Emporia State’s Black Student Union brought its My Sister’s Keeper month to a close with its final event, Homegurl Remedies, which focused on issues of self-care for women. A large number of students and BSU members participated in the seminar style event, which took place in the PKP room in Memorial Union.
“We offered this event to help women on this campus because we don’t really have a lot of things going on that are just for women on campus,” said Alexandra Williams, BSU secretary and sophomore sociology major. “It was a place where women could come and feel safe and open to express how they feel, and we could give them some knowledge that would help their time on campus.”
March was Women’s History Month, so in response, BSU set up a month of events called My Sister’s Keeper, focusing on women.
“We kind of took that and made it our own in a sense,” Williams said.
“We want to keep our sisters, build up everybody and be empowered,” said Zauvionna Laddimore, sophomore social science education major.
Students engaged in a short survey, which asked them to rate their emotional and physical well-being. They were presented with a score that ranked their health.
“Filling out the handout helped me realize I need to take it easy and think optimistically,” said Christian Gilmore, freshman elementary education major.
Afterwards, healthy self-care tips were offered. There were demonstrations of physical exercise, and how to make an aromatic scrub, useful self-care skills for coping with stress and anxiety, according to Ladimore.
Homegurl Remedies focused on self-care, an important topic not just for women, but women of color, according to Gilmore.
“Because Emporia State is a predominately white institution, I feel as if sometimes we have to battle with a lot, socially and academically,” Gilmore said. “This event helped me decompress, and remember I’m a student, but in order to be a good student I have to put myself first.”
Williams agreed.
“For me, self care has helped me get through a lot of discrimination things, and also with personal self-esteem,” Williams said. “I think it is important, especially for WOC, to make sure we are comfortable and that we are loving ourselves in every possible way.
Laddimore said she feels there is a stigma towards WOC to seek help, “so it’s nice to have a safe space like this to talk about self care. Getting help is empowering.”
