Self-Portrait

Portrait artist Riva Lehrer’s groundbreaking work on identity and disability has been exhibited at such prestigious venues as the United Nations, National Women’s Art Museum and the Smithsonian Museum in Washington D.C. The recipient of numerous grants and awards, Lehrer has been an invited lecturer throughout the United States and in Europe, and was the subject of the documentary Self-Preservation: The Art of Riva Lehrer. She is a professor of anatomy at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Lehrer has Spina Bifida, a congenital disorder where part of the spinal cord is exposed through an unfused section of the backbone.

Ms. Fit chatted with Lehrer over Thai food in her cozy Chicago apartment. What follows are excerpts from that conversation and, because she’s really smart, we let her do most of the talking.

Ms. Fit Editor Jessica Young Chats with Black Girls Run co-founder Toni Carey

Ms. Fit: How did you become a runner?

Toni Carey: I started running in 2008. I had just experienced a bad breakdown and was relocating to a new city. I wanted to start a completely new chapter in my life, and focusing more on myself and my health were part of that new beginning.

MF: How did Black Girls Run come to exist?

TC: (BGR cofounder) Ashley (Hicks) and I would often have conversations about running and how we never saw many people of color participating in running groups or in road races. We wanted to create more dialogue to get more black women interested and bring to light the obesity epidemic affecting our community.

Carey on the course.

TC: Black women are the matriarch of the “black family,” yet statistically, we have the worst obesity rates and have higher incidences of chronic diseases. As the leader of the family we set the tone for how healthy (or unhealthy) our family is.

MF: What does BGR want or hope to teach black women, or all women?

TC: Everyone should make being healthy and living an active lifestyle a priority.

MF: Where are BGR chapters currently located? What does BGR want to achieve in its communities?

TC: We have 60 groups across the US. These groups give women a local support system to achieve whatever goals they have set for themselves.

To find out more about Black Girls Run, or to find the running group nearest you, visit www.blackgirlsrun.com.