By Heather Stone, Development Manager

Mark your calendar for a powerful evening at the 4th annual Drawing the Connections Art Auction & Virtual Community Gathering on June 18th, 2024!

Drawing the Connections is more than an art auction—it’s a spirited celebration of activism, public health, social justice, and art, all woven together to support Breast Cancer Action’s relentless pursuit of health justice for everyone impacted by breast cancer.

Learn more and get your ticket today!

As an organization committed to social justice, we are offering tickets to this event at no cost, to ensure it is accessible to everyone. However, we encourage those who can, please consider becoming a sponsor or making a donation. Your support is crucial as it helps us make this event as inclusive as possible, and fuels our ongoing efforts to challenge the status quo of breast cancer treatment and care.

Get your free or donation-based ticket now.

This year’s event promises an exciting lineup of artists, compelling artworks, and impactful words from our dedicated staff. You’ll have the opportunity to view and bid on a curated collection of artwork that is not only captivating, but also thought-provoking, engaging, and demanding of social change.

Please visit our event page for more details on how you can support us through sponsorship opportunities. For questions about sponsoring this inspiring evening, you can contact me directly at hstone@bcaction.org.

We look forward to seeing you there, and we thank you in advance for your support of this vibrant evening.

The post Tickets are now available to Drawing the Connections 2024 appeared first on Breast Cancer Action.

By KR, Executive Director

There’s good news in the work to stop the breast cancer crisis: we have the solutions.

Now we need the political will to implement them. 

And we’re asking you to take action with us today.

We know that toxic chemical exposures in our environment are linked to an increased risk for breast cancer. We have the science on endocrine disruptors, such as PFAS, which can interfere with hormonal activities and increase our risk of breast cancer. And we have data on carcinogens like benzene and polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), which are prevalent in emissions from fossil fuels and have been linked to an increased risk of breast cancer.

We know how to strengthen regulations to protect us from cancer-causing chemicals. And we know how to craft policy changes to demand the elimination of these chemicals, in our environment, and in products we use in our daily lives. And we know that comprehensive insurance coverage improves breast cancer outcomes and protects us from financial toxicity.

We must put these changes into legislation, and into practice. 

That’s why we vet legislation, like the three we’re sharing with you today:

• The A. Donald McEachin Environmental Justice for All Act, which will establish reforms to rectify decades of unfair environmental harm and reduce exposure to harmful pollutants that contribute to breast cancer.
• California’s Senate Bill 252, requiring CalPERS and CalSTRS to divest over $14 billion from fossil fuel companies, which will reduce pollution and the prevalence of carcinogens in our environment.
• The Metastatic Breast Cancer (MBC) Access to Care Act, which calls for a waiver of waiting periods for Medicare and Social Security Disability coverage, for eligible individuals with MBC.

Our community of breast cancer activists is powerful. It’s how we’ve built the legacy of Breast Cancer Action. Demanding changes and achieving outsized political wins. We’ve always done this together, in direct action, and in relentlessly advocating for our community.

We won’t stop naming the solutions that will address and end breast cancer, and demanding the necessary changes from those in power to put our health first, and to make these changes today.

Add your name and join us today.

The post Your voice matters appeared first on Breast Cancer Action.

By Heather Perkins, Deputy Director

Hi again. Yep, this is Heather Perkins with BCAction.

Why am I back in your inbox? Because breast cancer does not stop, and neither do we. The resilient BCAction community is relentlessly dedicated to achieving health justice for all.

I am asking you to invest your hard-earned money in the unstoppable work of Breast Cancer Action.

To our community of activists, thank you! This work, and our mission, is not possible without the power of broad, grassroots support. And our mission, as demonstrated by our 34-year track record, is to never stop naming the injustices that lead to breast cancer. We will move forward with relentless resilience and dogged determination, working toward health, social, environmental, racial, and gender justice for all.

I know you will join me in gifting your hard-earned money to move this mission forward, so all people and communities can thrive.

Thank you, BCAction Community! Hand-in-hand, we will continue to address and end the breast cancer crisis.

The post We are resilient – and we will stop breast cancer together. appeared first on Breast Cancer Action.

By Haleemah Atobiloye, Program Manager

In recent weeks, with your support, we have championed initiatives at the intersections of health, environmental, economic, and racial justice.

Here’s what you helped make possible:

We endorsed a letter to California’s Senate and Assembly Committees on Labor, Public Employment, and Retirement, urging the pension plans CalPERS & CalSTRS to enhance their sustainability plans by divesting from the top 200 fossil fuel companies. 

Despite steps toward climate solutions, these pension plans, some of the largest in California, still have substantial investments in the fossil fuel industry that continue to undermine our environment and public health. This divestment is crucial not only for our planet’s health but also for reducing our risk of developing breast cancer, which is exacerbated by environmental pollutants.

We’re also backing Assembly Bill 3155, California’s Oil Well Liability Bill, which marks a pivotal step toward accountability. This legislation will hold the fossil fuel industry accountable for the health harms caused by pollution from their operations, which significantly increases risks such as asthma, respiratory problems, prenatal defects, and cancer, particularly affecting low-income communities and people of color.

For those living within 3,200 feet of oil and gas production facilities for the past two years and experiencing these health harms, this bill establishes a liability presumption, compelling fossil fuel companies to cover healthcare costs.

Similarly, we supported the urgent cleanup of idle oil wells through California Assembly Bill 1866, addressing the serious health risks posed by carcinogens like benzene. These inactive wells, if left unaddressed, threaten the health of nearby communities, particularly communities already bearing the brunt of decades of environmental racism.

We’ve advocated for the phasing out of hydraulic fracturing (fracking) alongside national partners, we continue to challenge a practice that fills our environment with carcinogens and endocrine disruptors, firmly maintaining that breast cancer prevention is tied to reducing exposure to toxic chemicals.

In holding Big Oil accountable, we also endorsed California Assembly Bill 2716—the Low-Producing Well Accountability Act. This legislation imposes a fine of $10,000 per day for inactive oil wells that continue to harm community health, emphasizing that financial penalties are necessary to compel industry responsibility.

Our support for California’s Senate Bill 1497, the Polluters Pay Climate Cost Recovery Act, is a demand for justice. It requires the largest fossil fuel polluters to pay for the damages they’ve caused, and to fund vital climate projects, asserting that those who profit at the expense of public health, contributing to diseases like breast cancer, must be financially accountable.

Each of our legislative advocacy efforts is taken with an intersectional approach to health justice, highlighting our belief that breast cancer, a complex disease, will be most effectively addressed through radical, systemic solutions.

Thank you for standing with us, and raising your voice to demand an end to the breast cancer crisis.

The post Breast Cancer Action – in action! appeared first on Breast Cancer Action.

By Heather Perkins, Deputy Director

This is Heather Perkins with Breast Cancer Action.

I joined BCAction in July 2022 because of YOU. You, the person who knows that cancer sucks, and that with continued collective action, we will address and end the breast cancer crisis. You are receiving this email because you want a world where all people can thrive, free from breast cancer. 

Last year, during BCAction’s Spring Appeal fundraising campaign, my partner and I donated $130. This year, we are donating $140 to celebrate BCAction’s achievements, and to celebrate 14 years of me being breast cancer free.

Will you join me in donating some of your hard-earned money to address and end the breast cancer crisis?

You have actively been raising your voice, taking thoughtful action, and investing your time and money into causes so, everyone has the opportunity to enjoy a thriving life.

In supporting BCAction, your decisions make direct impacts on the lives of other people in positive and effective ways.

As a longtime supporter of BCAction, you know the work achieved over the past 34 years has made lasting, positive changes in our communities and on systems and structures, to demand people’s health and wellbeing come before corporate profit and political gains.

I invest my time, talent, and money into BCAction because I know the work we have done, and continue to do, will create healthier environments and communities, for everyone.

I write you today to ask for your continued support. Please continue to raise your voice with us, sign onto legislation to urge necessary changes from systems and structures, and to donate your hard-earned money to our mission to stop breast cancer before it starts.

One dollar at a time helps us continue the work. And remember – our work is untarnished by corporate greed or agendas. Instead, your dollars go directly to addressing and ending the breast cancer crisis and to achieving health justice, so we can create more quality, healthy time with loved ones.

Thank you for your unyielding support of Breast Cancer Action!

The post I am donating $140 because it has been 14 years since my breast cancer diagnosis appeared first on Breast Cancer Action.

By Haleemah Atobiloye, Program Manager

We’re truth-tellers. And our unique role within the breast cancer landscape includes staying up-to-date on the latest developments in breast cancer, and translating them into unbiased, patient-centered resources.

We update our fact sheets to reflect the current science and research, in order to equip you with accurate information for navigating the issues related to your breast and chest health.

The BCAction team has been busy researching three of our info-packed fact sheets. These resources provide information on the need for primary breast cancer prevention strategies, environmental factors affecting risk, and common misconceptions about breast cancer.

Access our fact sheets now.

Breast Cancer Risks: Facts & Myths

This is a guide to understanding and navigating breast cancer risks in which we clarify common misconceptions and misinformation. We present evidence-based information on topics including abortion, alcohol consumption, antiperspirants, birth control pills, bras, high-fat diet and obesity, hormone therapy, and radiation, among others.

We also discuss breast cancer “risk reducers,” such as breast- and chest-feeding, nutrition, exercise, prophylactic mastectomy, and pills for prevention. Taken together, we share the importance of informed decision-making and highlight the pressing need for systemic changes that will address environmental factors that increase our risk of breast cancer.

See how we separate fact from fiction in this fact sheet.

Pills for Prevention

Since the launch of Breast Cancer Action in 1990, we have focused on the root causes of the disease to better understand how to stop breast cancer before it starts. This fact sheet explains our opposition to the use of medication-based approaches to prevention, and we emphasize the need to identify and address the leading cause of the disease – our toxic environment.

Read the straight talk we’re known for in this resource.

In this fact sheet, we discuss the history and outcomes of clinical trials testing drugs like tamoxifen and raloxifene for breast cancer “prevention.” We raise concerns about the safety and efficacy of “chemoprevention” drugs, pointing out the potential harms that often outweigh the benefits. We conclude by sharing our position on the phenomenon of “prevention creep,” wherein drugs initially used for treatment are later promoted for prevention, potentially leading to over-medicalization and exposure to additional risks. 

Breast Cancer and the Environment

Established risk factors account for only a small portion of breast cancer cases, while the body of evidence linking environmental exposures to increased breast cancer risk continues to grow. Here we cover exposures stemming from a wide array of chemicals and toxins present in our daily lives, from sources such as food, consumer products, and environmental pollutants. Despite the prevalence of these exposures, regulatory oversight remains inadequate, with existing laws falling short of ensuring the safety of chemicals and products.

Read why we demand better chemical regulation in this fact sheet now.

We use a social justice lens to highlight the disproportionate burden of chemical exposure borne by marginalized communities and call for regulatory practices that prioritize health equity. And finally, we continue to highlight the need for comprehensive chemical policy reform to prevent harmful exposures and protect public health for all.

We continue to educate ourselves and our community in order to strengthen the understanding necessary for navigating the breast cancer terrain, for yourself or a loved one, with confidence and compassion.

Thank you for being an integral part of our community and for your unwavering support in our shared mission.

The post Knowledge is Power: Explore Breast Cancer Action’s Fact sheets appeared first on Breast Cancer Action.

By Heather Stone, Development Manager

Now’s the time to submit your art to Drawing the Connections, our 4th annual art auction and community gathering!

Submit your art by April 30th to support the vital work of Breast Cancer Action.

From book art, to watercolors, wearable art, pen and ink drawing, collages, textile art, and more, all mediums are appreciated. Not a creator but know someone who is? Send this submission form to them! We welcome you, or artists in your community, to submit your artwork to our virtual art auction.

Keeping in line with our deeply held social justice values, we offer artists 30% of the proceeds of the donation value of their piece. If preferred, participating artists can choose to donate all of the proceeds to support BCAction’s mission to achieve health justice for all people at risk of and living with breast cancer. 

On June 18th of this year, this vibrant, art-focused event will highlight the intersections of art, activism, public health, and social justice – and uplift art-ivism as a core component of social change. During the live event, we’ll spotlight several featured artists who’ve contributed to the curated collection available on auction.

Breast Cancer Action is one of the leanest and most efficient organizations within the breast cancer movement. All that we accomplish to educate, organize, and take action for systemic change is possible because of the commitment and investment of YOU, our grassroots community.

The deadline to submit a piece (or more!) to the auction is April 30th, so fill out our Google art submission form today! Please reach out to me at hstone@bcaction.org if you have any questions about this fundraiser or our submission guidelines.

The post Don’t delay, submit your art today! appeared first on Breast Cancer Action.

Breast Cancer Action is defined by action. By the memories, values, and impact of those who have died from breast cancer, and by those who strive to address and end this devastating disease.

Today, we give thanks to all of those who have donated in memory or in honor of a loved one.

Breast Cancer Action was founded on an understanding of the broken, biased, and discriminatory systems that prohibit healthy and thriving lives, and the determination and vision to craft better, more inclusive systems in which we all can be free from breast cancer.

YOU, our community of activists, embolden our work and shape the steadfast integrity of BCAction’s values, vision, and mission toward a world without breast cancer.

Please join me in celebrating our loved ones who have had or are living with breast cancer, and those who have died from the disease. Lives and communities change forever with a diagnosis, and when we lose a loved one to breast cancer.

We are honored to acknowledge the tributes made between September 2nd, 2023, and March 1st, 2024, and we hope this inspires your continued and relentless activism.

We promise to remain forever vigilant in our work to end this public health crisis, in recognition of these members of our Breast Cancer Action community.

Together we will remember, we will raise our collective voices, and we will take action in honor and memory of our loved ones. Thank you for your support and your action within and through our crucial work to end the breast cancer crisis.

The post In honor and in memory of our community appeared first on Breast Cancer Action.

By Heather Stone, Development Manager

Planning is underway our 4th annual Drawing the Connections Art Auction and Fundraiser and we’re calling all artists!

We’re seeking values-aligned creatives to submit artwork to Drawing the Connections, which will be June 18th of this year (save the date!).

Whether it’s digital art, ceramics, photography, painting, textiles, jewelry, or other mediums, all submissions to this vibrant event will help highlight the intersections of art, activism, social justice, and our unique work to address and end breast cancer through a health justice lens.

BCAction is not your average breast cancer organization, and for more than three decades we have taken on this disease by addressing its root causes and related health inequalities. We encourage work from artists who feel aligned with our core values of health justice as a human right, the uplifting of diverse voices, honesty and fearless truth-telling, action over awareness, and people over profit, however it is not required for you to stick to those themes or express them in a literal way. In other words, we welcome your creative perspective.

We will feature several pieces donated to this art auction during our live event, and we support our artists with an offer to share proceeds from each piece! Whether you donate this back to Breast Cancer Action is up to you.

