Black Cancer

Our guest on today’s episode is Darcie Green, who brings multiple identities to our conversation today. She’s the daughter of a survivor, care giver, advocate, activist and the Executive Director of Latinas Contra Cancer. Latinas Contra Cancer is an organization with a mission to create an inclusive health care system that provides services to the underserved Latino population around issues of breast and other cancers. She’s incredibly smart, so funny, and we had A LOT to talk about. This is the last episode of Season 2 of Black Cancer, and it exemplifies everything we’ve talked about on this platform AND more - more like understanding cancer through a social justice lens, examining the disproportionate philanthropic funding for organizations led by people of color and what our communities STILL do despite structural under-resourcing that determines our health.

P.S. This episode aired the day the United States surpassed 500,000 COVID-19 deaths - half a million people. Disproportionately Black and Brown people. The racial inequities of the life-saving vaccine roll out was absolutely top of our minds - which is why this conversation started A BIT before I even had my microphone set up for our recording! hahaha. You won’t want to miss a single moment of this episode. It’s truly a master class in understanding so many dynamics of cancer care - and what we can learn about the interconnectedness of what care can look like for all our people. And as always, check out the show notes for links to what we talked about.

Here’s my conversation with Darcie:

• Darcie shares about how her father's journey grounded her work in community health advocacy (47:51)
• The strengths and expertise in self and communal advocacy already held in our communities (1:12:00)
• Disproportionality in funding and support for organizations led by and that serve communities of color (1:36:53)

More on this episode:

• Good Samaritan Hospital in California: https://www.ktvu.com/news/good-sam-hospital-investigated-for-giving-vaccine-to-teachers-as-gifts
  • Washington Heights Armory in NYC: https://www.cnn.com/2021/01/30/us/new-york-vaccine-disparities/index.html
• Just Medicine: A Cure for Racial Cure for Racial Inequality in American Health Care by Dayna Bowen Matthew — https://nyupress.org/9781479896738/just-medicine/
• Social Determinants of Health: https://www.cdc.gov/socialdeterminants/about.html
• Latinas Contra Cancer website: http://latinascontracancer.org/
• Latinas Contra Cancer Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/latinascontracancer/
• Promatoras: https://www.cdc.gov/minorityhealth/promotores/index.html

In this episode, Yejin Lee tells Jodi-Ann about losing her mother to breast cancer during her first year as an undergraduate student at Boston College (where Jodi-Ann and Yejin met) and its impact on her then and now.

This conversation hits on hard lessons about how we, as women of color relate to our bodies as we process pain. We explore the blessing and the curse that is our strength, our embodied expectation to be strong, and what it takes to heal. We talk about the 2020 movement for Black lives, the tools we use to grieve, and the power of our voices to survive.

You can find Yejin at yejinlee.co. She is an equity informed career coach and non-profit organizational consultant.

Post Show Goodies:

Jodi-Ann asks Yejin about her mother’s name.

Here are Yejin’s recommendations:

• Someone to know: Rebecca Kelly G, an arts, equity, and justice consultant, facilitator, interdisciplinary artist, and former civil rights attorney
• Someone to read: Sing, Unburied, Sing by Jesmyn Ward
• Something to listen to: Hidden Brain, A podcast by Shankar Vedantam at NPR

Episode transcripts are available at: blackcancer.co

This episode was created during the 2020 global COVID-19 pandemic and the movement for Black lives.

Our guest on today’s episode is Lauren Tarpley. At the time of this recording, Lauren was about a third of the way through her chemotherapy treatment. For the breasties out there, Lauren is BRCA-, HER2+ and hormone receport negative. She’s a wife with a toddler and because of her cancer diagnosis, she also has “three little boys in the freezer” - her description not mine. Lauren and I talk about her diagnosis path and what it means (for both of us) to be in a statistically unlikely situation. You’ll hear us talk a lot about AYA cancers - an acronym for adolescent and young adult, which is a cancer experience Lauren elevates on her platform. We also talk about decision-making for her family planning - specifically navigating this as a young adult.

Just a heads up - we have a mic switch just a few minutes in. We are trying to make this podcast during a pandemic, so thanks so much for understanding!

Here’s my conversation with Lauren.

Find more about Lauren on Instagram:

• https://www.instagram.com/typeaguidetocancer/
• https://www.instagram.com/lifewithlittleones.podcast/

Our guest on today’s episode is Tamika Felder. Tamika is a successful nonprofit founder, a cancer advocate, an award-winning director, an inspiration leader, and so much more. Her organization is called Cervivor and it’s a movement to end cervical cancer. You can learn more at cervivor.org.

Tamika was diagnosed with cervical cancer over 20 years ago - and has been unstoppable building her dreams. Her courage, wisdom, and spark are absolutely contagious. The author of "Seriously, What Are You Waiting For? 13 Actions To Ignite Your Life & Achieve The Ultimate Comeback," Tamika empowers everyday people to bounce back by equipping them with tools to find perspective after tragedy and loss. You will absolutely want to take notes and set aside some time for reflection after this. I am still beaming with everything she shared!

Our guest on today’s episode is Dr. Kavita Jackson - breast cancer warrior M.D. We talk about her experience from launching her career as an emergency room physician to facing Stage 2 Invasive Ductal Carcinoma - breast cancer. A mother of two small children, the daughter of immigrants from India. She draws on the strength of those who support her to navigate treatment and her relationship with her body. We work through understanding that our mind and our bodies - they’re fighting the same war. To heal ourselves.

After the credits, stay on for a few more moments to listen to Dr. Jackson and I discuss cancer swag, the concept of corporate pink washing, and negotiating potential silver linings - if we can call them that - to our respective cancer journeys.

Just a heads up. This conversation was recorded before the death of Dr. Susan Moore. The physician who, before she succumbed to COVID-19, posted videos online about the racism she experienced by the hospital team where she was being treated. I say this because we touch on a few topics in this conversation that we would have likely brought that up. We’re not NOT talking about it. When these conversations are recorded and when they’re posted may be achronological with current events.

You can follow Dr. Kavita Jackson on Instagram at @drkavitajackson.

Here’s an overview of our conversation:

• How our immigrant parents raise the bar for our possibilities (11:30)
• Dr. Jackson uncovers her fears about chemotherapy (22:22)
• Learning about what justice and equity look like in our bodies (53:34)

Follow Black Cancer at blackcancer.co and on Instagram at @_black_cancer. Learn more about creator and host Jodi-Ann Burey at jodiannburey.com.

Transcripts will be available on the website a week after the episode airs.