Voices about breast cancer
Linda Goler Blount
“Black women and White women actually get mammographies at about the same rate, there’s no disparity there,” says Linda Goler Blount, president of the Black Women’s Health Imperative.
“But our breast cancers get detected later when they’re harder to treat, so Black women tend to die at about a 40 percent higher rate beause of that.
In 1981, Black women and White women had the same mortality rate.
What happened since 1981? We learned to detect breast cancer and we learned to treat it. So what we see now, this disparity reflects who got access and who didn’t.”
A 5-minute video from the Tamron Hall Show.
Frita McRae Fisher, MD
“I want you to fight breast cancer because she’s nasty,” says Frita McRae Fisher, MD.
“I’m sick of her. She kills over 40,000 women in the United States each year. She’s the second leading cause of cancer death in women.
If you think you’re safe because no one in your entire family has ever been diagnosed with breast cancer, think again because 85 percent of women diagnosed with breast cancer have no family history. Oh, she’s sneaky.
Breast cancer deserves to be beaten. Let’s fight.”
A 9-minute video from Dr Frita
Mary J. Blige
“So often as Black women, we prioritize everyone and everything, our partners, our children, work. But we need to be intentional about loving ourselves enough to take some time to see about our health,” says singer and actress Mary J. Blige.
“I’m speaking openly about getting mammograms because I want us to begin to feel more comfortable and more empowered to talk about our breast health. I was in my 40s when I got my first mammogram. My body started talking and I started listening.”
“If you’re a Black woman in your 40s, it’s time to schedule your mammogram today. Having a mammogram can save your life.”
A 3-minute video from the Black Women’s Health Imperative.