“Finally Something for Us”: Black Girls Run! and Racialized Space-Making in Recreational Running

Smith-Tran, Alicia

doi:10.1177/0193723519899241

Cited by 9 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 39 publications

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“…What is interesting here is that while the SBW stereotype may be operating to constrain Keisha's ability to exercise self-compassion, it is simultaneously encouraging/ driving her increased engagement in physical activity and yoga. Thus, this point counters the assumptions of the dominant literature that position controlling images as barriers to Black women's engagement in physical activity (Smith-Tran 2021).…”

Section: Resistant Narrative #2 -Recognizing and Navigating The Opera...mentioning

confidence: 51%

“Roll Out My Mat and Take Up Space”: A Study of Black Women’s Resistance to Yoga’s White Normativity

Justin

2023

Race and Yoga

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Yoga in the West, specifically in the United States, is often a deeply exclusionary space. While the practice of āsana, or posture with steady breathing, can be performed anywhere, the ability to engage in a full medicinal yoga practice may be unattainable for some practitioners, Black women in particular, due to how white normativity is bolstered in the US yoga industry. Contributing to the emergent literature that asks if the benefits of physical activity are universally shared by all people, this article discusses the historical and social contexts that influenced the whitening and gendering of US yoga and utilizes a Black feminist perspective to theorize how historically and contemporarily Black women have employed yoga as a critical survival strategy. This qualitative study specifically charts how Black women have and continue to employ yoga to navigate and resist white normativity and violence inside and outside the yoga studio.

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Section: Resistant Narrative #2 -Recognizing and Navigating The Opera...mentioning

confidence: 51%

“Roll Out My Mat and Take Up Space”: A Study of Black Women’s Resistance to Yoga’s White Normativity

Justin

2023

Race and Yoga

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“…Previous research about BGR! focused on group membership within the in-person national organization and explored how the sport organization cultivated community among middle-class Black individuals (Harris & Roushanzamir, 2017;Smith-Tran, 2021;Wegner et al, 2016). While important, existing research does not provide adequate insight into the digital communities related to Black women runners or explore how a related digital network (i.e., #blackgirlsrun on Instagram) affords Black women social media users the space to construct collective meanings about well-being.…”

Section: Black Women and Long-distance Runningmentioning

confidence: 99%

“We Out Here”: Black Women, Well-Being, and #blackgirlsrun on Instagram

Cameron

2024

Journal of Black Studies

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This study explores the meanings that Black women associate with long-distance running and how these meanings informed their digital practice, specifically the content they distributed through #blackgirlsrun on Instagram. Drawing from 12 semi-structured phone interviews and participant observation data, this project exemplifies how Black women in the United States utilize social media to create knowledges and cultivate communities that center their health and well-being. The participants regarded long-distance running as an anchor practice, or an activity that simultaneously enriches multiple dimensions of one’s well-being and prompts additional healthy behaviors. The thematic analysis revealed that the participants distributed posts through #blackgirlsrun on Instagram to: (a) invite Black women Instagram users to identify as runners; (b) disrupt running stereotypes; and (c) facilitate generational well-being. The significance of these findings as they relate to Black women’s well-being and digital practice are also discussed.

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“…BGR provides an opportunity for Black women to run with others that "look like you" in a predominantly White space while simultaneously challenging dominant narratives about Black women's bodies, PA, and health [29]. Established in 2009, the mission of BGR is to motivate Black women to prioritize fitness and healthy lifestyle through running.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Leveraging the Black Girls Run Web-Based Community as a Supportive Community for Physical Activity Engagement: Mixed Methods Study

Kalinowski¹,

Idiong²,

Blackman-Carr³

et al. 2023

JMIR Form Res

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Background About 59%-73% of Black women do not meet the recommended targets for physical activity (PA). PA is a key modifiable lifestyle factor that can help mitigate risk for chronic diseases such as obesity, diabetes, and hypertension that disproportionately affect Black women. Web-based communities focused on PA have been emerging in recent years as web-based gathering spaces to provide support for PA in specific populations. One example is Black Girls Run (BGR), which is devoted to promoting PA in Black women. Objective The purpose of this study was to describe the content shared on the BGR public Facebook page to provide insight into how web-based communities engage Black women in PA and inform the development of web-based PA interventions for Black women. Methods Using Facebook Crowdtangle, we collected posts (n=397) and associated engagement data from the BGR public Facebook page for the 6-month period between June 1, 2021, and December 31, 2021. We pooled data in Dedoose to analyze the qualitative data and conducted a content analysis of qualitative data. We quantified types of posts, post engagement, and compared post types on engagement: “like,” “love,” “haha,” “wow,” “care,” “sad,” “angry,” “comments,” and “shares.” Results The content analysis revealed 8 categories of posts: shout-outs to members for achievements (n=122, 31%), goals or motivational (n=65, 16%), announcements (n=63, 16%), sponsored or ads (n=54, 14%), health related (n=47, 11%), the lived Black experience (n=23, 6%), self-care (n=15, 4%), and holidays or greetings (n=8, 2%). The 397 posts attracted a total of 55,354 engagements (reactions, comments, and shares). Associations between the number of engagement and post categories were analyzed using generalized linear models. Shout-out posts (n=22,268) elicited the highest average of total user engagement of 181.7 (SD 116.7), followed by goals or motivational posts (n=11,490) with an average total engagement of 160.1 (SD 125.2) and announcements (n=7962) having an average total engagement of 129.9 (SD 170.7). Significant statistical differences were found among the total engagement of posts (χ72=80.99, P<.001), “like” (χ72=119.37, P<.001), “love” (χ72=63.995, P<.001), “wow” (χ72=23.73, P<.001), “care” (χ72=35.06, P<.001), “comments” (χ72=80.55, P<.001), and “shares” (χ72=71.28, P<.001). Conclusions The majority of content on the BGR Facebook page (n=250, 63%) was focused on celebrating member achievements, motivating members to get active, and announcing and promoting active events. These types of posts attracted 75% of total post engagement. BGR appears to be a rich web-based community that offers social support for PA as well as culturally relevant health and social justice content. Web-based communities may be uniquely positioned to engage minoritized populations in health behavior. Further research should explore how and if web-based communities such as BGR can be interwoven into health interventions and health promotion.

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“Finally Something for Us”: Black Girls Run! and Racialized Space-Making in Recreational Running

Cited by 9 publications

References 39 publications

“Roll Out My Mat and Take Up Space”: A Study of Black Women’s Resistance to Yoga’s White Normativity

“Roll Out My Mat and Take Up Space”: A Study of Black Women’s Resistance to Yoga’s White Normativity

“We Out Here”: Black Women, Well-Being, and #blackgirlsrun on Instagram

Leveraging the Black Girls Run Web-Based Community as a Supportive Community for Physical Activity Engagement: Mixed Methods Study

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