Learn more and submit your artwork today!

By participating in the event, you are joining our community of BCAction art-ivists and activists who work to hold the powerful accountable and to stop this disease before it starts.

The deadline to submit your work is April 30, 2023. Please don’t hesitate to reach out to me if you have any questions about this fundraiser or our submission guidelines. Thank you for your support and partnership in this event, and in this critical work.

The post Breast Cancer Action + your art = Drawing the Connections! appeared first on Breast Cancer Action.

By Haleemah Atobiloye, Program Manager

When we raise our collective voices, we create systemic change.

Recent updates: Wins!

In partnership with other patient advocates and the Lymphedema Advocacy Group, in December of 2022, we were successful in urging legislators to pass the Lymphedema Treatment Act (LTA) into law. The LTA is a bill that requires Medicare coverage for lymphedema compression garments and supplies.

On January 1, 2024, this new coverage came into effect.

Our allies in the Lymphedema Advocacy Group have put together an easy-to-understand one-pager outlining key information about the insurance coverage for lymphedema compression garments and supplies.

To help you better advocate for yourself or someone in your community, or if you’re a clinician or a lymphedema compression supplier, take a moment to review this resource, and share it with your network as appropriate.

In May 2023, alongside 100+ allied organizations, we signed on to support the Center for Biological Diversity’s letter to the United States Geological Survey (USGS) urging the agency to protect the National Pesticide Use Map database, which was undermined and vulnerable to termination from the previous administration.

The pesticide use map is a valuable tool used by scientists and advocates alike. The changes made to the Pesticide Use Mapping Project in 2019 resulted in a significant reduction in the number of pesticides tracked and reported, as the the scope of the project was reduced from tracking around 500 agricultural pesticides, to just 72 pesticides. This is unacceptable, and a potential harm to public health.

As of February 2024, our collective voice was heard and the USGS reversed its cuts to this important resource, and restored the scope of this Pesticide Use Mapping Project to its pre-2019 level.

Our critical lens, along with our collective action to protect people living with and at risk of breast cancer, made this happen!

Recent Updates: February Advocacy

• The #MarchToEndFossilFuel that took place in NYC last year successfully led to a pause in new gas export approvals by the Biden administration. We took our support a step further by endorsing a letter urging President Biden to reject further Liquefied Natural Gas exports, and other fossil fuel infrastructure projects. These projects pose serious health risks, especially to communities already disproportionately affected, and may increase our risk of developing breast cancer.
• As an organization that approaches breast cancer advocacy through an intersectional justice lens, we included our organizational support in a letter urging Governor Newsom and the California Air Resources Board to reform the Low Carbon Fuel Standard. The current standard incentivizes polluting factory farm “biogas,” a fuel produced from dairy waste. Waste produced by the dairy industry contains pollutants that pose health risks, and if not managed properly, can release huge amounts of carcinogens into the environment. Our legislators and regulatory agencies MUST prioritize the well-being of their people over corporate interests.

The post From Policy Wins to Environmental Action appeared first on Breast Cancer Action.

By Tibby Reas, Communications Manager

Our Executive Director Dr. KR recently sat down with breast surgeon Dr. Monique Gary and Ricki Fairley, CEO of TOUCH, The Black Breast Cancer Alliance.

The result? A hard-hitting conversation on data, epigenetics, how pinkwashing excludes and overshadows intersectional issues, and how this impacts breast cancer.

We’re sharing it here to make sure you didn’t miss it.

When you tune in to watch these three leaders discuss the issues facing people living with and at risk of breast cancer, you’ll see bold, honest takes on: 

• How pinkwashing has overshadowed and excluded intersectionality 
• Trust and mistrust in medical institutions for BIPOC communities, given a history of harm
• Epigenetics and the fatigue of “just being Black in America” as a result of racism, being under-resourced, “food apartheid,” and environmental injustices
• How we talk about data – meaning both the stories of our lived experiences, and who has access to clinical trials and inclusion in the resulting research
• And the importance of collective ACTION as a strategy for liberation and health justice for all

Dr. KR looks back on BCAction’s legacy during the dialogue: “Back then [when Breast Cancer Action was founded] it wasn’t specifically named ‘environmental racism’… but we named a lot of injustices. And I think now, in the [current] iteration of Breast Cancer Action, we’re really focusing on those intersections of gender justice, racial justice, environmental justice, and climate justice, and how all of those encompass health justice together.”

Dr. Monique Gary, breast surgeon and author of Uncovering Inequity in Cancer Care Among the LGBTQ+ Community, reflected on the history of the breast cancer landscape: “I feel like the breast cancer community, historically, had not been as inclusive. I’m a Black, queer, femme-presenting breast surgeon in this space, where there is very little representation. But my [LGBTQ+] patients still don’t have materials that look like them, that speak to them and their support groups.”

The first step in creating solutions to the breast cancer crisis that center and include all communities facing this disease, is naming our experiences.

Tune in to watch Dr. KR on “The Doctor is In” now.

Together, with allied organizations, partners, and breast cancer activists like you, we are powerful. Thank you for your strength, support, and solidarity as we hone in on the issues impacting people at risk of and living with breast cancer, work to address and end this public health crisis.

The post Let’s talk intersectionality: our latest video! appeared first on Breast Cancer Action.

By Zoë Christopher, Program Officer and Operations Manager

As we wrote in December, Belle Shayer, the last living co-founder of Breast Cancer Action, passed away. Starting in 1988, with Elenore Pred, Linda Reyes, and Susan Claymon, they were like a speeding locomotive on fire! Belle remained active and connected to our work for 30 years, when she first encouraged people to tell their legislators “…to find the money for breast cancer the way they did for heart disease, AIDS, and war.”

Read our latest piece honoring her memory, “Fierce Activism Cloaked in Grace.”

Yes, we all feel the loss of our elegant activist, known and respected for her class and sass. But our founders are in the DNA of this organization and Belle’s light and love will continue to live on in our hearts, and will continue to guide our work. Her contributions are too many to highlight, but please take a moment to read what she will always mean to us.

And remember her Mother’s Day call to action: “Don’t let your epitaph read She died without causing a scene!”

The post Celebrating Belle Shayer appeared first on Breast Cancer Action.

By Haleemah Atobiloye, Program Manager

We say it all the time: environmental justice is health justice.

We keep saying it because the data linking environmental exposures to an increased risk of breast cancer is ever-growing, and we remain relentlessly committed to connecting the dots, boldly naming the environmental causes of this disease, and demonstrating how environmental policies impact our health. We must take action together!

Our January advocacy work included supporting the following actions, alongside our coalition partners:

Our commitment to environmental justice was front and center when we joined over 70 organizations in signing a letter to California Governor Gavin Newsom and other legislators, demanding an end to fossil fuel subsidies and tax benefits in California. By reallocating these funds to essential services like environmental protection, we can take a critical step toward addressing the disproportionate health impacts faced by marginalized communities.

Just three Big Oil companies, Chevron, Aera Energy, and California Resources Corporation, are responsible for 68% of CA’s idle wells. Given the connection between cancer-causing chemical exposures produced by fossil fuels and increased breast cancer risk, Big Oil must be held accountable for the growing toxic mess they left when they abandoned these wells. That’s why we’ve signed on as supporters of the Make Polluters Pay Coalition. Visit the coalition’s website to learn more about the urgent need for accountability from this industry.

We are wary of ANY climate solutions put forth by the industries that CAUSED the climate crisis in the first place. This is why we endorsed a letter regarding carbon capture, use, and storage (CCUS) written by environmental justice groups in San Joaquin Valley, CA, advocating for robust protections to prevent further harm to frontline communities. We agree that CCUS projects must prioritize equity and justice, ensuring that marginalized communities do not disproportionately bear the burdens of environmental degradation.

Reducing our exposure to toxic substances, addressing health inequities, and creating healthier environments for ALL individuals and their communities will take us closer to addressing and ending the breast cancer crisis.

Thank you for your support and your solidarity in sharing this vision. Follow us on Instagram and Facebook to keep up with this advocacy work in real-time, and in action together, we will demand more robust environmental policies as we all work toward a world free from breast cancer.

The post Our January Recap: Health, Environmental, and Social Justice appeared first on Breast Cancer Action.

By Haleemah Atobiloye, Program Manager

We’re reporting back from the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium (SABCS) on behalf of those living with and at risk of breast cancer.

As patient-centered advocates, we turn a critical eye toward the latest research and pharmaceutical developments when at SABCS, the world’s largest breast cancer conference.

The symposium ran from December 5th to December 9th of 2023 and took place both in-person in San Antonio, Texas, and in virtual format. BCAction team members who covered sessions throughout the 5-day conference were myself, BCAction’s Program Manager, Program Officer Zoë Christopher, and Executive Director KR, and we each brought our own lived experiences and analytical lenses to the topics we reported on. 

Check out our #SABCS23 posts now, available on the following topics:

• SABCS 2023 Foreword
• Addressing the Social Determinants of Health
• Advancing Breast Cancer Health Equity Part I: Why Social Determinants of Health are Necessary for Improving Health Outcomes
• Advancing Breast Cancer Health Equity Part II: Social Determinants of Health (SDoH) and Proven Strategies to Address Health Disparities
• Clinical Updates: Impact of Race and Ethnicity on Recurrence Risk in Patients with Ductal Carcinoma in Situ Treated with Breast-Conserving Surgery
• Early Detection of Breast Cancer in People Who Are Pregnant: The Need for an Intersectional Approach
• Inflammatory Breast Cancer: Clinical Challenges, Evolving Concepts, and Novel Treatments
• Recent “Advances” in Triple Negative Breast Cancer
• Revolutionizing HER2-Positive Breast Cancer Treatment: A Closer Look at Trastuzumab Deruxtecan
• Solving the Intricate Puzzle: Updates in the Obesity-Breast Cancer Connection
• The Polygenic Risk Score: Necessary but Not Sufficient for Targeting Prevention Strategies
• Treating Triple-Negative Breast Cancer and Early Stage HER2+ Breast Cancer in Older Adults
• Understanding the Connections Between Hormone Replacement Therapy and Breast Cancer Risk

We also posted rapid-response takes on Instagram, where you can see our live feedback and developing thoughts on the research and developments as they were presented live.

Watchdogging Big Pharma and translating the latest science back to our community are two of our core priorities: and we do this work so that we as breast cancer activists can insist on patient- and people-centered practices, policies, science, and treatments. Thank you for joining us in this vision and this work.

The post Breast Cancer Action’s analysis of SABCS 2023 appeared first on Breast Cancer Action.

By Heather Perkins, Deputy Director

Thank you!

The entire Breast Cancer Action staff and board want to express our gratitude for your unyielding support.

Together with you, we will continue our work:

Toward Action & Accountability  

By taking action and holding ourselves, institutions, medical and legislative leaders, and systems accountable.

To Further Equity & Justice 
By actively centering breast cancer as a health justice, social justice, and environmental justice issue.

To Stop Breast Cancer Before it Starts 
By advocating, demanding, and influencing people-centered policies, practices, and research.

As we look forward to 2024, we want to wish you and your loved ones joy, health, and wellbeing. And we want you to know that with your continued support, we will be steadfast in our work to address and end the breast cancer crisis. We couldn’t do it without you.

The post With gratitude from the staff and board at Breast Cancer Action appeared first on Breast Cancer Action.

By Heather Perkins, Deputy Director

Since our inception, Breast Cancer Action has stood out amongst breast cancer organizations. Our legacy of outsized wins is unmatched; our voice is uncompromised; our values remain unwavering – despite how rare it is for grassroots organizations to thrive through decades of change. And our history of over 30 years of no-holds-barred, people-centered work will always inform how our work takes shape going forward.

With our community at the heart of our work, together we will maintain our fierce watchdog stance, holding ourselves, institutions, mega-nonprofits, medical and legislative leaders, and systems accountable. We will grow our internal and external political education, providing information on breast cancer without industry influence. We will deepen our equity and justice lenses, connecting gender justice, environmental justice, and health justice. And we will always take action to end this disease by demanding people-centered policies, practices, and research.

Our reliance on you as a co-conspirator, co-agitator, and sustainer remains unchanged. We’ve always been grassroots, which means we need your support and investment to continue the work to address and end breast cancer.

Please consider a financial gift in Breast Cancer Action’s work today, in honor of our legacy and in support of our future. Our gratitude for you, our community of breast cancer activists, is an enduring component of this work. We couldn’t do it without you.

The post In honor of our legacy, in support of our future appeared first on Breast Cancer Action.

By KR, Executive Director

Dear Friends and Community,

It is with heavy hearts that we share the news of the passing of two long-time and beloved Board Members, Belle Shayer and Dorothy Geoghegan. Their presence and contributions to our community were invaluable, and their loss is deeply felt by our team.

Belle Shayer was the last living co-founder of Breast Cancer Action. She served on our original Board of Directors and stayed connected to our work for 30+ years until her passing as our only Emeritus Board Member.

Belle turned from breast cancer patient to breast cancer advocate after her second bout with the disease in 1988. She served as BCAction’s first Board Treasurer, and had served on the Board of the National Breast Cancer Coalition. She was an active member of BCAction’s Speakers’ Bureau, and served on the Board of the State of California Women’s Health Council.

You can learn more about Belle Shayer and our history from our 2020 interview with her, “Conversation with Belle Shayer,” and by watching her speech from Breast Cancer Action’s 30th Anniversary event held in October of 2020.

Belle’s activist approach and intersectional lens still shine through in Breast Cancer Action’s mission, vision, and language today. From her 2020 interview:

“Early on, we agreed that breast cancer is not a personal tragedy, but an economic, political, systemic issue. The question was, how were we going to get that point across to political leaders?”

Dorothy Geoghegan was a long-time board member and supporter of BCAction.

Dorothy was a good friend of our first Executive Director Barbara Brenner, a devoted second grade teacher, and one of the most delightful people anyone could know. Dorothy’s support of BCAction goes back to the early ‘90s — she was a vibrant, loving, funny, and energetic activist.

As we remember Belle and Dorothy, two powerful contributors to Breast Cancer Action and valued friends, let us lean on one another for support, and find strength in the memories we shared with both of them. Their legacies will continue to inform and inspire us as we move forward as a community.

We will share a more comprehensive tribute to both of these phenomenal women after the holidays, when we’ll delve deeper into the contributions and memories they gave us.

Our thoughts and condolences go out to everyone affected by these losses.

The post In loving memory appeared first on Breast Cancer Action.

By Heather Perkins, Deputy Director

All people deserve access to evidence-based, patient-centered information so they can fully engage in their healthcare decisions.

At Breast Cancer Action, we have relentlessly advocated for the health of our communities for more than 33 years.

And you – a dedicated community member, have ensured the vision, mission, and focus on the unique programmatic priorities of Breast Cancer Action will continue.

