Pink Ribbons, Black Bruises

Pink Ribbons, Black Bruises

by Mark Anthony Neal | NewBlackMan

October is both Breast Cancer Awareness Month as well as Domestic Abuse Awareness Month and, on the surface, the two seem to have little in common except concern for the quality of women's lives. Most men understand that breast cancer and domestic violence represent forms of crisis in the lives of black women, but I'd like to suggest that our dismissive attitude towards women's health care issues represent a form of abuse itself.

According to the Chicago Foundation for Women "violence against women and girls is a cradle-to-grave epidemic." The Institute on Domestic Violence in the African-American Community at the University of Minnesotafound that black women were 30 percent more likely to be subject to domestic violence than white women and 250 percent more likely to be the subject of such violence than men. Additionally, black women account for more than 20 percent of the homicides associated with domestic violence despite only representing 8 percent of the national population.

Thankfully, there is now a generation of men, including activists and educators like Jackson Katz, Quentin Walcott, director of the CONNECT's Community Empowerment Program in New York, Ulester Douglass of Men Stopping Violence in Georgia and filmmaker Byron Hurt who are providing leadership in getting men of all races to understand their complicity in violence against women. It is still a struggle to get men to speak out against violence against women, but the aforementioned men represent tremendous growth in that regard.

Thanks to organizations like Susan G. Komen for the Cure, the foundation behind the pink ribbons and wrist bands so prominently featured during Breast Cancer Awareness Month, society is beginning to grapple with the disproportionate effect of the disease on black women, who, while less likely to get the disease than their white peers, are far more likely to die from it.  Indeed it is heartening to see professional sports leagues like the NFL and Major League Baseball contribute to awareness efforts.

There are lots of reasons for the discrepancies between black and white women, but I'd like to highlight the roles that black women play as caretakers and nurturers in our communities. Also, black women are seemingly more willing to address the high incidence of hypertension and prostate disease among black men, often at the expense of addressing their own health issues.

Ironically, few black men seem to take the same interest in black women's health concerns, or their own health issues for that matter. Men have been socialized to think of diseases like breast cancer, fibroids and osteoporosis, as simply examples of "women's diseases." Some men are likely to dismiss diseases that disproportionately affect women, because they were told as boys that it was "mommy's time of the month," distancing them from women's health issues. Nevertheless, black men must take greater responsibility in increasing their awareness of diseases that afflict their mothers, sisters, daughters, wives and friends.

For example, some studies have shown that 80 percent of all black women suffer from some form of fibroid disease, yet most black men are oblivious to the effects of the disease. Could you imagine a disease that afflicted 80 percent of black men that black women would be largely ignorant of?

In many ways our willing ignorance about black women's health issues represents a form of abuse. As healthcare issues remain critical to black America, it is incumbent on black men to get serious about finding out about the diseases that affect the women and men in our communities.

Pink Ribbons for Black Women

Pink Ribbons for Black Women
by Mark Anthony Neal

In 1979, R&B singer Minnie Riperton died of breast cancer at the age of thirty-one. With a five-octave vocal range, Riperton was best known for songs like “Memory Lane ” and “Lovin’ You.” (She’s also the mother of Saturday Night Live alumnus Maya Rudolph). However, for many Americans in the 1970s, Riperton was more than just an incredible singer, but the public face of breast cancer.

Riperton understood that with celebrity came responsibility, so she publicly announced her trauma on national television, confiding in Tonight Show guest host Flip Wilson-and the rest of the country. Riperton would soon become the first African-American public spokesperson for the American Cancer Society, receiving the organization’s “Courage Award” at a White House ceremony with then-President Jimmy Carter. Nearly thirty years after her death, black women continue to be at the forefront of preventative outreach efforts.

In comparison to white women, black women are less likely to get breast cancer. However, black women are far more likely to die from it, in many cases because they are typically diagnosed at a much later stage than are white women. In addition, white women have longer survival rates once they contract the disease, even while black women are diagnosed at younger ages. To further complicate the situation, cancer tumors found in black women tend to be more aggressive than those found in white women.

Among the more obvious reasons for these discrepancies is that black women, particularly poor black women, often don’t have the same healthcare resources that their white peers do. The National Cancer Institute suggests that even when black women do have access to healthcare, they are less likely to receive state-of-the-art diagnostic treatments and procedures.

Also, the health issues of black men are often more prominently addressed than those of black women. Thus, concerns about breast cancer among black women are often overshadowed by legitimate concerns for the high incidence of hypertension and prostate disease among black men, even though such diseases also disproportionately affect black women as well.

In the spirit of Minnie Riperton’s work three decades ago, Susan G. Komen for the Cure (the foundation responsible for the ubiquitous pink ribbons during Breast Cancer Awareness Month) began the “Circle of Promise” campaign to mobilize awareness about breast cancer in the black community, dispel myths that prevent black women from seeking early treatment and empower black women to become strong advocates for themselves and their loved ones. Susan G. Komen for the Cure estimates that in 2007, nearly 20,000 black women were diagnosed with breast cancer and more than 5,000 succumbed to the disease.

To help spread the word, the Circle of Promise campaign has employed the talents of a group of national ambassadors, including actress Gabrielle Union, artist Synthia Saint James, health expert Dr. Rovenia Brock and vocalist Lalah Hathaway (daughter of the late soul legend Donny Hathaway).

When asked about her involvement with Circle of Promise, Hathaway states, “I call it my grown-up job. It charges me to talk with women, particularly African-American women, about their health, because breast cancer is killing us at such an alarming rate. We’re always the last to be diagnosed and the first to die.”