The Denise Roberts Foundation calls for more awareness of breast cancer in young black women
Black women under 40 are the group most likely to die from breast cancer, but not because of any genetic factors, but because they are the least likely to be screened, seek treatment early, or be properly diagnosed by their doctors.
Because the breast was completely removed, Roberts said she didn’t need chemotherapy or radiation therapy (she stresses that everyone’s case is different, so although removing the breast was a life-saver for her, results more than likely will vary with different women). Twenty-five years later, she’s still alive and still fighting for awareness.
Roberts says most young black women aren’t even aware of groups like the Susan G. Komen Foundation or Revlon’s Walk for the Cure awareness efforts because they often aren’t the target of October’s awareness campaigns.
When she asked a group of women at a Compton, Calif. beauty college why they weren’t participating in Revlon’s walk, one woman replied it was because, “I don’t use that makeup.”
Roberts says more black women and men need to become aware about the realities of breast cancer – that while not as frequent, it can happen in young women, it can happen in children, it can even happen in men. One of the youngest patients Roberts’ group was notified about was a two-year-old girl whose family initially thought the lump on her chest was a bug bite.
Roberts blames the chemicals and hormones in a lot of our processed and fast food for causing these hormonal and chemical changes in black women’s bodies, potentially increasing their cancer risk.
To prevent, breast cancer and a multitude other health issues, Roberts is encourage black people to exercise and practice more cardio as well as take more care about what kinds of foods they eat.
Lifestyle changes could be the difference in life and death. Roberts compared it to moving out when a neighborhood has become too dangerous.
“If you get your car jacked on one block you just move it up the street you’re still going to get jacked. But if you move out of the neighborhood, just a couple blocks away you have a less chance of getting jacked,” Roberts said. “If you understand you’re at a high risk and you know what that means you can build up the better cells in your body to check and cancel out the bad cells that try to grow. That is changing your neighborhood of your body. Put better cells in my body so if anything tries to attack me I can get it out, crowd it out. That’s how it is with cancer, you have to crowd it with good cells. I’m crowding my body with fruits and vegetables and exercising. Building up the cells and working.”
Roberts said she hopes that one day she can meet with First Lady Michelle Obama to talk about her foundation and how, together through the First Lady’s pro-health initiatives, they can change the lives of black women. It’s all interconnected, according to Roberts.
“This is my passion and my hope. If we can get it out there about educating ourselves and empowering women of color, that’s our future,” she said. “It’s about obesity and food. It still starts with people who are young.”
Read more stories about black women and breast cancer on Clutch Magazine.
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