Education

Breast Cancer Action provides data and resources so everyone can better understand their options when faced with a breast cancer diagnosis. Information such as treatment options for DCIS, what studies say about aromatase inhibitors, or current data on environmental links to breast cancer. Breast cancer research, treatment, and screening must be patient-centered and responsive to the needs of people at risk of and living with breast cancer, and should not reflect corporate or industry bias that prioritizes profits over people.

At Breast Cancer Action we remain an unbiased and independent watchdog for your health. We see past the hype and evaluate and report on developments in breast cancer by examining data from the patient perspective.

Advocacy

We translate the latest science, research, and developments into opportunities to take action toward structural change.

By joining us in contacting your representatives, sending emails, and signing petitions, we go beyond awareness. Together, we take action so that no communities bear a disproportionate burden of disease and that all communities can thrive, free from breast cancer.

Activism

We are uniquely unabashed in how we carry this work out. Unafraid to ruffle feathers and to speak truth to power, Breast Cancer Action’s voice – and our community of breast cancer activists – are unmatched in the breast cancer landscape.

This radical work needs your involvement and your solidarity more than ever.

Solidarity

You remain a valued partner in our work of Breast Cancer Action. Whether by sharing BCAction’s resources and educating your community, by raising your voice in advocacy or in action, or by showing solidarity with a financial gift, our community has always been the guiding light that illuminates who we are and the work we do.

Please consider making a tax-deductible financial gift today. Together, we will address and end the breast cancer crisis. 

The post Education, advocacy, and activism: invest in Breast Cancer Action’s work appeared first on Breast Cancer Action.

By Heather Perkins, Deputy Director

Breast Cancer Action has stood out in the breast cancer landscape for more than 33 years because of our uncompromising values.

Values that prioritize people’s health and wellbeing over profits. Values that promote honesty, accountability, and integrity. Values that have led the movement to hold pink ribbon marketing culture accountable. And these values guide all of our work to address and end the breast cancer crisis..

Show your solidarity with BCAction’s unmatched and unwavering values today with a year end gift.

Breast Cancer Action values:

• People’s health and wellbeing, not corporate profit
• Freedom from conflict of interest
• Transparency and accountability from ourselves and others
• The uplifting and centering of diverse voices and lived experiences
• Honesty, fearlessness, and truth-telling about the breast cancer crisis
• Collective action and cross-movement collaboration that changes the world for the better
• Health justice as a human right
• Action over awareness
• Partnering with integrity, purpose, and passion
• And being critical consumers of inclusive science

Our principled, patient-centered work needs your support and investment to continue.

I invest my talent, time, and money to support the transformational work of Breast Cancer Action because these values and our mission are unique.

Leading from the intersections of health justice, environmental justice, racial justice, and climate justice, BCAction works to achieve health justice for all people at risk of and living with breast cancer by focusing on systemic interventions, which includes policies, institutions, and practices, and by centering people with the furthest relationship to power.

Breast Cancer Action puts people first, and we always have. Beholden to no corporate interests, we need your support.  100% of your financial investment goes into our work—a promise made 33 years ago and a promise kept because Breast Cancer Action will never accept money that compromises our values.

Together with you, we will not stop until we end the breast cancer crisis. 

The post We lead the breast cancer movement with uncompromising values appeared first on Breast Cancer Action.

By Heather Perkins, Deputy Director

As 2023 comes to a close, I want to say thank you.

When I reflect on the past year and what Breast Cancer Action has accomplished, I want you to know: YOU bring me strength, hope, and courage by sharing in the vision of a world without breast cancer.

Your time is valuable, so I will keep this short. As our Annual Report shows, for our work to continue, your financial support is needed.

When you invest in the work of Breast Cancer Action, you are investing in education, advocacy, and activism so that all communities have the opportunity to thrive.

We can’t do this work without you. Your decision to donate today will enable and embolden Breast Cancer Action to continue our unmatched, patient-centered work – and to continue to address and end the breast cancer crisis, together.

The post A short note at the end of the year appeared first on Breast Cancer Action.

By Haleemah Atobiloye, Program Manager

Every year, the team at Breast Cancer Action attends the largest breast cancer conference in the world, the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium (SABCS).

This year, we will be in virtual attendance from December 5th to the 9th, with a critical mindset and a patient-centered framework, and most importantly, on behalf of people living with and at risk of breast cancer.

At a conference largely funded by Big Pharma and geared toward a medical audience, we will maintain our watchdog lens. The following are questions that will inform our blog posts, updates, and analysis this year: 

• What progress has been made toward fair, equitable, and affordable medicine for all?
• Are new treatments less toxic than what is currently available? And will they improve quality of life and extend overall survival?
• What is the latest research on the social determinants of health for people living with breast cancer?

We’ll be tuning in to presentations, panel sessions, and workshops that cover themes including prevention, new research on early detection, treatment outcomes of performing less surgery, progress in the treatment of HER2+ breast cancer, the impact of social determinants on breast cancer care, and much more.

Throughout this week we’ll be posting rapid responses on our Instagram and Facebook social media pages. Follow us on both platforms to stay up-to-date. We’ll post our critical take on the latest research on our website in early January 2024, so keep your eye out for our updates. You can read our blog posts from last year on our website while we work on providing you with this year’s analysis.

As always, we are grateful for your continuous support that makes it possible for us to do this important work. We will continue to use our independent, watchdog voice on behalf of people living with and at risk of breast cancer to tackle the root causes of breast cancer.

The post We’ll be at the world’s biggest breast cancer conference this week appeared first on Breast Cancer Action.

By Heather Perkins, Deputy Director

Thank you! The collective investment made by our community members — on GivingTuesday and every day — sustains our work.

At Breast Cancer Action our fundraising is primarily grassroots, which means we raise the vast majority of our funding from individuals like YOU.

Yesterday we released a series of three videos in which our Board Co-Chairs Stacey and Channte’ spoke to what makes the work of Breast Cancer Action so important to them. See the full recording of their conversation:

Just like Stacey and Channte’, our community members from across the nation showed up and demonstrated their ongoing commitment to investing in the work of Breast Cancer. And for that, we want to say thank you.

At Breast Cancer Action, we’ll never take funds from anyone that profits from or contributes to the breast cancer crisis, means we’ll always put your health first. And it means we rely on the collective action and impact of our community.

Thank you for showing up for our people-centered, activist-oriented, health justice work. People like you, those impacted by the breast cancer crisis, have always been the ones at the heart of Breast Cancer Action’s work, and have made this work possible since its inception.

Thank you for your unyielding solidarity and support.

The post Thank you! You make our work possible appeared first on Breast Cancer Action.

By Heather Perkins, Deputy Director

“Why do you invest your time, your money, and yourself, into Breast Cancer Action?”

Our Board Co-Chair Stacey asks this question directly to Board Co-Chair Channte’, in the final video of our three-part GivingTuesday video series.

As we at Breast Cancer Action continue to do this work together, I invite you to find hope, strength, and inspiration from Channte’ and Stacey, two friends, two activists, and two impact-makers.

You can see the entire video series on our website, and find videos one and two in earlier emails in your inbox.

I encourage you to tune in to the personal stories of these powerful breast cancer activists.

Stacey and Channte’ have alignment not only in their lived experiences of breast cancer, but in their shared values, their passion for the critical work of Breast Cancer Action, and a shared political analysis of how we will address and end this disease together.

“I love Breast Cancer Action,” explains Channte’, “because we are tackling such an enormous issue.… And breast cancer is so convoluted, I always say that it is a powerful storm between economics, and our environment, and racism, and power and sexism, and so those are some large buckets that we are trying to really address, in terms of fighting these systems of oppression against marginalized communities who experience the most disparate impact from breast cancer.”

Please join Stacey, Channte’, and Breast Cancer Action, in the work to address and end breast cancer for all communities. We can come together in collective action and collective support to stop this disease before it starts, but we can only do it together.

Thank you for supporting the health and well-being of all people and communities by investing in Breast Cancer Action together on GivingTuesday.

The post The final video in our three-part GivingTuesday series appeared first on Breast Cancer Action.

By Heather Perkins, Deputy Director

I know you have causes you care about, and that on GivingTuesday your inbox is full of asks from organizations doing critical work, just like Breast Cancer Action.

Thank you for investing your money and support in causes that make your heart feel full, whether that cause is or isn’t Breast Cancer Action.

Today I will invest in Breast Cancer Action because when I heard the words “you have breast cancer” my life changed. And because I am lucky to be here today.

Today I am also thankful to be joined by Channte’ and Stacey. Two fierce friends who have also heard the words “you have breast cancer.” They sat down together last week and told their personal stories.

Stacey and Channte’ spoke to:

• their lived experiences of breast cancer
• the work of Breast Cancer Action
• and why they continue to invest time and support in our unique and critical work.

Today, I invite you to hear their stories.

Two more emails will be in your inbox throughout the day today with further clips from Stacey and Channte’, and all three videos can be viewed on our website. I encourage you to take the time to hear their stories because I needed to hear them, and I know you or someone you know will hear this and discover hope, strength, and joy.

Please join Breast Cancer Action’s board co-chairs, Stacey Strongarone and Channte’ Keith and invest in BCAction’s crucial work today on GivingTuesday.

We can do this — address and end the breast cancer crisis — but only if we do it together. Thank you for supporting the unique and critical work of Breast Cancer Action today, on GivingTuesday.

The post Today on GivingTuesday: Our personal stories appeared first on Breast Cancer Action.

By Heather Perkins, Deputy Director

Tomorrow is the big day: #GivingTuesday.

#GivingTuesday demonstrates the collective power of what is possible when we come together to make an impact.

Last year, we raised almost $65,000 for the vital and unique work of Breast Cancer Action on #GivingTuesday, and this year, as you decide how to invest in causes you care about, we ask you to invest in the work of Breast Cancer Action.

Breast Cancer Action is unlike any other organization in the breast cancer landscape.

Our programmatic priorities are issues of breast cancer screening, treatment, and diagnosis; breast cancer and the environment; and holding accountable pink ribbon marketing culture.

We do this unique work at the intersections of health justice, environmental justice, and racial justice, making an outsized impact on the breast cancer landscape, and paving the way to how we will address and end this disease.

We ask you to join us as breast cancer activists on #GivingTuesday, by investing in this critical work and strengthening our collective impact.  

Tomorrow, #GivingTuesday, gifts us the opportunity to make a difference in the lives of others by supporting work that impacts the health and wellbeing of our communities. Here is to gifts that last a lifetime.

The post #GivingTuesday tomorrow is a day to make a collective impact appeared first on Breast Cancer Action.

By KR, Executive Director

As you read through Breast Cancer Action’s Annual Report, we invite you to take a moment to reflect on the impact you have made. 

Our accomplishments from July 2022 – June 2023 demonstrate, without a doubt, that the work of breast cancer activism is year-round.

This was made clear by two things: the depth and all-encompassing framework of our 2022 campaign, “A (R)Evolution,” and by the breadth of education, advocacy, and activist work we accomplished in addition to this comprehensive campaign.

See the 2022 – 2023 Annual Report now.

During the timeframe covered (our fiscal year), our organization has made remarkable strides in advancing our goals, thanks to the hard work of our dedicated team and board of directors, and the steadfast commitment of our donors, volunteers, partners, and community members.

Learn more about our groundbreaking educational resources released this year, like our Climate Crisis and Breast Cancer materials, the wide range of legislative work we support and endorse, and the numerous opportunities we provide to take action. As you see the breadth of the work the Breast Cancer Action team embarked on this year, know that your support and your partnership made it possible.  

Our 2022 – 2023 Annual Report is now available.

As we reflect on the accomplishments and milestones of our last fiscal year, we are filled with gratitude for your unwavering support and dedication to our mission. 

By coming together in collective action and to raise our collective voice, we lead the way from the intersection of health justice, environmental justice, and racial justice, bringing it all together in the vital work to address and end this disease.

Thank you for being an essential part of the BCAction community. Thank you for sharing in the vision of a world without breast cancer, and for your tenacity in not letting up as we work to address and end this disease together.

The post What have we been up to? Check out our Annual Report appeared first on Breast Cancer Action.

By Heather Perkins, Deputy Director

The three questions I’m asking you to consider for #GivingTuesday are:

• What?
• So what?
• Now what?

Here is the what, so what, and now what for how you can make an impact with BCAction and #GivingTuesday.

What: #GivingTuesday is a day to demonstrate the power of our collective support. 

So what: As you decide how to invest your time, your talent, and your money, we encourage you to make a plan to give the causes most meaningful to you,  so that the people and the causes that inspire and impact you continue to prosper.

#GivingTuesday provides a global opportunity to lift up the causes that are the most important to us. The opportunity to introduce people to nonprofit organizations that are close to our heart. The opportunity to invite others to join us in making change for the better.

Now what: At BCAction we are determined to stop breast cancer before it starts. To stop moments and memories from being taken away from people and communities. To stop the pain and hurt that occurs with a cancer diagnosis, so instead people and communities can thrive, free from this disease.

#GivingTuesday gifts us the opportunity to make a difference in the lives of others by supporting work that impacts the health and well-being of our communities.

With your support and your investment, we can address and end breast cancer together.

We invite you to join us on #GivingTuesday, November 28 (or now!) by investing in our cause: the work to address and end the breast cancer crisis.

Here is to gifts that help people live a lifetime.

The post Three questions to consider for #GivingTuesday appeared first on Breast Cancer Action.

By KR, Executive Director

Thank you for joining us for our 2023 Think Before You Pink® Goes Rogue campaign during Breast Cancer “Awareness” Month, or as we’ve coined it, Breast Cancer ACTION Month.

This year’s campaign expanded beyond Think Before You Pink’s traditional areas of focus – corporate accountability and pink ribbon marketing. We dove deeper into our political education programming toward the goal of strengthening our community, aligning our shared understanding of the politics of breast cancer, and ultimately, building the collective power necessary to address and end breast cancer.

We connected the dots between environmental racism, fossil fuel divestment, and the politics of breast cancer, and provided ways to take action on each of these issues. 

Here’s a week-by-week breakdown of the highlights of this campaign:

Environmental Racism

In order to take on the breast cancer crisis that includes disparities in treatment and outcomes, we honed in on environmental racism. By aligning our understanding of these concepts, we provide the impetus to take ACTION and stop breast cancer before it starts.

See our full materials on environmental racism and breast cancer, through the lens of Think Before You Pink Goes Rogue.

This week was full of interactive activities. We shared an GIS Mapping tool so you can see how environmental racism affects your community. Our Program and Campaign Intern, Ashley Jahja, and myself and went live on Instagram, and we took action together on the Environmental Justice for All Act.

This bill will establish several environmental justice requirements, advisory bodies, and programs to address environmental racism. These policy reforms will rectify decades of unfair environmental harm done to low-income communities and Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC) communities.

Add your name now and tell Congress to support this necessary piece of legislation. We’ll keep community members updated on the progress of this bill as it develops beyond our October campaign.

