Cynthea Corfah

When Cynthea Corfah began speaking publicly about living with eczema, she didn't know she was building a movement. She just knew she was tired of being invisible.

Eczema on Black skin is frequently misunderstood, underdiagnosed, and minimized by medical systems that were never designed with us in mind. For too many Black women and girls, it becomes a private struggle—managed quietly, carried with shame, and dismissed as cosmetic rather than systemic.

Cynthea chose something different. She chose visibility. She chose honesty. She chose community.

And in doing so, she created something that didn't exist before: a space where Black women with eczema could finally be seen, believed, and held.

This is her story. And it matters.

This story is part of She Hacks Longevity, a Black Girl Biohacking series honoring Black women who transform lived experience, cultural wisdom, and community care into long-term health strategies that extend healthspan and redefine what longevity can look like.

From Personal Journey to Collective Healing

Cynthea's relationship with eczema began the way it does for so many of us—with confusion, frustration, and a medical system that couldn't quite see what she was experiencing.

She searched for answers. She tried treatments that weren't designed for her skin. She navigated flare-ups that felt unpredictable and uncontrollable. And through it all, she noticed something that troubled her deeply: she was alone in this.

Not because eczema was rare. But because no one was talking about it—at least not in ways that reflected her reality as a Black woman.

So she started talking. First in small circles, then more publicly. And what happened next was transformative.

Black women and girls began reaching out. They shared their own stories of misdiagnosis, dismissal, and silence. They described the toll eczema took—not just on their skin, but on their confidence, their mental health, their sense of safety in their own bodies.

Cynthea realized that what she thought was an isolated struggle was actually a collective one. And if the solutions weren't going to come from the systems that failed them, they would have to build them themselves.

That's how Black Girls With Eczema was born.

What She Built

Black Girls With Eczema is more than a platform. It's infrastructure.

It's a place where Black women and girls can learn to recognize eczema on darker skin tones—something most dermatology resources still fail to show accurately.

It's a space where they can understand the overlooked triggers: stress, inflammation, environmental factors, diet, mental health, and barriers to accessing quality care.

It's a community where their experiences are validated, their questions are welcomed, and their stories are reflected back to them with care and cultural relevance.

But perhaps most importantly, it's a reminder that they are not alone.

Cynthea didn't center quick fixes or miracle cures. She centered education. Pattern recognition. Shared storytelling. Emotional validation. And real, embodied connection through wellness walks and community gatherings that support movement, nervous system regulation, and belonging.

She understood something profound: community itself can be a health intervention.

"Community itself can be a health intervention."

When Black women feel seen, believed, and supported, their bodies respond. Stress lowers. Nervous systems regulate. Inflammation decreases. And the capacity to heal—truly heal—expands.

This is longevity work. It just doesn't look like what we've been taught to recognize.

Why Her Work Is Longevity

Longevity science often centers labs, supplements, and individual optimization. Those tools have value—but they are incomplete without community.

Chronic inflammation and autoimmune-related skin conditions don't exist in isolation. They are shaped by stress load, environmental exposure, systemic barriers to care, and whether the body feels safe enough to regulate.

Cynthea's work addresses all of this.

By creating a space where Black women can learn, ask questions, and be believed, she expands what counts as health data. Peer education, shared language, and collective care become structural supports for long-term wellbeing.

She's reducing isolation. She's lowering chronic stress. She's encouraging earlier self-advocacy. She's teaching Black women to trust their own observations and to demand better from the systems meant to serve them.

These are factors that directly influence healthspan. This is the kind of health infrastructure that doesn't always show up in charts—but changes outcomes anyway.

How Community Impacts Longevity

• Outreach is prevention. Community support stops suffering before it compounds.
• Representation shapes outcomes. When Black women see themselves in health resources, they engage differently with their care.
• Community reduces physiological stress. Belonging is biology. Connection is medicine.
• Healing accelerates when people feel understood. Being believed changes how the body responds to treatment.

Her work proves that longevity isn't just about living longer. It's about living with less isolation, more agency, and the knowledge that someone has your back.