“I want to write about the pain. The pain of waking up in the recovery room which is worsened by the immediate sense of loss. Of going in and out of pain shots. Of the correct position for my arm to drain...I want to write of the pain I am feeling right now, of the lukewarm tears that will not stop coming from my eyes - for what? For my lost breast? For the lost me? And which was that again anyway? For the death I don’t know how to postpone? Or how to meet elegantly? I’m so tired of all this. I want to be the person I used to be, the real me. I feel sometimes that it’s all a dream and surely I’m about to wake up now.” -Audre Lorde, The Cancer Journals
There’s no denying that Audre Lorde told us how it was.
Ever since the year 2000, my family has been active members of the Pittsburgh East Relay for Life, due to my mom working with oncology and then moving on to hospice care. She was around cancer patients around the clock and thought getting involved with the American Cancer Society (ACS) would be great to the patients and the overall cause alike. Since then, our participation in Relay for Life has grown, with her and I taking on leadership positions, as well as getting involved with other events (including other location’s Relay for Life and the Susan G. Komen Race for a Cure). However, starting around 2013/2014, we noticed something shift in the foundations of these fundraising events. American Cancer Society staff partners (who we had worked with for years and developed great relationships with) were being let go and replaced by new hires, who were seemingly focused on more of the business side of Relay for Life, rather than overall community aspect. This brought tension to the events - but in different ways than one would expect. Not necessarily between the ACS staff partners, but between the committee members. Debacles ensued pertaining to money goals not met, low community turn outs, and things not running as smoothly as planned. My question is: isn’t all of that besides the point? Isn’t it about overall awareness and showing cancer survivors your support?
My theory for this shift is the yearly growing “businesses” such as Breast Cancer Awareness month. Starting out as something great - this has turned into a total cash grab. Marie Claire, labeled as a “women’s news source,” tells: “This month, an awareness-minded consumer can buy almost any knickknack or household item in pink — from lint brushes and shoelaces to earbuds and Snuggies. If she happens to be in an American Airlines Admirals Club, she can snack on pink cookies while drinking pink champagne.” Why has a month dedicated to awareness turned into something in which is being capitalized upon? Additionally, organizations such as ACS and Susan G. Komen constantly create pictures with cancer survivors (or models) showing how they’re happy and “fighting the battle.” However, as Audre Lorde explained earlier, is it really that glamorous? Why don't they really tell us how it is?
I don’t wish to leave on a sour note, as I do believe these organizations do help, it’s just that the way they’ve been going about things lately has been a little iffy in my eyes. But they do in fact bring people together - and for someone going through something as awful as cancer, support can be the best ally in fighting the battle.
“I have found that battling despair does not mean closing my eyes to the enormity of the tasks of effecting change, nor ignoring the strength and the barbarity of the forces aligned against us. It means teaching, surviving and fighting with the most important resource I have, myself, and taking joy in that battle. It means, for me, recognizing the enemy outside, and the enemy within, and knowing that my work is part of a continuum of women’s work, of reclaiming this earth and our power, and knowing that this work did not begin with my birth nor will it end with my death. And it means knowing that within this continuum, my life and my love and my work has particular power and meaning relative to others.” -Audre Lorde, The Cancer Journals
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Works Cited:
"The Big Business of Breast Cancer." Marie Claire. Hearst Communications, Inc., 14 Sept. 2011. Web. 03 May 2016.
Lorde, Audre. The Cancer Journals. San Francisco: Aunt Lute, 1997. Print.
Images:
http://www.marieclaire.com/politics/news/a6506/breast-cancer-business-scams/
http://solesistas.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/breast-cancer-ad-2.jpg
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