Fossil Fuel Divestment

This week, our campaign explored fossil fuel divestment and how we can use divestment strategies, individually and collectively, to impact the breast cancer crisis.

The fossil fuel industry has fueled the breast cancer crisis as well as the climate crisis, which have exponentially affected people with and at risk for breast cancer. The potential impact of our collective divestment holds the greatest promise for dismantling the fossil fuel industry. 

Read our full materials on divestment, fossil fuels, and what this means for breast cancer.

This week we heard from climate movement leader Tamara Toles O’Laughlin who spoke on fossil fuel divestment and why it’s necessary for the protection of public health and the environment. Tamara was interviewed by BCAction Program Manager Haleemah Atobiloye at our annual event, Radical Disruption Compassionate Resistance. Watch the hard-hitting conversation now.

Together, we urged the California Assembly to phase out fossil fuels with Senate Bill 252, the Fossil Fuel Divestment Bill.

SB 252 will require CalPERS and CalSTRS, the two largest public pension funds in the country, to divest over $14 billion from fossil fuel companies. Add your name now and demand we phase out toxic fossil fuels. 

The Politics of Breast Cancer

This week was an inside look into how Breast Cancer Action analyzes, supports or opposes, and takes action on legislation that impacts the breast cancer community.

We address the politics of breast cancer at the intersection of social justice, legislation, and science. This encompasses a wide range of policy issues regarding breast cancer prevention, diagnosis, and treatment, and support for individuals affected by the disease.

See our full materials including a breakdown of our policy priorities and the criteria that guide our endorsements.

We heard from expert and ally Nichole Warwick, Co-Founder and Director of Sonoma Safe Ag, Safe Schools, and the Executive Director of the Blue Zones Petaluma initiative. Nichole spoke about her own community, Sonoma County, CA, on how political decisions determine who has access to safe environments, free from cancer-causing chemicals, and what this means for breast cancer.

This week we came together for collective action on the Metastatic Breast Cancer (MBC) Access to Care Act which calls for a waiver of the 24-month waiting period to obtain Medicare coverage, and the 5-month waiting period for Social Security Disability Insurance benefits, for eligible individuals with MBC.

It’s not too late! Add your name now and urge your Representative to support this critical legislation.

Legislative Advocacy Day

All three of our campaign actions were amplified during our October 26 (virtual and super easy) Legislative Advocacy Day.

This all-day event was just like a Lobby Day – except you didn’t have to show up at your capitol and you didn’t have to talk to legislators. You just needed to add your name three times! And you can still participate! Take Action on:

• The Environmental Justice For All Act
• California’s Senate Bill 252 – The Fossil Fuel Divestment Bill
• And the Metastatic Breast Cancer Access to Care Act

We’ll keep you updated on each of these bills, beyond Think Before You Pink.

In The News

The power of Think Before You Pink was heard loud and clear throughout October.

Our work and our history in addressing pinkwashing was featured in five recent pieces, including:

• “Addressing ‘pinkwashing’ — it’s time to use the pink ribbon for actual action” in Healio
• “Stop Sexualizing Breast Cancer” and “Think Before You Pink” both available at Her Campus
• “Seeing Pink: Awareness Ribbons a Troubling Reminder to Some” on the Cedars Sinai website
• And in the powerful piece and personal story, “More Than Pink,” published on Aeon.

From “More Than Pink” by Philippa Hetherington:

“The AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power (ACT UP) was the inspiration for… Breast Cancer Action, founded in 1990. Breast Cancer Action refused to produce the depoliticised material that came out of mainstream groups like Komen, and focused instead on lobbying for more research and probing into the causes of breast cancer. This also linked certain corners of the breast cancer movement with the environmental movement, as activists focused on possible carcinogenic chemicals and pollutants.”

This was true then, and it is true to this day, as highlighted in this year’s focus on the politics of breast cancer.  

Thank you for joining us in action, in this campaign, and in going rogue.

By strengthening our grassroots advocacy and civic engagement programming with Think Before You Pink Goes Rogue, we’re building collective power and taking action toward systemic change – to address and end breast cancer – and we couldn’t do it without you.

The post What we accomplished together this month appeared first on Breast Cancer Action.

By KR, Executive Director

You are invited to BCAction’s virtual Legislative Advocacy Day, happening all day today, October 26th!

This year, our annual Think Before You Pink® campaign is going rogue. Since the first of October, we’ve connected the dots between environmental racism, fossil fuel divestment, and the politics of breast cancer.

Now, it’s time to turn that political education into collective action!

During today’s Legislative Advocacy Day, the three pieces of legislation we’ll take action on together are:

The Environmental Justice for All Act

In week 2 of this campaign, we named the ways in which environmental racism exacerbates the breast cancer crisis. The A. Donald McEachin Environmental Justice for All Act will establish several environmental justice requirements, advisory bodies, and programs to address environmental racism. This law seeks to rectify decades of unfair environmental harm done to low-income communities and Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC) communities.

Join activists nationwide and urge your Representatives to support the much-needed A. Donald McEachin Environmental Justice for All Act.

California’s Senate Bill 252 (SB 252), The Fossil Fuel Divestment Bill

In week 3 of this campaign, we explored fossil fuel divestment strategies as a means to move us closer to a healthier environment with fewer exposures to cancer-causing chemicals. SB 252, the Fossil Fuel Divestment Bill will require CalPERS and CalSTRS—the two largest public pension funds in the country—to divest over $14 billion from fossil fuel companies. The oil and gas industry is one of the most egregious producers of cancer-causing environmental toxins and they must be phased out!

Add your signature and urge your Representative to vote YES on SB 252, the Fossil Fuel Divestment bill.

The Metastatic Breast Cancer Access to Care Act

This week, in week four of the campaign, we are focused on the politics of breast cancer and demonstrating how political decisions impact public health. More than 150,000  people across all races and socio-economic statuses are currently living with metastatic breast cancer (MBC). The Metastatic Breast Cancer Access to Care Act calls for a waiver of the 24-month waiting period to obtain Medicare coverage, and the 5-month waiting period for Social Security Disability Insurance benefits, for eligible individuals with MBC. Passage of this bipartisan bill will help reduce disparities in treatment and healthcare services for people living with this disease.

We all deserve access to timely, quality, and affordable healthcare services, including the most vulnerable members of our communities. Add your name now!

Here’s why we want you to participate:

Our Representatives have been elected to enact legislation that improves the lives of their constituents. And as the trusted watchdog of the breast cancer industry and advocates for people living with and at risk of breast cancer, we continue to hold policymakers accountable to this goal.

BCAction has vetted these bills according to our endorsement criteria:

• Will this bill improve treatment outcomes for people living with and at risk of breast cancer?
• Will this bill reduce our involuntary exposure to toxins that increase our risk for breast cancer?
• Will this bill eliminate existing barriers to accessing affordable and quality healthcare?

The answer to each of these questions is YES, and we need you to take action today! Your legislators are waiting to hear from you!

Here’s how to participate in today’s virtual Legislative Advocacy Day:

We’ve made the process of reaching out to your legislators super easy. Include your name here, here, and here to easily send letter to your Congressional Representative, advocating on behalf of people living with and at risk of breast cancer.

Have you already taken action with us on these opportunities? Then you can participate in today’s Legislative Advocacy Day by sharing these actions with your community and on your social media platforms.

Addressing and ending the breast cancer crisis requires individual AND collective action. Let’s work together to make sure every person gets to live, work, and play in a healthier environment.

The post Join us for our virtual Legislative Advocacy Day! appeared first on Breast Cancer Action.

By Haleemah Atobiloye, Program Manager

This week in Think Before You Pink® Goes Rogue we’re focused on The Politics of Breast Cancer, because breast cancer has always been political.

Who has access to healthcare, effective treatments, and safe and healthy environments is determined by economic inequality, by policies set at the local and federal level, and by the effectiveness of our regulatory agencies.

Join us this week in learning more, building collective power, and taking action to demand changes in policy that will address and end breast cancer by preventing this disease before it starts.

What Are the Politics of Breast Cancer?

The breast cancer crisis highlights often-overlooked intersections between politics, social justice, the law, and the healthcare industry.

At BCAction, we address the politics of breast cancer at the intersections of social justice, legislation, and science. This encompasses a wide range of social, economic, and policy-related issues regarding breast cancer prevention, diagnosis, and treatment, and support for individuals affected by the disease.

Read more about how we define the politics of breast cancer.

Our Policy Priorities and Our Critical Lens

Breast Cancer Action has three programmatic priorities: issues of breast cancer screening, treatment, and diagnosis; the root causes of the disease (a.k.a breast cancer and the environment); and pink ribbon marketing culture.

These core areas of expertise determine our policy priorities. We analyze, support or oppose, and take action on legislation regarding: policies in healthcare, including advocating for universal healthcare (issues of breast cancer screening, treatment, and diagnosis), policies on the environment and chemical regulation, including energy policies which impact the environment (root causes of the disease), and corporate accountability (born of our critical lens on pink ribbon fundraisers, our experience in following the money, and our values of accountability, transparency, and prioritizing people’s health over corporate profit).

We carry out our legislative advocacy in three ways: 1) We demand changes from legislators by sending letters, making calls, and attending virtual and in-person meetings in support of the passage of specific bills, 2) We endorse and join allied organizations in supporting or opposing bills, and 3) We make our community of breast cancer activists aware of relevant bills and issues, so we can take action together.

The criteria that guide our endorsements are:

• Will this bill improve treatment outcomes for people living with and at risk of breast cancer?
• Will this bill reduce our involuntary exposure to toxins that increase our risk for breast cancer?
• Will this bill eliminate existing barriers to accessing affordable and quality healthcare?

Read more about how we define the politics of breast cancer, and how we bring honesty, fearlessness, and truth-telling about the breast cancer crisis to public policy conversations.

Take Action!

This week, in week four of our 2023 Think Before You Pink campaign, Think Before You Pink Goes Rogue, join us learning more – and taking action on – the politics of breast cancer.

Together, we will:

• Take action on three critical pieces of legislation, The Environmental Justice for All Act, California’s Senate Bill 252 (the Fossil Fuel Divestment Bill), and the Metastatic Access to Care Act. Visit our Take Action page and add your name to all three of these action opportunities – and demand change from your legislators!
• Throughout the week on our social media @bcaction, we’ll release educational materials on how a bill becomes law, and explain how to voice your concerns to your State and U.S. Congressional Representatives.
• And we’ll come together this Thursday, October 26 for a virtual lobby day to take action and spread the word on the politics of breast cancer. Follow us on Instagram and Facebook to join in the action!

The post Week 4 in Think Before You Pink®: The Politics of Breast Cancer appeared first on Breast Cancer Action.

By Heather Perkins, Deputy Director

You joined in action, and now it’s time to join us in auction!

Thank you for sharing space with us at our nationwide virtual event, Radical Disruption Compassionate Resistance, this past Tuesday, October 17 (event recording now available!).

From moment one to the event closing – this member connector and fundraiser was powerful. Our featured speakers were unabashed in naming the connections between the topics of this year’s Think Before You Pink® Goes Rogue campaign: environmental racism, fossil fuel divestment, and the politics of breast cancer. Galvanized by their words and their work, we took collective action together, to urge our representatives to support the Environmental Justice For All Act, and together, we are unstoppable. 

So, let’s keep it up!

If you were inspired by our line-up of radical and compassionate changemakers – now is the time to turn that inspiration into support of the work of BCAction – by bidding in our Radical Disruption Compassionate Resistance auction or donating to BCAction directly.

Our event program included a conversation between BCAction Executive Director KR and BCAction Internal Affairs Committee Chair CoCo Villaluz. CoCo shared personal, lived experiences of how energy, environmental, and zoning policy impacts her, her family, and her community. These personal experiences of environmental racism faced by Indigenous communities drives the point home: we must address inequitable environmental exposures faced by Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC) communities to address and end breast cancer.

Program Manager Haleemah Atobiloye was joined by two featured speakers: BCAction’s partner in the Graton Pesticides (GRaPE) Research Study, Nichole Warwick, and climate movement leader Tamara Toles O’Laughlin.

These two environmental justice allies brought their unique expertise on the topics of science, research, and the power of community advocacy, as well as the necessary lenses of approaching this work with race, class, and environmental justice in mind. In combination, we see the pressing need to address and end breast cancer through a health justice lens, which is our critical and unique work.

Ready to demonstrate your support of this work? Bid now, and bid high – because it’s auction time, a.k.a. hammer time! The Radical Disruption Compassionate Resistance auction closes tomorrow, Sunday, October 22 at 12:00am (midnight) Pacific Time.

You are our power. In our events, in collective action, and in providing the support such that this unique work can continue. Visit the Radical Disruption Compassionate Resistance auction now and support BCAction’s work to address and end breast cancer for all communities.

The post Our events, our collective action – made more powerful by you! appeared first on Breast Cancer Action.

By Zoë Christopher, Program Officer

This week in Think Before You Pink® Goes Rogue we’re focused on Fossil Fuel Divestment.

The materials we’ve made available this week provide divestment strategies we can use, both individually and collectively, to impact an industry that fuels the climate crisis and increases our risk of breast cancer. Join us in learning more about how we can force the elimination of many toxic environmental exposures caused by the oil and gas industry, toward the goal of preventing the disease before it starts.

What is Fossil Fuel Divestment?

Fossil Fuel Divestment is the opposite of investment. It means that an organization discontinues its investment in fossil fuels by withdrawing funding and ending its relationship with the industry. The logical next step would be to invest those funds in sustainable projects.

What does divesting from fossil fuels do for the breast cancer community?

Short answer: Money talks!

For the past 100 years, the oil and gas industry has slowly infiltrated finance and political arenas on a global scale, through lobbying, campaign contributions, and the revolving door of oil company CEOs becoming legislators and vice versa. Now we learn that the industry knew at least 50 years ago that their extraction and production practices would create this climate crisis, and they suppressed their own researcher’s evidence and kept it from the public in order to maximize profits, at the expense of public health and human decency.

Our breast cancer community is already vulnerable, and risk of health harms is further exacerbated by extreme weather events that dump more carcinogens into the environment and destroy healthcare infrastructure. In a capitalist society, money talks. A company or corporation responds to public pressure when their bottom line is affected, and this is true for small retailers as well as mega-corporations. One effective way to get the attention of a bad actor is to withdraw financial support, or divest.

What is being done to take action against the fossil fuel industry?

Many individuals, organizations, and coalitions have been working hard to stop Big Oil’s impact on public health and the destruction of the planet. One of the tactics has been demanding accountability by taking the industry to court, asserting that in spite of knowing that burning fossil fuels would adversely affect public health, climate, and the environment, the industry downplayed and denied the impacts, thereby threatening public health and planetary sustainability for generations to come.

