for the day’s activities as one half of the Exhibition Hall was filled with booths of entrepreneurial Black women selling everything to make a Black woman feel good about herself, from cleansing lotions to clothing. There were also booths like the Wisconsin Alzheimer’s and Dementia Research Center and Exact Sciences promoted ways for women to keep themselves safe and healthy as they traverse the cycle of life. It was like a town square where people leisurely shooped and caught up on each other’s lives.

The surge of energy and wellness took on extra dynamism during the noon luncheon. Christine Russell led off with a rousing welcome and then Peyton-Caire took over, inviting the many staff and board members onto the stage to welcome the packed house. Major donors were represented by Nyra Jordan of the American Family Insurance Institute for Empowerment and Social Impact and Juli Aulik of UW Health who presented significant contributions to the Foundation. Summit Credit Union’s y Crowe and Rep. Shelia Stubbs also addressed the audience.

The keynote speakers were led off by  Love the Poet who gave a thoughtful spoken word presentation challenging the audience to change their lives. She was followed up by Niambi Jaha-Echols, founder of the Butterfly Movement who also addressed change and Kimberly Bryant, founder of Black Girls CODE about African American women surging into the IT field.

The afternoon was spent with a multitude of workshops and presentations covering many aspects of Black women’s health like How Black Women Are Leading Transformation in Black Maternal & Child Health.

The end of the day brought the participants together for concluding remarks and the Circle Ceremony where those present commit themselves to positive and healthy changes in their lives.

The 15^th Annual Black Women’s Wsellness Day exceeded any kind of expectations that one could have as it created the climate for healthy change and gave those present all the support they need to move in that positive direction.