I know that you've seen hundreds, if not thousands of pink ribbons. I know that you know that the pink ribbon is the mark of awareness for breast cancer. Perhaps this disease has touched your life -- a friend, a parent or grandparent, maybe your wife or girlfriend, co-worker, neighbor... or maybe yourself. If you're fortunate and very lucky, you only know about this disease on the periphery of your life. If you've been exempt from watching a loved one crumble under the emotional weight and devastating treatment then please know that I envy you greatly.
Millions of women around the world are changed because of breast cancer. We lose our breasts, our hair, our sense of femininity. Sometimes we lose our fertility and our confidence that the world makes sense. Some of us lose our mothers, our grandmothers, our sisters and our aunties. For too many, we watch this disease attack generation after generation of women... with frustrated anger because this ghost seems to be invincible. We watch helplessly as someone we love shows extreme grace and strength in the face of the possibility of death or a compromised and different life.
So a campaign like this one... with pink ribbons and charitable events and fundraisers and marathons... makes us feel better. Makes us feel that we are doing something, anything that is helpful. It gives us boxing gloves that help us swing back at an enemy that caught us off guard. As a survivor, I stand in awe of Nancy Brinker's accomplishment with the Susan G. Komen Foundation. I mean that sincerely. I know that there are many people and organizations out there who feel that the Komen organization has lost its way or isn't doing as much as it could do to change things. But, I don't feel that way. Not now anyway. And here's why...
I live in one of the most famous (and infamous) areas in the world. Everyone, in every country, if they are reasonably connected to the world at large knows that Washington, DC is the seat of power for the entire United States. It is one of the most powerful centers in our known universe. Things happen here that affect the world. And yet... in this most powerful city... black women diagnosed with breast cancer are more likely to die of this disease than our survivor sisters of other races and ethnicities. The DC metropolitan area has a large African-American community. While DC is a very diverse city, a large part of that diversity is black. For years, the nickname for Washington, DC was Chocolate City... a direct reference to the fact that the city was predominately black. Black and poor to be truthful. This region also is known for having one of the largest concentrations of middle - upper middle class blacks and some of the most wealthy black people in the nation have their residence here. We cover a wide range of socio-economic levels and professions -- entrepreneurs, government leaders, corporate executives, medical and legal professionals and more. In other words, we are everywhere, and if I'm honest, it is one of the reasons why I love my hometown so much. But our concentration in this region also serves as a constant reminder now that the disease that stole my breast and wreaks havoc with my emotions, also affects a whole lot of people. And that frightens me.
I regularly bump into breast cancer survivors and patients as I move about my area. And many of them are women just like me, young black women who never thought it could happen to them. Most of us don't have (or don't know) of a family history of this disease. We find ourselves diagnosed much later than our counterparts. We often have a strand of the disease that is more likely to kill us and we often have a strand of the disease that is the most difficult to treat effectively. Its different when you're a brown girl with breast cancer.
Why I respect the Komen Foundation goes beyond my admiration for their ability to build a global movement that literally changed the world's perspective about women's health. My respect for the organization grows when I realize that their work (no matter how you may view it) has an active effect on women (and men) with the disease. Seventy-five percent of the net money (not the gross) that the Komen Foundation raises in Washington, DC stays right here. It goes directly to organizations that play an active role in helping women deal with breast cancer.
From the Komen Foundation website regarding the National Capital Area Grants Program:
Through a competitive grant process, the Komen Global Race provides funding to not-for-profit organizations providing breast health services such as mobile mammography and other free or low-cost screening. In addition, the Komen Global Race provides grants to organizations offering treatment assistance and patient support services. All local grants are based on a community needs assessment that identifies and targets existing “gaps” in breast health and breast cancer services in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area. We believe the key to eradicating this disease is through education, and we want to continuously spread our message of early detection. (Taken from the Komen foundation website)I had the pleasure of attending the "Honor the Promise" Gala that was held on Friday, October 28th at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. Celebrities included Kerry Washington, Denyce Graves, Hoda Kotb, Jennifer Beals, Wolf Blitzer, and Betty Ford's daughter, Susan Ford Bales. Everyone was happy and spirited, dressed to the nines and simply effervescent. Pink ribbons, pink dresses, pink ties and pink accessories were everywhere. And all of it made me smile. But what really made me happy was learning that the Komen Foundation reached their fundraising goal for this past fiscal year. A whopping 2 million dollars was raised here in the DC area. So, of that 2 million dollars, up to 75 percent of the net will go to serve the under-insured, uninsured and low-income women (who are likely to be disproportionately black women). While I don't know how much of that 2 million dollars goes to cover Komen overhead... I do know that 2 million dollars is a lot of money that will go to a lot of reputable and credible organizations to do good work. This year, the Komen Foundation announced a 4.5 million dollar investment in breast health education and outreach programs for this area alone.
Because women in this area have the highest incidents of death from this disease in the nation the Komen Foundation decided that this area needed more help to educate women about breast health. An analysis done a year ago revealed that our health care system is highly fragmented and this fragmentation ends up becoming a barrier that keeps women from getting the help that they need to fight this disease. I learned this first-hand during my time in treatment during conversations with other sisters in treatment as well. Women were going from hospital to hospital to get the treatment they needed from different doctors. Hell, I experienced it myself -- though not as badly as some of my sisters in treatment -- when I found myself searching for physical therapists to help me with my lymphedema issues.
Can you imagine the frustration, the cost and the pressure of having one doctor at one hospital, another at a different hospital across town... getting surgery at a third hospital and then doing physical therapy in, perhaps, a fourth location? Can you imagine the frustration of trying to keep all of this information straight between hospitals and administrations? The chaos of dealing with financial issues? The costs of travelling between locations? What if you have to work? Just travelling back and forth, is a lot of time away from work. What if your colleagues and your manager aren't that understanding? The impact on your life is severe. And while you are piecing together your treatment options... remember that you are in the midst of treatment that makes you weak, fragile and fatigued. You're frail, vulnerable and highly inconvenienced while you try to get the treatment you need to survive. Now you see why a lot of women fall through the cracks.
If you're not one of the privileged with top-tier medical insurance... you are very likely to be shuffled from place to place. If you are lower income, maybe without a vehicle or reliable transportation... it gets to be frustrating.
So, while some of my more privileged and blessed pink ribbon sisters are tired of the pink ribbon campaign and they want to see a push beyond awareness into finding a cure... I am happy that the Komen Foundation saw fit to help the lesser advantaged among us to catch up and catch a break. I am happy that the Komen Foundation realized that a lot of women in my area simply don't know enough about breast health, about treatment options, and that even the medical community needed help to bridge cultural gaps that could be preventing women from getting the help they needed.
In other words, I am grateful that the Komen Foundation saw us here and decided that we were worth their attention.
While I probably won't attend anymore black tie galas (read the details about my night at the Kennedy Center), I will continue to raise money for the Komen Foundation and other local breast cancer charities. Many days I admit to feeling a bit of pink-fatigue. But I will not stop doing my part for awareness and I will continue to speak out about breast cancer's impact on young black women. My sisters are dying... I have to help anyway that I can. As long as the Komen Foundation does what they can to help other sisters, I'll do my part to help them.
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