Public pension funds in many states have begun filing suits and divesting. Advocates in California are currently working hard to get CalSTRS’ and CalPERS, two large retirement programs to divest, not only in response to the climate crisis, but because energy divestment makes financial sense.

Read our full materials on divestment, including what is being done to take action against the fossil fuel industry.

Take Action!

Join BCAction in action and urge your Representatives to vote YES on California’s Senate Bill 252 (SB 252), the Fossil Fuel Divestment bill. This bill is important for California, the nation, and the breast cancer community because toxic exposures produced throughout the fossil fuel continuum have been linked to serious health harms, including an increased risk for breast cancer.

This is one of the three actions which will be made available during our Think Before You Pink Goes Rogue campaign, where we are focused on political education materials AND ways to take action on: environmental racism, fossil fuel divestment, and the politics of breast cancer.

As we focus on fossil fuel divestment this week – now is the time to take action to make divestment happen!

Add your name and urge your Representative to join in on large-scale divestment strategies by supporting The Fossil Fuel Divestment bill today.

To protect public health and the environment, and to address and end the breast cancer crisis, we must make intentional efforts to end our reliance on fossil fuels. Please take action with us today.

The post Action Alert: The breast cancer crisis and fossil fuel divestment appeared first on Breast Cancer Action.

By Heather Perkins, Deputy Director

Radical Disruption Compassionate Resistance is tomorrow!

Get your tickets now for Radical Disruption Compassionate Resistance on Tuesday, October 17!
4:30 PT / 5:30 MT / 6:30 CT / 7:30 ET

This annual fundraiser and member connector emboldens our work. We’ll be joined by powerful activists and experts, and we’ll debut this year’s Think Before You Pink® action that we’ll take together, live, for the first time in the campaign.

Be among the first to join us in action by getting your last chance tickets today!

At tomorrow night’s event we’ll listen and learn together with an exclusive dialogue between health justice leaders KR, our very own Executive Director, and CoCo Villaluz, BCAction’s Internal Affairs Committee Chair. We’ll also be joined by allies and experts in science, advocacy, and environmental justice. BCAction’s partner in the Graton Pesticides (GRaPE) Research Study, Nichole Warwick, and climate movement leader Tamara Toles O’Laughlin will be in conversation with BCAction’s Program Manager Haleemah Atobiloye.

Together these thought leaders and changemakers will illuminate the areas we’re taking action on through Think Before You Pink Goes Rogue: environmental racism, fossil fuel divestment, and the politics of breast cancer.

True to BCAction’s core values, we’ll come together IN ACTION. 

At Radical Disruption Compassionate Resistance we’ll debut our Think Before You Pink Goes Rogue action live – join us in demanding structural solutions to the breast cancer crisis!

Get your last chance tickets to Radical Disruption Compassionate Resistance today, and we’ll see you tomorrow!

The post Tomorrow night: join us in community and in support of BCAction’s critical work appeared first on Breast Cancer Action.

By Heather Perkins, Deputy Director

We’re excited to have you join us next week on Tuesday, October 17 for our nationwide, virtual event: Radical Disruption Compassionate Resistance!

Our radical and compassionate community of changemakers – that’s YOU – is invited to join us in support of BCAction’s critical work to address and end breast cancer. One way to continue your support is to start bidding on this year’s auction items. And I am thrilled to share with you that this year’s Radical Disruption Compassionate Resistance auction is now open!

You are invited to start bidding today! Every dollar raised supports the work of Breast Cancer Action.

The Radical Disruption Compassionate Resistance curated collection of items is both expansive, in that it includes something for everyone, and tailored to the likes and interests of BCAction community members like you.

The auction includes items like an advance reader copy of the forthcoming novel Relative Strangers, a contemporary spin on Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility, donated by author AH Kim. Also available in the auction are artist Ricardo Levins Morales’ piece, “Be a Wetland,” limited edition Breast Cancer Action swag, jewelry, food items, gift ideas, museum and performance tickets, and an exclusive hotel stay.

Support Breast Cancer Action’s health justice work by bidding high, and bidding often!

Our work is powered by your support – and together, we are powerful. Thank you for sharing in the vision of a world where our communities are healthy, liberated, thriving, and free from breast cancer.

Remember to bid now! See you next week!

The post Now open: BCAction’s unique and curated collection available at auction appeared first on Breast Cancer Action.

By Haleemah Atobiloye, Program Manager

Think Before You Pink® Goes Rogue connects the dots between three critical topics:

• Environmental Racism
• Fossil Fuel Divestment – launching next week
• And the Politics of Breast Cancer – launching the week of Monday, October 23

Environmental Racism and Breast Cancer

We started the week off by breaking down how these two topics are connected.

Risk factors for breast cancer include things we can’t control, like aging and our sex assigned at birth, and things we can change through structural solutions, like environmental racism that determines which communities are hit first and worst by cancer-causing toxic exposures.

Typically, when large governmental agencies like the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Cancer Institute address breast cancer risks through factors we can change, they focus on individual lifestyle choices, like eating healthy food and walking more.

Breast cancer activists know this is a drop in the bucket if we do not address large-scale cancer-causing environmental exposures produced by industries engaging in chemical and fossil fuel production. And the hard truth is these types of environmental exposures impact different communities in disparate ways: BIPOC communities and communities of lower socioeconomic standing are hit first and worst, the direct result of environmental racism.

By addressing environmental racism and the related toxic exposures, we can create healthier environments for communities most directly impacted, and for all communities.

See the full overview of how these topics are connected at bcaction.org.

GIS Map Activity

Environmental racism has shaped our communities and cities. GIS (Geographic Information System) Maps compile data on socioeconomic factors (such as income level and education level) and overlays the data with known sources of pollution.

These maps are available from the Environmental Protection Agency (a map of the whole country) and from individual states (see examples for California and New York).

From the map of your choice, enter your zip code and click to add the categories ‘Socioeconomic Indicators’ and ‘Pollution and Sources’.

For many locations, there is a visible correlation between Socioeconomic Indicators and Pollution Sources, including pollution sources that have been shown to be linked to an increase in the risk for breast cancer.

Typically, the map of Pollution Sources overlaps with the low-income communities and communities of color, showing communities with the furthest relationships to power are also the most burdened by environmental exposures to pollution. GIS maps like these help environmental scientists and public health officials visualize the inequities that exist within our infrastructure, and we can use them to visualize how environmental racism permeates the breast cancer crisis.

Instagram Live

BCAction’s Program and Campaigns Intern, Ashley Jahja and Executive Director, KR were live on Instagram Wednesday, October 11, and you can watch the hard-hitting dialogue at @bcaction.

As their discussion demonstrates, Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC) communities are hit first and worst by environmental racism, socioeconomic inequalities, and the climate crisis in ways that increase exposures to cancer-causing chemicals of concern.

In order to address and eliminate the disparate burden of involuntary exposures, we must create and demand structural solutions and changes that will benefit all communities.

Watch this informative discussion now @bcaction.

Get ready to join us next week in learning more about fossil fuel divestment. Divestment strategies build on BCAction’s long legacy of following the money and calling out the ways in which funding sources have large-scale public health impacts.

Join us in demanding that public health be prioritized over corporate profits – particularly oil and gas profits gained by poisoning our environment with carcinogens all along the fossil fuel continuum.

With your support and engagement, we continue to build the collective power necessary to achieve health justice for all.

The post This week in breast cancer and environmental racism appeared first on Breast Cancer Action.

By Heather Perkins, Deputy Director

BCAction’s radical and compassionate community of activists will come together throughout October for Think Before You Pink® and for our 4th annual Radical Disruption Compassionate Resistance event!

We are excited to have you join us!

Get your tickets now for Radical Disruption Compassionate Resistance on Tuesday, October 17!
4:30 PT / 5:30 MT / 6:30 CT / 7:30 ET

Radical Disruption Compassionate Resistance will feature a powerful lineup of experts and activists. As the emcee for the event, I will introduce a discussion between CoCo Villaluz, BCAction’s Internal Affairs Committee Chair, and KR, BCAction’s Executive Director. BCAction Program Manager Haleemah Atobiloye will be in conversation with climate movement leader Tamara Toles O’Laughlin, and BCAction’s partner in the Graton Pesticides (GRaPE) Research Study, Nichole Warwick.

Across their respective areas of expertise, these changemakers will address the three core topics of this year’s Think Before You Pink campaign:

• Environmental Racism
• Fossil Fuel Divestment
• And the Politics of Breast Cancer

As you know, when we launched this year’s Think Before You Pink® campaign on October 1st, in its twenty-first year, we broke the mold again with another groundbreaking move: Think Before You Pink Goes Rogue. This year’s campaign expands beyond Think Before You Pink’s primary focus on corporate accountability and pink ribbon marketing, and includes deeper political education programming, toward the goal of strengthening our community, aligning our shared understandings of the politics of breast cancer, and ultimately to build the collective power necessary to achieve health justice for all.

During Radical Disruption Compassionate Resistance, on the evening of October 17th, we will take collective action on Think Before You Pink Goes Rogue together!

This nationwide virtual event supports BCAction’s year-round work to address and end the breast cancer crisis – through our annual Think Before You Pink campaign, and beyond.

Learn more about our speakers and get your tickets today for Radical Disruption Compassionate Resistance today!

The post Meet the speakers for BCAction’s Radical Disruption Compassionate Resistance appeared first on Breast Cancer Action.

By Ashley Jahja, Program and Campaign Intern, and KR, Executive Director

We’re going rogue with this year’s Think Before You Pink® campaign and connecting the dots between environmental racism, fossil fuel divestment, and the politics of breast cancer.

This week we’re focused on environmental racism: how it impacts breast cancer, why we must address and end disparities in order to take on the breast cancer crisis, and how aligning our understanding of these concepts will provide the impetus to take ACTION to stop breast cancer before it starts.

What is Environmental Racism?

Environmental racism is a type of inequality whereby Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC) communities face a disproportionate burden of toxic exposures and environmental hazards through systematic and structural violence. It includes policies and practices that have disparate impacts (both intended or unintended) on individuals and communities based on race, and unequal access to a clean and healthy environment.

Read our full overview of the topic released as part of Think Before You Pink Goes Rogue. 

What does this mean for our risk for breast cancer?

Environmental health researchers have consistently shown that environmental injustices disproportionately impact communities of color. These communities are more likely to live in neighborhoods categorized as low-income, the result of decades of disenfranchisement and exclusion from generational wealth building. And poorer neighborhoods bear the brunt of air, soil, and water pollution, due to decisions made by industry leaders and legislators as to where corporations can do things like dump waste, refine chemicals, and drill for oil and gas.

Additionally, marginalized communities are the first to experience the consequences of climate change caused by environmental injustices, like extreme weather events, which make toxic exposures more frequent and more pervasive.

We see the further intersections between race, climate justice, and environmental justice, and class, when we consider that socioeconomic status is an added risk factor for breast cancer, given that people with lower socioeconomic standing have fewer resources to address the environmental and economic inequalities that influence their health.

Because BIPOC and poor communities are on the frontlines of these types of exposures and inequalities, it is no surprise that race is one the most determinative predictors of health in America, and that Black and Latinx people are disproportionately affected by breast cancer, as well as other health outcomes. When we track race as an indicator of health and health risks, what we are really tracking is the impacts of rac-ism on health and health risks. And according to the latest statistics, Black women with low socioeconomic standings face the highest risk of developing breast cancer. [Read more on how environmental racism contributes to the breast cancer crisis…]

At Breast Cancer Action we’re committed to centering those with the furthest relationships to power, because if we work to address and end breast cancer by stopping this disease before it starts, by eliminating cancer-causing environmental exposures, we will remove disparate burdens faced by communities that are hit first and worst. The impacts will reverberate outwards, producing broad public health benefits for all communities.

Follow and engage with us on Facebook and Instagram to keep up with this week’s Think Before You Pink® Goes Rogue activities, including:

• Educational materials
• An interactive GIS mapping session on environmental racism and your location
• An Instagram Live event, to which you are invited to join the conversation as a breast cancer advocate.

A person’s zip code or skin color should never determine their quality of health. Join us in collective action as we work toward a world in which people and communities thrive because they are healthy, liberated, and free from breast cancer.

The post Think Before You Pink® Week 1: Environmental Racism and Breast Cancer appeared first on Breast Cancer Action.

By Zoë Christopher, Program Officer

Through 20 years of industry-disrupting Think Before You Pink® campaigns, we changed the landscape of pink ribbon marketing – for the better.

Watch the history of what YOU helped make possible with our 20 Year Look Back Video. 

Thanks to the accountability demanded by breast cancer activists, today there are fewer meaningless pink ribbon products on the market, offering us the opportunity to do more.  

We’re ready to break new ground again, and we’re expanding Think Before You Pink through deeper political education. In this year’s campaign, we’ll explore the intersections of:

• Environmental Racism – launching next week
• Fossil Fuel Divestment – launching the week of Monday, October 16
• And the Politics of Breast Cancer – launching the week of Monday, October 23

With Think Before You Pink Goes Rogue, we’ll turn from a focus on corporate leaders and pink ribbon campaigns, and pivot to focus on our own community. Many of our members are long-term, seasoned breast cancer activists, and many of our members are new to our work. To move forward together as we expand the focus of this campaign, we’re offering foundational definitions to ensure alignment for all breast cancer activists who support the work to address and end the breast cancer crisis.

See our FAQ about Think Before You Pink Goes Rogue, to learn more about what is changing, and what remains the same.

Here are some of the questions we’re giving you insider information on, as we expand this campaign:

Why are you focused on political education rather than targeting a single, for-profit pink ribbon product this year?

When we launched our first industry-disrupting campaign, pink ribbons were everywhere.

For over 20 years, our community of passionate activists has joined us in calling out the pinkwashing, profiteering, and empty awareness that takes place during breast cancer “awareness” month that does little more than line corporate pockets. You heard the call to collective action, and over time, you helped us expose the dark underbelly of pink ribbon cause marketing.

Together, we changed the landscape. [Read more with our Think Before You Pink Goes Rogue FAQ…]

Will you still call out pinkwashing and fundraisers that exploit the pink ribbon?

You betcha. It’s who we are.

And we still want to hear from you, as grassroots breast cancer activists who know your communities best. [Read more on how to take action when you spot pinkwashing from our FAQ…]

Together, we’ll continue to build on the legacy of Think Before You Pink. By connecting the dots between environmental racism, fossil fuel divestment, and the politics of breast cancer, we’ll do more than build “awareness” and buy pink ribbon products.

We’ll take collective ACTION to demand structural solutions for all communities, to address and end breast cancer for all. Join us in activism this October.

The post See what we’ll do next, after 20 years of historic Think Before You Pink® campaigns appeared first on Breast Cancer Action.

By Heather Perkins, Deputy Director

Our shared values and lived experiences around the politics of breast cancer create the radical energy, determination, and togetherness that will yield systemic and sustainable change.

You, becomes Us, and Us takes action to create a world where everyone can thrive.

