The Salisbury University chapter of the National Council for Negro Women hosted its first ever Self-Care Week last week.
Collaborating with organizations from the Multicultural Alliance and one fraternity from the National Pan-Hellenic Council, the NCNW provided a week of events that catered to different aspects of self-care.
The NCNW president at SU, Tiara Broome, discussed the inspiration behind the event and why the organization decided to do a self-care week.
“Self-Care Week started with little sheets of paper that we gave to our members asking what they wanted to see from us in our up incoming meetings, and actually, they all had similar suggestions gearing towards self-care,” Broome said.
On Monday, Oct. 15, NCNW hosted a “Let’s Talk About Sex” meeting with SU’s Black Student Union.
Chavonda Carr MS., certified health education specialist from the Wicomico County Health Department, was the special guest for this meeting and she described sexual health and the risks of not taking care of your personal sexual health.
Carr has four degrees in the medical field, specifically with a sexual health emphasis, and she works to help educate people about sexual health.
People in the audience were hesitant in discussing the topic of sexual health, but there was a number of questions that were asked and people acquired new information about being protected and taking care of themselves during sex.
Carr also provided male and female condoms and a number of different pamphlets and literature about sexual health.
The event on Tuesday Oct. 16 involved attendees making their own bath bombs. These were provided for free while supplies lasted, and the meeting also included encouragement to take care of yourself through relaxation and take time out for yourself.
In addition to the do-it-yourself bath bomb, NCNW also started a fundraiser selling lip scrubs and body lotions in various scents to help encourage self-care in every aspect.
Wednesday’s event was a collaboration with SU’s chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People to discuss mental health in the black community.
The meeting, entitled “Mind Over Culture,” talked about depression, suicide, stress, fears and more that the black community deals with, but also how these are brushed under the rug sometimes.
Moderators of the meeting De’Ja Lewis of the NAACP and Ashley Moone of NCNW posed questions to the audience about mental health in their own households as well as some informative facts about mental health.
The final event was a collaboration with Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc. entitled “To Cuff or to Handcuff.”
This meeting discussed how to take care of yourself in protection from sexual assault. The audience was able to discuss a certain situation of sexual assault that has occurred in the media.
In addition to this, the meeting also dived into healthy relationships between partners.
People who attended this event were able to talk about some situations such as having your partner eat off your plate, or regulating what your partner wears on a consistent basis when they go out to party.
The audience engaged in both topics, but debates ensued when the women in the room justified eating off of their partner’s plates as being normal and acceptable.
Although a common ground may not have been reached with that topic, NCNW communicated its mission and self-care throughout the week.
For more information about NCNW on Salisbury University’s campus, visit their social media pages: @salisbury_NCNW on Instagram and Twitter.
By DONOVAN MACK
Staff Writer
Featured photo: The National Council for Negro Women hosted its first ever Self-Care Week (Emma Reider image).