Black Women's Health Imperative

The Black Women's Health Imperative, originally called the Black Women's Health Project (BWHP), then the National Black Women's Health Project (NBWHP), was established by Byllye Avery in 1981 as a program of the National Women's Health Network in Atlanta, GA. At the first National Conference on Black Women's Health Issues, held at Spelman College in 1983, the BWHP became an independent national organization. Its purpose was to develop and disseminate self-help methodologies, including "group psychosocial therapy techniques..to empower Black women to attain healthy living and overall physical, mental and spiritual wellness." In 1984, having been incorporated and renamed the National Black Women's Health Project, the organization purchased a national headquarters in Atlanta, affectionately known as The Mother House. One of the NBWHP's first initiatives was to begin holding quarterly task force meetings to gather information about and to develop a cohesive perspective on black women's health issues. Another primary facet of the organization's work has consistently involved networking and collaborating with black women in other countries on health issues (Africa, South America, the West Indies, as well as the United Nations Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing, China and the Beijing + 5 NGO Host Committee). The organization has produced and published numerous films, videotapes and books pertaining to Black women's health issues.

Key projects, some of them ongoing, include implementation and promotion of a national fitness program, Walking for Wellness (1992); the Domestic Violence Initiative (1995); development and implementation of substance abuse education and prevention programs on eight "historically black" college and university campuses (1996); REACH 2010, a study of intervention strategies to reduce cardiovascular risk among Black church women in New Orleans, LA (2000); development of the Black Women's Wellness Study, a weight management pilot program undertaken in partnership with the University of Pennsylvania (2001); Because I am a Queen, a national television campaign and online smoking prevention and cessation program directed to Black women (2002); and Take Your Loved One to the Doctor Day, a national multimedia campaign to promote gynecological visits, also directed specifically to Black women, undertaken in partnership with the USDHHS (2002). In 2003, the organization was instrumental in convening the National Colloquium on Black Women's Health, "to generate a national sense of urgency to address the unequal burden of health issues borne by Black women." In 2003, the organization changed its name to the Black Women's Health Imperative.

From the guide to the Black Women's Health Imperative Records MS 487., 1983-2006 (ongoing), (Sophia Smith Collection)