Our work only continues to happen because You make our collective Us unstoppable! Join your Us in community and in action at Radical Disruption Compassionate Resistance on Tuesday, October 17th at 4:30 PT / 5:30 MT / 6:30 CT / 7:30 ET.

Show up as you can to Radical Disruption Compassionate Resistance! But be sure to show up! When you do, our critical work to address and end breast cancer can continue.

Here are some ways you can show up alongside our community of breast cancer activists:

• By purchasing a ticket starting at the Advocate level you’ll have a chance to submit the names of loved ones or activists that you want us to honor in our slideshow.
• When you buy a ticket at the Organizer level or higher you’ll receive a special invitation to a pre-event happy hour that includes a cooking demonstration with Chef Mat Schuster of Canela Bistro and Wine Bar in San Francisco.
• And when you sponsor at the Campaigner level or higher you’ll receive a special tapas kit to enjoy during the pre-event happy hour and cooking demonstration with Chef Mat Schuster of Canela Bistro and Wine Bar in San Francisco.
• A Supporter ticket advances our program work and supports our collective action at the event.
• An Uplifter ticket sponsors someone else to attend. This will help us make this event accessible to as many people as possible by welcoming people to join our work to address and end breast cancer.

You are the highlight of our evening event! Be a part of the conversation, take home unique items or experiences from our live auction, and feel the swell of positive emotions when a You is an Us in action.

Come be a part of the change-making experience! Get your tickets for an Evening of Radical Disruption and Compassionate resistance!

Together in action, we can work toward a world free from breast cancer. Join us!

The post BCAction’s evening with you and breast cancer activists nationwide appeared first on Breast Cancer Action.

By KR, Executive Director

Think Before You Pink® is an award-winning corporate accountability campaign that Breast Cancer Action started in 2002 in response to pink ribbon culture and breast cancer “awareness” month.

When we launched our first industry-disrupting campaign, pink ribbons were everywhere.

Every year, in the name of “breast cancer awareness,” corporations slapped pink ribbons on their products starting mid-summer, touting them for months while lining their pockets.

In response, we coined the term pinkwashing and paved the way for people to identify and call out all sorts of consumption-driven corporate nonsense, like pinkwashing, greenwashing, and rainbow-washing.

We changed the landscape, and alongside breast cancer activists nationwide, we’ve altered the way pink ribbons have been used ever since, by demanding greater transparency and accountability.

Think Before You Pink® has been carried out by questioning awareness campaigns, scrutinizing corporate partnerships, calling for transparency in fund allocation, critical evaluation of research, informing our community, and advocating for systemic change.

This campaign has always been bigger than pink ribbons. Political education has remained, and continues to be, a core part of this campaign. Political education has formed the foundation of breast cancer activism, galvanizing our community and people impacted by this disease across the country to take collective action to address and end the breast cancer crisis.

Think Before You Pink® 2023: We Are Going Rogue!

How BCAction defines Going Rogue: To behave in a way that is unconventional, rebellious, or independent; runs contrary to established expectations and norms; especially by disregarding the usual way of doing something.

We’re ready to break new ground again, and we’re expanding Think Before You Pink® to strengthen our political education programming.

Think Before You Pink Goes Rogue is a political education campaign that connects the dots between environmental racism, fossil fuel divestment, and the politics of breast cancer.

Join us throughout October as we ramp up our community engagement and align our shared understandings of the politics of breast cancer, toward the goal of building the collective power necessary to achieve health justice.

Together, we’ll explore the intersections of:

• Environmental Racism – launching the week of Monday, October 9
• Fossil Fuel Divestment – launching the week of Monday, October 16
• And the Politics of Breast Cancer – launching the week of Monday October 23

It is crucial for us to be aligned around the politics of breast cancer in order for us to build collective power and effectively advocate for systemic change. By connecting the dots across these core topics, we’ll suggest new and meaningful ways we can TAKE ACTION together to address and end breast cancer.

See the full campaign details on our website.

By shifting the norms of our annual campaign this year and growing our political education offerings, we’re doing what we’ve always done – staying at the forefront of the breast cancer movement and continuing to push the boundaries as to what falls within the realm of breast cancer activism.

Join us this October! Read the full campaign details, join us each week as new content launches, and follow us on Facebook and Instagram, so that you don’t miss the latest updates. Together, we’ll go beyond “awareness” this October, and we’ll do more, by taking collective action to address and end the breast cancer crisis.

Thank you for supporting Think Before You Pink® and for sharing in the vision of a world where people and communities are healthy, liberated, and free from breast cancer.

The post 📣 Launching Today! Think Before You Pink® appeared first on Breast Cancer Action.

By Heather Perkins, Deputy Director

My time spent in the nonprofit sector has thankfully afforded me encounters that yield transformative gifts, and I want to share with you an experience that has forever transformed me. 

BCAction community member Kim Cox gave me, and now many others, a transformative gift through planned giving to BCAction. Kim lived a life of lifting up others and chose to do the same after death.

Planned giving is priceless. A legacy gift echoes a life lived well by putting others before oneself. Acts upon acts of continuous love. I hope we continue to work and act in ways that honor the souls of people like Kim.

We are honored to acknowledge all tribute gifts made between March 2, 2023, and September 1, 2023. 

I, like all of us, witness actions and feel their outcomes. When an act is done with love, I think the world is made better. The collective action I have had the honor to witness during my time with BCAction has been made up of loving, mindful, and intentional actions that occur selflessly and genuinely. I am endlessly grateful to be among our community of activists who work toward good health and well-being for us all.

I am moved by the opportunity to celebrate and give thanks to those who give to others, turning times of loss into opportunity for growth and change. In recognizing gifts made in honor and memory of others, we are able to pause, reflect, give thanks, grieve, and celebrate the people we love. This is an opportunity to transform hurt into help.

Please join me in celebrating the lives of people who have been honored by gifts made in honor or in memory to Breast Cancer Action. And to celebrate those who made these gifts – those who seek to advance causes that yield a world where all may feel love, belonging, and acceptance as pathways to lives that thrive.

Lifting up the stories and memories of our loved ones emboldens the continued work of Breast Cancer Action. We are inspired by those who are honored through donations made in this way, and honored to be a part of the collective memory of the loved ones in our community.

Thank you. Thank you for being a friend and an ally in the work necessary to create a just, kinder, more equitable and thriving world.

The post We’re inspired by those you honor appeared first on Breast Cancer Action.

By Heather Stone, Development Manager

Fulfilling Breast Cancer Action’s mission is possible because YOU join us in action – in activism, in advocacy, and at events like our upcoming Radical Disruption Compassionate Resistance!

We’re feeling the buildup to another October and we invite you to join us virtually with our national community on Tuesday, October 17th when we will take collective action on our 2023 Think Before You Pink® campaign.

Tickets and sponsorships are now available — and you are invited!

Radical Disruption Compassionate Resistance 
Tuesday, October 17th at 4:30 PT / 5:30 MT / 6:30 CT / 7:30 ET
National Virtual Event

Our unique brand of radical disruption is critical work, and coming together with our grassroots community emboldens that work. BCAction thrives because of the unwavering support of our community of compassionate changemakers, and we want to celebrate our history and our future with you!

Together, we will take collective action on our Think Before You Pink® campaign, raising our voices and dollars to invest in our future — by addressing and ending breast cancer.

Please join us, tickets and sponsorships are now available!

Tickets for the virtual event are now available, and you can make a difference by becoming an early sponsor! We look forward to seeing you on Tuesday, October 17th!

The post I can’t wait to see you on October 17th appeared first on Breast Cancer Action.

By Haleemah Atobiloye, Program Manager

Our most recent research project for the California Breast Cancer Research Program gave us valuable insight into our immigrant communities, and resulted in our latest fact sheet, What We’ve Learned About Breast Cancer from the California Immigrant Community, now available in Spanish.

We determined that one of the significant factors that contributes to disparities in breast cancer diagnoses and treatment outcomes is the language barrier: many immigrants and their families do not speak or read English, making printed educational materials useless if they are not in a person’s spoken language.

Making this fact sheet available in Spanish is crucial (nearly 40% of California immigrants are of Hispanic/Latino origin), as it is written for policymakers and advocates, and for immigrant communities.

You can access the Spanish version directly in PDF to download, print, and share, or head to the webpage for the fact sheet, where we have posted the full text, with printable English and Spanish versions available.

“Language Justice” refers to “a key practice used in social justice movements in order to create shared power, practice inclusion and dismantle traditional systems of oppression that have traditionally disenfranchised non-English speakers.” -Community Language Cooperative

Making resources available in languages other than English is an act of language justice, and as a health justice organization rooted in social justice values, we are in the process of growing our language justice practices. We know that addressing and ending the breast cancer crisis will involve environmental, racial, and climate justice. Naming and acting on the intersections with language justice is a step toward our collective liberation. By democratizing information on breast cancer, we’re working toward a world where all communities can be free of this disease.

Access the fact sheet today, available in English and Spanish.

Your support makes this possible. Thank you!

The post Our latest fact sheet – now more accessible appeared first on Breast Cancer Action.

By Zoë Christopher, Program Manager

Another pinktober begins in less than two weeks.

October can be a difficult month for a lot of us: “breast cancer awareness” is suddenly a selling point, with pink ribbons plastered on everything from billboards to bottled water to police cars, constant reminders of our collective pain.

Too many of our community members have lost loved ones to this disease, are in treatment themselves, or caring for another who’s in treatment. And so many of us continue to live in polluted neighborhoods and environments awash in toxic chemicals that now have seeped into our food, water, and air. Pink ribbons don’t help.

For over 20 years, our community of passionate activists has joined us in calling out the profiteering and empty awareness that takes place during Breast Cancer “Awareness Month,” that does little more than line corporate pockets. You heard the call to collective action, and over time, you helped us expose the dark underbelly of pink ribbon cause marketing.

Our award-winning campaign, Think Before You Pink®, along with the integrated support of the film and book, Pink Ribbons, Inc., brought about a sea change in our movement. It took persistence and relentless dedication but with your help, we got there. There’s still so much to be done, if we’re going to put an end to this public health crisis.

The post We are approaching another breast cancer industry month appeared first on Breast Cancer Action.

By Heather Perkins, Deputy Director

We have lived with the health harms caused by fossil fuels for far too long.

Fossil fuels lie at the center of the climate crisis and exacerbate the breast cancer crisis, and we have an opportunity to do something about it. This month, hundreds of world leaders are set to convene at the United Nations Climate Ambition Summit in New York City to commit to phasing out fossil fuels.

Join us at the upcoming March to End Fossil Fuels as thousands of people from around the world take to the streets of New York to demand that these leaders, including President Biden, take bold actions and enforce actionable policies to #EndFossilFuels.

When: Sunday, September 17, 2023; 1:00 PM to 4:00 PM

Where: 56th Street and Broadway, New York, NY 10107. Routes are available from www.endfossilfuels.us/logistics

How: RSVP and learn more about the march at www.endfossilfuels.us

Breast Cancer Action is proud to be among the 500+ organizations that have endorsed this march. The use of fossil fuels not only contributes to the climate crisis, but exposure to chemicals used in fossil fuel extraction, production, and manufacturing also increases our risk of developing breast cancer.

To protect public health and our planet, join this march and help us begin taking steps toward ending our reliance on fossil fuels.

The post September 17: Join us at the March to End Fossil Fuels! appeared first on Breast Cancer Action.

By Haleemah Atobiloye and Zoë Christopher

Headline conversations about immigrants coming to America often focus on economic impacts, but rarely on the public health impacts. 

For immigrants, we know that our risk of a breast cancer diagnosis increases when we come to the United States. Now we want to know why.

We turn to this question in our newest resource What We’ve Learned About Breast Cancer from the California Immigrant Community.

From December 2021 to April 2023 Breast Cancer Action served as the convener for a collaborative research project titled “California Initiative to Prevent Breast Cancer in Immigrants” funded by the California Breast Cancer Research Program (CBCRP). We assembled three research teams and a scientific advisory panel that included researchers, educators, advocates, and clinicians with expertise in public health to help us understand why the risk of developing breast cancer increases for immigrant women who migrate (permanently) to the United States.

The research was composed of collaborative meetings, focus group interview sessions, and data collection. One of the research teams focused on workplace and occupational risk factors; another on immigrants living in Latinx enclaves; and the third focused on immigrants living in Asian enclaves in California. The preliminary findings inspired our latest resource.

In this fact sheet, we illuminate persistent barriers to healthcare across immigrant communities, discuss the complexity of tracking exposures during migration, highlight action items for community advocates and policymakers, and provide resources for navigating breast cancer as an immigrant.

Understanding why breast cancer risk increases when people emigrate to California is crucial because it points to the environmental causes of the disease.

Revealing the intersectionality of worker’s rights, economic justice, and toxic exposures, breast cancer in the immigrant community demonstrates why BCAction will continue to prioritize, advocate for, and stand in solidarity with those at the furthest proximity to power, toward the goal of health justice for all.

Read our fact sheet What We’ve Learned About Breast Cancer from the California Immigrant Community now.

The post New fact sheet: CA Immigrants and Breast Health appeared first on Breast Cancer Action.

By KR, Executive Director

Thank you! Because YOU choose to show up with us, our work at Breast Cancer Action remains radical and relevant. We couldn’t do this without your support and we are deeply grateful.

Thank you for raising your voice and for donating your hard-earned dollars. Thank you for showing up and for continuing to stand in solidarity with us, because with you, we take action to realize environmental, health, and social justice for all.

We remain a leader in the breast cancer movement as an independent watchdog, free from corporate funding. We hold the powerful accountable and we will not stop calling out profit-over-people capitalism, corporate greed, and the systems that enable these policies and perpetuate these destructive values.

BCAction connects the dots between the climate crisis, environmental justice, and our risk for breast cancer. Through critical analysis and translation of the science, we demonstrate how the breast cancer crisis is worsened by fossil fuels and climate change in what we’ve named the “breast cancer double burden.”

Through toolkits and fact sheets like our Climate Crisis and Breast Cancer, we illuminate the intersections of environmental racism and public health that impact our bodies, our families, and our communities.

Your support of our work extends the reach of materials like these, democratizing the science and helping to drive positive structural change.

With you, shoulder-to-shoulder with us, this past year our recent grassroots actions have included:

• Signing on to a letter by the Sierra Club, along with 25 environmental justice partners, to the California Air Resources Board urging the regulatory agency to create a comprehensive plan to track the noxious methane leaks from oil and gas infrastructure.
• Signing on to a letter with our environmental justice partners in the Last Chance Alliance urging the Biden Administration to phase out fossil fuel production and manufacturing on public lands, when the Department of the Interior was updating its oil and gas regulations.
• Signing on to a letter opposing the Lone Cypress Hydrogen Project in Elk Hills, California, a “blue hydrogen” project. Blue hydrogen is made from fossil fuels, it’s not renewable, and it’s marketed as if it’s a climate-friendly solution. “Blue hydrogen” is just industry jargon but the colorful branding won’t stop us from calling out industry tactics.

