BODY TRUST^®
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“My body story starts like many others. I was 10 years old when I got learned my body was not the “right” body. I was 10 when I went on my first diet through Weight Watchers. I was the first person to get a bra in 5th grade. I was the first person to get my period in 6th grade at age 11. I was one of the tallest girls, always in the back row of the class picture. Early on my body was different than everyone else’s. Messages about food and bodies from my family and peers reinforced that.

“I remember watching Tricia do a cartwheel during recess in third grade. I found a grassy spot and tried to do one and the results were not the same.

“The story of my body is one that has hidden in the shadows, underneath three-quarter sleeves and shirts with rounded collars and high necks. For years, I attempted to define my body through an obsession with being a smaller size because that was the one way I might pass for “normal.” One way people might find me acceptable or even attractive. One way I could forget for a moment that my body was deformed and burned and has been ever since I can remember.

“When did the Rupture of my Body Trust happen?
Well, let’s just start with the harsh fact that I was born into a country where White Supremacy set the tone for just about everything, even much in the Black community. A construct that denied my cute little black, fat, body, equality and acceptance right from jump street. So yeah, there’s that.