I’ve been gone for AWHILE, I know, but I had to respond to the post on The FreshXpress entitled: Why ARE Black Women So Big?
This is a long post but that’s because this is a challenge. I think many people go to FXP to be entertained. If that’s what you’re looking for, this isn’t the post for you. I would like y’all to put in work on this one. There is some knowledge in here that I would like you to please apply to the questions at the end. You may finish reading this and say WTF? I felt lead to do this because if we can spend 300+ comments talking about a problem, we should be able to do the same to begin thinking about solutions.
I want to first apologize. 1. because I know this dead horse has been beat to death 10x over, 2. because this may seem a little dry for a typical post and 3. because it’s 4:30a and I haven’t been to sleep yet. My apologies if I’m rambling.
If you’re willing to walk with me, I’d like to provide some perspective from a behavioral health standpoint. Before I drop some knowledge, let me provide you with a little professional background for some validity. I have my BS in Health and Wellness, 2 years of nursing school and I am preparing to enter grad school for my Masters of Public Health. I was a manager of a health coaching company, where I helped hundreds of people make successful long term behavior change and I’ve started my own wellness and lifestyle company. I’ve been around 
As we talk about if the author of the original post was wrong, hurt feelings and the like, are we REALLY critically thinking about what our issues are and how to fix them? For those who agree, do you at least empathize? When we discuss changing ANY kind of behavior, we must critically think. In the original post, it doesn’t seem that there was much of that going on. Anyone can sit and point out surface issues about someone else, just like my 5 year old God-daughter can hurl insults that will cut the strongest of men. It means nothing when it comes to getting to the root of the problem. If we are going to address an issue, let’s address it. Making a change in one’s life, such as weight loss, is so much more complex than just “eating healthy” and “physical activity”. What about the emotional, psychological, environmental, economic, spiritual and mental barriers that many of OUR people face? Hell, all people. I think it stands to be said that this is not so much a “black issue” as it is an American one that has a more profound impact on us because of socioeconomics. It’s so much deeper than calling people hippos. It also stands to be said that this is NOT a black women thing because for every overweight black woman, I can give you 2 overweight black men. If we are going to be critical, we aren’t going to hold double standards. Black women love to eat but so do Black men. If we’re cooking and/or eating, they’re eating. Period.
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