Your support and engagement are at the foundation of this work to stop breast cancer before it starts – through prevention. By taking action with us when we mobilize and by ensuring the strength of the movement, we infiltrate and disrupt the politics of breast cancer and move forward together.

Additionally, and together with you, the following events have created opportunities for us to expand our community of activists, and raise dollars that sustain our critical work nationally:

• In May, we held our first in-person fundraiser in over three years – and it was a huge success! Hosted by JoAnn Loulan, fierce former Board Member and treasured BCAction activist, this fundraiser supports our work to address and end the breast cancer crisis. This year’s 19th annual dynamic event in Portola Valley, CA was attended by over 150 guests. I was joined by Dr. Rainbow Rubin, Director of Science at Breast Cancer Prevention Partners, to take to the stage and share with the community the connections between the climate crisis, environmental exposures, and the impact on people living with and at risk of breast cancer.
• Our third annual Drawing the Connections Auction and Community Gathering was held on June 13th. It was a moving and inspirational evening. This vibrant, intersectional art auction and gathering illuminated the powerful overlap between art, activism, and social justice, also lovingly known as art-ivism! More than 45 artists joined us for this year’s event, and more than 130 people participated virtually for a night of storytelling and activism, all while raising vital funds to promote and scale our BCAction programmatic work.

As summer turns towards fall, we are eager to have you join us:

• On September 21st for Cocktails for a Cause, hosted by our fierce and fabulous board members.
• During October’s Think Before You Pink® political education campaign. Our groundbreaking campaign, entering its 21st year, continues to grow and deepen. Built on the foundation of our demand for corporate accountability and calling out pinkwashers, we continue to evolve this campaign to meet the changing times. Because quite frankly – we won. With fewer and fewer pink ribbons on the market compared to Octobers of previous decades, the connections between the dark underbelly of corporate fundraising, regulatory policy, and their impacts on breast cancer have become more insidious, and often harder to recognize. It’s our job to expose these connections and call them out. This October we’ll continue to follow the money and educate ourselves and others as to how we can make even more progress toward sustainable change.
• On October 17th for our 3rd annual Radical Disruption Compassionate Resistance event, we’ll get into “good trouble” taking collective action together as a community.
• During November for our #GivingTuesday storytelling series and fundraising opportunities.
• In December when we attend the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium, where we will translate the science to make this industry-focused conference more relevant to all.

We deeply value your solidarity as breast cancer activists! With YOU working toward health justice alongside BCAction, we will address and end this devastating disease.

We look forward to the results of our continued work together: a world in which people and communities thrive because they are healthy, liberated, and free from breast cancer. We do this vital and critical work with you and because of you.

The post BCAction’s Summer Updates appeared first on Breast Cancer Action.

By Heather Perkins, Deputy Director

Get your calendar out because you are invited!

BCAction’s annual member connector and fundraiser, Radical Disruption Compassionate Resistance, will be Tuesday, October 17th at 4:30 PT / 5:30 MT / 6:30 CT / 7:30 ET.

Save the date, because we want you to join us.

What makes this event especially powerful is that it’s hosted smack dab in the middle of our nationally-known October campaign: Think Before You Pink®. Think Before You Pink® has made headlines through two decades of campaigns because of what we’ve been able to achieve together: a no holds barred approach to calling out pinkwashing and groundbreaking wins in disrupting pink ribbon marketing culture.

When you attend Radical Disruption Compassionate Resistance during the campaign, you’ll get an exclusive, first-hand look into our October work and how we bring breast cancer activism BEYOND “awareness” and into ACTION, this year and every year.

Connect with your community of unabashed, compassionate change-makers from across the nation as we get together at this virtual event for special speakers, entertainment, and campaign exclusives.

Here’s that date one more time:

Radical Disruption Compassionate Resistance
Tuesday, October 17th at 4:30 PT / 5:30 MT / 6:30 CT / 7:30 ET

Tickets for the virtual event will be available soon, but show your support now by becoming an early sponsor. For more information, please email me at hperkins@bcaction.org.

The post Save the date – Tuesday, October 17 appeared first on Breast Cancer Action.

By Haleemah Atobiloye, Program Manager

Our coalition work uses the power of our organizational voice and positioning to support values-aligned campaigns.

Here’s what we supported in the month of July:

The March to End Fossil Fuels. This will be a mass demonstration in New York on September 17th calling on President Biden to take bold action to end fossil fuel production and expansion.

We’ve worked to hold the administration accountable since they took office, and we’ll continue to do so by supporting this direct action on Sunday, September 17! Learn more about the March to End Fossil Fuels.

The Campaign for a Safe and Healthy California. We’re early endorsers of this campaign, which is led by environmental justice organizations. It will bring together activists to defend against Big Oil’s attempts to overturn SB 1137, California’s setback law, on the November 2024 ballot. SB 1137 will implement a 3200-foot buffer zone between oil drilling and sensitive sites like homes, schools, and hospitals. Learn more about the Campaign for a Safe and Healthy California.

Many BCAction members took action with us to ensure SB 1137 was passed, and this powerful, protective legislation was hard won. It’s no surprise Big Oil has spent millions of their windfall profits to subvert democracy –  and we won’t stay quiet about it. 

The Metastatic Breast Cancer Access to Care Act. It is URGENT that we do better for people living with breast cancer. This important legislation calls for a waiver of the 24-month waiting period to obtain Medicare coverage, and the 5-month waiting period for Social Security Disability Insurance benefits, for eligible individuals with metastatic breast cancer. Learn more from the National Breast Cancer Coalition.

We’re proud to back these campaigns and legislation in our ongoing work toward the goal of creating a world without breast cancer.

Follow us on Facebook and Instagram to keep up with this advocacy work in real time, and thank you for taking action with us to address and end this devastating disease.

The post Organizational power is privilege – here’s one way we use it appeared first on Breast Cancer Action.

By Haleemah Atobiloye, Program Manager

We’re experts on the politics of breast cancer.

This means is we connect environmental policy to its impacts on public health, and demonstrate what we as individuals can do to support systemic changes to stop breast cancer before it starts.

Our June advocacy work included supporting the following actions, alongside our partners and in coalition spaces:

• With more than 25 environmental justice partners, we signed on to the Sierra Club’s letter to the California Air Resources Board (CARB) urging the regulatory agency to create a comprehensive plan to track methane leaks from oil and gas infrastructure. 

Oil and gas manufacturing releases toxic chemicals into the environment, and these are the types of environmental exposures that are at the root of the breast cancer crisis.

• As the Department of Interior updates its oil and gas regulations for public lands, Breast Cancer Action has signed on to a letter with our environmental justice partners in the Last Chance Alliance urging the Biden Administration to phase out fossil fuel production and manufacturing on public lands. 

Because the climate impacts public health, all acts related to environmental justice are steps toward health justice.

• We’ve signed on to a letter opposing the Lone Cypress Hydrogen Project in Elk Hills, California, a “blue hydrogen” project.

Blue hydrogen is industry jargon. It’s made from fossil fuels, it’s not renewable, and it’s marketed as if it’s a climate-friendly solution. The colorful branding won’t stop us from calling out industry tactics.

Your support and engagement is the foundation of this work to stop breast cancer before it starts – through prevention. By taking action with us when we mobilize and by ensuring the strength of the movement with financial contributions, we infiltrate and disrupt the politics of breast cancer and move forward together.

Thank you.

The post We’re disrupting the politics of breast cancer appeared first on Breast Cancer Action.

By Zoë Christopher, Program Officer

It shouldn’t be the case that we put ourselves at increased risk of breast cancer simply by taking care of ourselves.

Research shows that on average, women use 12 different personal care and beauty products each day. If each product, which includes cleansers, conditioners, hair dyes, makeup, fragrances, etc., contains 5 toxic chemicals, the cumulative exposure to cancer-causing chemicals is significant, and compounds our potential risk for breast cancer.

Take action today! Let your congressional representatives know that we need the Safer Beauty Bill Package to become law!

The cosmetics industry has been largely unregulated in the U.S. until 2022. The Safer Beauty Bill Package, comprised of four specific bills, was re-introduced in Congress in May of 2023, and we’ve made it easy for you to encourage your representatives to support its passage.

The four bills included in the Safer Beauty Bill Package are:

• The Cosmetic Fragrance and Flavor Ingredient Right To Know Act, which will require secret and often toxic chemical ingredients to be included on product labels, because consumers have the right to know what they are using on their bodies.
• The Toxic Free Beauty Act, which will ban the use of the 11 most hazardous chemicals used in personal care products. The European Union has already banned these chemicals, and it’s outrageous that industry has been allowed to continue using them in the U.S.
• The Cosmetic Safety for Communities of Color and Professional Salon Workers Act, which will create cosmetic safety protections for womxn of color and hair, nail, and beauty salon workers, groups of people who are disproportionately exposed to high levels of toxic chemicals on a daily basis.
• The Cosmetic Supply Chain Transparency Act, which will require suppliers such as fragrance houses, formulating labs, and suppliers of ingredients to provide brand owners with toxicity and safety data and ingredient disclosure.

Take action today!

At BCAction, we’ve always been critical of marketing ploys. The beauty industry has historically prioritized profit over people. We are not convinced that self-care products labeled “clean” or “natural” are harmless, because use of these words is not regulated in any way.

Unfortunately, many people fall for these marketing tactics and assume that known toxic and carcinogenic chemicals are not included in the formulas of products we buy and use. The lack of regulation in the U.S., combined with the power of chemical companies, allow these assumptions to prevail.

Congress can make a difference by passing this unprecedented suite of bills, the Safer Beauty Bill Package, which will reduce our risk of breast cancer and other diseases.

Send your letter today so your representatives know you are passionate about ending the breast cancer crisis, you need safer personal care products, and you want a healthy future.

The post Let’s get the Safer Beauty Bill Package passed now! appeared first on Breast Cancer Action.

By Haleemah Atobiloye, Development Manager

First, some good news: SB 252 has cleared the Senate and is now headed to the Assembly’s Public Employment and Retirement Committee!

We have signed on to and continue to support SB 252 because it will require CalPERS and CalSTRS—the two largest public pension funds in the country—to divest over $14 billion from fossil fuel companies.

Let your Representative know you’re glad they have supported the bill thus far, and that you want them to CONTINUE to support fossil fuel divestment by voting YES at the upcoming Assembly’s Public Employment and Retirement Committee!

CalSTRS’ and CalPERS’ continued investment in fossil fuels have devastating, real-world impacts on California and its people, including the students, teachers, public employees, and retirees the funds are meant to serve. Driven by the fossil fuel industry, while the climate crisis affects all of us, it is especially harmful to low-income neighborhoods and communities of color where most oil and gas infrastructure is located.

Send a friendly reminder letter to your Representative today!

SB 252, the Fossil Fuel Divestment bill, is important to California, the nation, and the breast cancer crisis. Toxic exposures produced along the fossil fuel continuum have been linked to increased risks for breast cancer – to stop breast cancer, we must stop fossil fuels. We cannot keep letting fossil fuel companies win. They continue to garner massive profits at the expense of public health and our environment, while also receiving financial backing from large financial institutions.

State employees, teachers, students, and retirees in California are saying with this bill that their retirement savings shouldn’t be used to benefit the fossil fuel industry, poison the environment, and increase our risk for breast cancer. Investments must be made in support of sustainable projects. CalPERS and CalSTRS must remove toxic assets from their portfolios and invest retirement savings in cleaner assets that improve public health.

Take action now and let your Representative know they must vote YES on this bill.

To end the breast cancer crisis, we must make intentional efforts to end our reliance on fossil fuels.

The post ACTION ALERT: SB 252 is headed to the Assembly! appeared first on Breast Cancer Action.

By KR, Executive Director

Thank you for making Tuesday night’s Drawing the Connections Community Gathering such an engaging evening!

We were joined virtually by BCAction members from across the nation, and our powerful artists and speakers made it an emotional and motivational gathering. I was deeply moved by our speakers, their stories, and their support of our work at BCAction. Now we need you to keep bidding on pieces in the auction!

Your bid supports our artists and our critical work in health and social justice. Please bid high and bid often to help us meet our goal of $20,000!

The Drawing the Connections Art Auction is open through THIS MONDAY June 19, which is also Juneteenth!

The auction features over 40 pieces, including pieces from our speakers, Susan Liroff, Grace Howard Karambelas and Michelle Oppenheimer.

So be sure to head over to the auction! We offer 30% of proceeds back to the artists themselves, so by participating you are supporting BOTH our partner-artists and our unique work to address and end the breast cancer crisis.

Bid on the pieces that resonate with you before the auction closes at 9:00am PT on Monday, June 19! (That’s right – in the morning! Last full day is this Sunday, June 18!)

Your support is our power. Thank you for practicing art-ivism alongside us at Drawing the Connections.

The post Thank you for making Drawing the Connections 2023 a magical and powerful event! appeared first on Breast Cancer Action.

By Heather Stone, Development Manager

One advantage to virtual events is that you can register right up until the day of!

Our Drawing the Connections Virtual Community Gathering is tomorrow, Tuesday, June 13 – and you can still join the party!

Register today to get your free or donation-based ticket, and learn more about how you can support the event.

Community Gathering Tomorrow, June 13

Tomorrow, Tuesday, June 13 is the highlight of our annual Drawing the Connections event.

We’ll meet (virtually) to learn more about the art in our curated collection and to hear from our powerful line-up of featured speakers.

Tickets are free, made possible by freewill donations! Get yours today and consider donating if you’re able.

Art Auction Open June 8 – 19

This collection is vibrant and ever-so-personal, and it is now open for bids. See what our community of artists has selected as representative of both their work and our unique health justice-focused mission.

The Drawing the Connections Art Auction spotlights over 40 pieces of art from values-aligned artists.

Some directly depict feelings, processes, and bodies related to breast cancer. Others are more abstract, or are from creators who strongly support our work to achieve health justice for all. This means there is something for everyone here.

Check it out today and be sure to bid on the pieces that resonate with you before the auction closes at 9:00am PT on Monday, June 19! (That’s right – in the morning! Last full day is Sunday, June 18.)

The post Last chance! Drawing the Connections is tomorrow! appeared first on Breast Cancer Action.

By Heather Stone, Development Manager

As you browse the Drawing the Connections collection now available in our art auction, we invite you to learn more about our upcoming virtual event program!

Drawing the Connections is a two-part event and fundraiser for BCAction: an art auction that is now open, and our Virtual Community Gathering, hosted this Tuesday, June 13th!

This will be our third annual Drawing the Connections event, and each year the program continues to inspire, build community, and highlight why the work of BCAction is so critical at this moment.

This year’s program will include:

• Breast cancer survivor, retired graphic artist, Jewish lesbian activist, and BCAction member Susan Liroff.
• Artist Michelle Oppenheimer, who over the past 20 years, has become well-known for composing paintings that capture the imaginative and organic possibilities of abstract watercolor and acrylic.
• Grace Howard Karambelas, who credits her connection to the Drawing the Connections body of work to being a mother of young daughter, a two-time breast cancer survivor, and a fashion designer.
• And Breast Cancer Action’s Executive Director KR, who will provide an update on our organization’s current work and perform a spoken word poem on equity in breast cancer.

Art moves us. And it is no surprise that when artists tell us more about their journeys and what brought them to this work, they illuminate the connections between our lived experiences, their artistic representations, and visions of health justice. You don’t want to miss it.

Read our featured speakers’ full bios and get your free and donation-based tickets today!

I’ll be your emcee on Tuesday evening – so you know we’ll have some fun! I can’t wait to see you and join in community to support our work to address and end breast cancer. See you soon!

The post 3 artists + BCAction = Drawing the Connections! appeared first on Breast Cancer Action.

By Heather Perkins, Deputy Director

All of us here at BCAction have been busy behind the scenes curating a thought-provoking and diverse collection of art – and it opens today!

The Drawing the Connections art auction opens TODAY, June 8 and runs through Monday, June 19!

To view and bid on the Drawing the Connections artwork, register for the auction today!

It’s easy:

• Visit our Event Gives site and click “Register” on the top right-hand corner of the screen.
• Browse the available items and start bidding!
• Updates will be sent to you via text message, and you’ll be able to monitor your bids right from your phone.

There are so many pieces in this curated collection that demonstrate art-ivism as a driver of social change, and I’d like to share a few pieces that resonated with me personally. See more below!

Cristy C. Road – “AUTONOMY” (9×12, original line drawing, framed)

Cristy C. Road is a Cuban-American artist, writer, and musician. She published Green’zine from 1997-2004, and has released three graphic novels tackling mental health, sexuality, cultural identity, and punk. She has been illustrating for music, publishing, and social movements for over 20 years. Her most recent projects are her band, Choked Up, and the Next World Tarot, a tarot deck focused on revolution. She’s currently writing songs and science fiction in Brooklyn, NY.

Bonnie Neumann – “Forward!” (6×6, KakiShibu Dye and Sumi Ink)

Bonnie Neumann has an MFA from Mills College and has been making art in the Bay area for over 30 years. She has shown nationally and internationally.

Cate White – “Green Emptiness” (11×8.5, work on paper unframed)

Cate White is primarily a painter, but often exhibits her work in multi-media installations that include sculpture, drawing, video and books. She was the recipient of Oakland’s ProArts 2×2 Solos award in 2013, the 2014-2015 Tournesol Award from Headlands Center for the Arts and was included in the Bay Area Now 8 triennial exhibition at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in 2018. Residencies include a fully-funded year at the Roswell Artist-in-Residence in New Mexico, the Atlantic Center for the Arts Master Artist residency with Joan Snyder, and the Mills College API Residency. Her work has been exhibited in 13 solo shows and multiple group shows in the Bay Area and beyond.

Your bids will support our crucial work to address and end the breast cancer crisis through a health justice lens.

The post Live! Drawing the Connections Art Auction launches today appeared first on Breast Cancer Action.

By Haleemah Atobiloye, Program Manager

Here’s the latest on our unabashed and intersectional advocacy work.

In the month of May, alongside our coalition partners, we actively supported:

• U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’ letter to the Biden Administration and other world leaders calling out climate inaction and calling the expansion of fossil fuels “a death sentence.”
• The Center for Biological Diversity’s letter to the US Geological Survey urging them to continue the National Pesticide Use Map project, used by scientists and advocates.
• A letter in support of California’s Assembly Bill 421, to reform the state’s referendum process giving power back to voters over corporate wealth – which is too often used by industries like Big Oil to overturn public health progress.
• The Safer Beauty Bill Package – a historic suite of 4 bills to get cancer-causing chemicals out of personal care products.
• Calling on the Department of Pesticide Regulation to rewrite their rule on the cancer-causing fumigant pesticide “1,3-D,” which most directly impacts Latinx and Indigenous residents of farm-working communities.
• Public comment by Earthjustice calling on the EPA to deny Inhance Technologies’ widespread production of PFAS, a potentially-toxic class of chemicals.

It’s time we stop fueling breast cancer. We deserve to play, work, live, and breathe comfortably on our planet.

Credible media companies report that this summer is going to be one of the hottest in many areas around the nation. In fact, last week, State Farm, the largest homeowner insurance provider, revealed they would stop selling new home insurance policies in California because of the wildfire-fueled crisis. These extreme weather conditions are a result of our rapidly changing climate. Burning fossil fuels, which include oil, coal, and gas, releases carbon dioxide and other harmful chemicals into the environment. As highlighted in our Why We Must Stop Fossil Fuels resource, the use of fossil fuels not only contributes to climate change but might also increase our risk of developing breast cancer.

Whether it’s environmental exposures from fossil fuels, pesticide use, or PFAS in our personal care products and beyond, the Breast Cancer Action team is able to connect the dots on legislation across a range of issues and work toward stopping this disease before it starts.

As always, thank you for supporting this work and taking action with us toward the goal of a world without breast cancer.

The post Using legislative advocacy to fight for environmental justice appeared first on Breast Cancer Action.

By Tibby Reas, Communications Manager

BCAction’s favorite art event – Drawing the Connections – is coming up Tuesday, June 13!

We’ll come together at our Virtual Community Gathering on that date, and we’ll have available our curated collection of values-aligned art at our art auction, opening next week, June 8th!

Here are some of my personal staff picks that will be available starting next week – each submitted to the auction by BCAction staff members themselves!

Not only are my team members breast cancer activists – they are each talented artists! See the pieces below and register for the virtual event today.

Zoë Christopher – “Queen” 8×10 photograph printed on archival paper

As a member of the BCAction team for 16 years, Zoë Christopher holds the role of Program Officer and Operations Manager – and she is also a member of the Bay Area’s community of artists!

Zoë is a poet and writer who loves her Bay Area literary community, but her love of San Francisco is best expressed as a street photographer.

Register for Drawing the Connections today and support our work by bidding on pieces like Zoë’s.

Heather Stone – “Missing Magritte: OLYMPIA” Multimedia Paper Collage

Lead organizer of the Drawing the Connections event and BCAction’s Development Manager, Heather Stone is also a participating artist!

Their mixed media woven collage diptych is made from magazines, origami paper, and metallic foil, and features the image “Olympia” by René Magritte.

Heather is based in East Oakland and uses paper and ceramics to creatively express her love of popular culture and the environment.

Support BCAction’s work to address and end breast cancer by joining us at Drawing the Connections. Register today.

Katy Simon – “Red Rocks Necklace”

BCAction’s Development and Fundraising Assistant Katy Simon has donated her handcrafted “Red Rocks Necklace,” a quartz, chain, and bead necklace inspired by the Arizona desert.

Katy is a crafter and writer from Phoenix, Arizona. She is inspired by the red mountains that surrounded her while growing up, and by the beauty of the desert. She loves making art for her loved ones and organizing art exchanges for fellow crafters. She believes in the healing power of creating and that it is the best way to connect with ourselves and others.

Tickets to Drawing the Connections are free and donation-based, get yours today!

Haleemah Atobiloye – “Ronke, Tinu, and Anu” Headwraps

Program Manager Haleemah Atobiloye is donating three pieces of beautiful wearable art to the Drawing the Connections art auction – in the form of headwraps! She has created these from 100% cotton, high-quality African print fabrics.

Haleemah is a social scientist with a deep interest in exploring how storytelling techniques can bring about social change. She’s a self-diagnosed music junkie and when she can, she creates wearable art pieces for womxn.

Register today!

The post Art by BCAction staff appeared first on Breast Cancer Action.

By Haleemah Atobiloye, Program Manager

We know many Breast Cancer Action members had questions about the recently released proposed changes to the USPSTF’s mammography screening guidelines.

And we want to be sure you saw our response and our critical, people-centered translation of the science entitled, “USPSTF’s Updated Mammography Screening Guidelines: Problems, Positives, and the Science.”

Here’s the long and short of it: The United States Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) is now recommending that people of average risk of breast cancer start routine mammography screening at age 40, not age 50.

This proposed change was made with good intentions, but won’t produce results that deliver on those intentions.

As we show in our piece:

“According to Medscape, ‘Two major factors prompted the change, explained [USPSTF member John Wong, MD]. One is that more women are being diagnosed with breast cancer in their 40s. The other is that a growing body of evidence showing that Black women get breast cancer younger, are more likely to die of breast cancer, and would benefit from earlier screening.’”

Mammography screening will not solve breast cancer disparities, and cannot reduce rates of breast cancer diagnosis. As we state clearly in the piece:

Breast Cancer Action holds two relevant stances with deep conviction:

1. We need unbiased, patient-centered, and data-driven solutions specific to unique demographics and communities like young womxn and Black folx, due to stark rates of breast cancer disparities in diagnosis, access to treatment, and mortality.
2. Mammography screening is not the tool that will get us there.

It’s important to remember that the USPSTF is a group of volunteers whose job is to make recommendations about screening specifically, not about potentially more effective, systemic level public health changes.

But as we clearly state: “We need to step back from the myopic view of mammography screening as the best and only tool in addressing breast cancer, and instead advocate for large-scale, structural public health changes.”

Read the piece to learn more about the new recommendation, how we can hold the potential positive changes with nuance, and more about the foundational science related to the need for better screening tools than mammography.

We are critical consumers of science because we want bold and effective structural health justice changes that will end this devastating disease.

The post USPSTF’s mammography screening guideline changes appeared first on Breast Cancer Action.

By Heather Stone, Development Manager

Social Justice + Health Justice + Art = our fav artwork from Drawing the Connections!

I am so excited to share our curated collection of artwork with you at Breast Cancer Action’s virtual community gathering and art auction, Drawing the Connections on Tuesday, June 13th 2023!

As an artist and activist, I want to share a few of my favorites with you!

Susan Liroff – “Sweet Dreams” (24”x32” digital work on paper, unframed)

Breast cancer survivor, retired graphic artist, and Jewish lesbian activist, Bay Area artist Susan Liroff’s powerful work calls out the hard truths behind breast cancer and brings them to light.

Susan is a digital artist, a breast cancer survivor, and a BCAction member. Her work combines painting with photo imagery, and much of her work is political or nautical. She’s inspired by Oakland and has published books of her work.

Please be sure to click the link and register to attend this year’s virtual event! It’s a wonderful way to support both our community of artists and BCAction’s work toward achieving health justice for all.

Steven Regalado – “Woman Warrior Deck – Cancer Hella Sucks” (32×8 hand screen printed skateboard deck)

“For those fighting, those who have loved ones fighting, and for all of us who lost loved ones to cancer.” This hand screen printed skateboard deck is a powerful reminder that cancer impacts all communities, especially BIPOC communities. This skateboard deck is from his Indigenous Warrior series.

Before Steven was born, he lost both of his grandmothers to breast cancer. His mom passed of lung cancer shortly after his first birthday. His sister passed in ’08 with cervical cancer. It’s been a part of his life since before he was born and he was “an angry kid,” always blaming cancer for his hardships. When he first started his company, he didn’t have plans to go too far with it. He just wanted to reach people like himself. When his wife was diagnosed with leukemia, his plans changed. Steven is a prolific social justice artist across multiple mediums including street art, screen printing, digital graphics and wearable art as well as others.

Register for Drawing the Connections to see art like Regalado’s, and more!

Tracy Knehr – “self (2020)” 10×10 (Metal print of a digital art piece, unframed)

“I’m a transgender lesbian with autism, ADHD, Tourette’s, synesthesia, and hearing loss, among other things that all work together to vibrantly color my life. I was born November 2002 in Las Vegas, Nevada, and I am currently a sculpture major at Arizona State University. I work with wood, pyrography, photography and graphic design, painting, and sculptures of different mediums. I make art to try and show people not only the world I see, but the world I feel, in hopes that they may feel something too.” – Knehr

Here’s that link one more time: reserve your (virtual) seat for our community gathering today!

The post Heather’s picks for Drawing the Connections 2023 appeared first on Breast Cancer Action.

By Heather Stone, Development Manager

Tickets for this year’s Drawing the Connections Virtual Community Gathering are now available!

Reserve your (virtual) seat TODAY and join us in this celebration of health justice and art-ivism Tuesday, June 13th, at 4pm PT/5pm MT/6pm CT/7pm ET.

Our evening together will feature multiple artists from across the nation sharing their inspiring stories and artwork. And! Special sneak peek into the program: our Executive Director KR will illuminate the unique and crucial role Breast Cancer Action plays in the breast cancer landscape with their spoken word poem, Tapestry of Injustice: A world where equity reigns, forever free.

It’s going to be a dynamic and powerful evening of art-ivism, so reserve your ticket for our virtual community gathering now!

The event’s accompanying art auction will feature a curated collection of art that focuses on themes of breast cancer, womxn’s rights, health justice, and other social justice causes. Bidding on the artwork raises crucial funds for Breast Cancer Action’s work and allows for a portion of the proceeds to go back to participating artists.

As an organization rooted in social justice, tickets to this event are at no cost. However, if you are able, we encourage you to become a sponsor or make a donation to help make this event accessible to as many people as possible, while supporting our vital work to address and end breast cancer.

Looking forward to seeing you at our 3rd annual joyful, creative, and vibrant art-focused BCAction event, so, get your tickets today!

The post You’re the first to know – tickets are available! appeared first on Breast Cancer Action.

By Heather Perkins, Deputy Director

It’s me again, Heather Perkins with Breast Cancer Action. Activists – I needed my community thirteen years ago when I faced a breast cancer diagnosis – and my community showed up.

Today – someone else needs you.

1 in 8 people assigned female sex at birth are diagnosed with breast cancer each year. Your action over the past 32 years is keeping people alive, but as we all know, too many people continue to die from breast cancer.

This spring, I am asking you to donate your hard-earned money to help us continue BCAction’s unique and absolutely necessary work. Your dollars go directly to support our work, that we achieve together, to address and end the breast cancer through a health justice lens.

I am living a healthy life, creating more beautiful moments and memories with my loved ones because people like YOU showed up and continue to show up.

-> YES! I want to support Breast Cancer Action today! <-

Thank you to all of you who have already donated to support this work. Your financial gifts go toward stopping breast cancer before it starts, through people-centered advocacy, addressing the environmental causes of the diseases, and calling out all-talk, no action corporate fundraising, demonstrating the radical shifts we need toward REAL action.

The post We show up for each other appeared first on Breast Cancer Action.

By Heather Stone, Development Manager

What are you doing Tuesday, June 13?

We hope you’ll be spending it with us, soaking in the joy, creativity, and vibrancy of BCAction’s favorite art-focused event – