LAURINBURG — The Laurinburg Branch of the National Association of University Women combined their February health and history focus in presentations entitled “Getting to the Heart of Black History.”
Maria Dudley, heart health educator from Scotland Cardiology, covered cardiovascular disease.
“Cardiovascular disease is the No. 1 killer of women,” Dudley said. She emphasized that some ways to combat cardiovascular disease are to live a healthy lifestyle by being mindful of your diet, exercising, learning how to combat stress, and having your heart checked.
National Storyteller Tyris D. Jones introduced his Black History presentation by singing “Lift Ev’ry Voice and Sing”, the Black national anthem. Next, he took us on a ‘storytelling journey’ from Africa with the Swahili welcoming song to the slave quarters of the Reynolds Plantation and ending in the local neighborhoods of his hometown.
The most popular of his stories was the animated presentation about how a cunning spider used his wits to trick a bee, snake, and a lion into captivity so the spider could acquire all the stories in the world. His later stories were tales of ancestral experiences, which illustrated the perseverance of African-Americans over the course of history. Mr. Jones said: “Regardless of the struggles through the ages, our ancestors maintained their freedom of thought and their faith”.
Chaka Davis-Smith and Nicole Monro were the NAUW program organizers.
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