What I'm reading now... Breaking the Silence: Inspirational Stories of Black Cancer Survivors

Breaking the Silence: Inspirational Stories of Black Cancer Survivors, Karin Stanford, PH.D.

I received this book as a gift during the early days of my cancer journey. I will admit two things -- I don't remember who gave it to me, and I only mustered up the courage to open it a few weeks ago. The truth is that as soon as I received it and read the cover, I burst into tears. The person who sent it to me I'm sure wanted to encourage me and inspire me to see this journey as positively as I could. Unfortunately, I simply wasn't ready for it then. I was too raw and in too much emotional pain to read about someone else's chipper outlook. However, three years later I can say that it is a beautiful book.

If you don't know, I feel strongly about being a black woman who survived cancer. Cancer is a prevalent disease in the black community and we have a lot of ground to cover about awareness and eradicating fear about the disease. This book is a good one to give as a gift -- even if the recipient isn't quite ready to read about other people who survive the disease. The stories are reasonably short -- which is good -- and it is a lively read. Each voice is distinctive and filled with honest assessments about the journey with cancer. I recommend this book to anyone who wants to learn how other people view their particular journey with cancer.

Having an introduction by Nikki Giovanni is also a bonus. Although Nikki is one of my favorite poets, and she could write Happy Birthday and I'd think it was brilliant... (smile)... because she too is a cancer survivor, her words are particularly poignant and touching in this book. Because my world is all pink, all the time I think I gained the most from stories about different types of cancer survival.

Cancer is an umbrella term for a whole lot of diseases and a large number of these diseases affect black people disproportionately. It is important that we learn to face our fears about cancer and become much more proactive in our approach to health care. Many of us have lost a loved one to some type of cancer... these stories will help you put that loss into perspective.

Thank you to the kind soul who sent me this blessing. It was not in vain. The blessing just took a little longer than you probably expected for me to receive it.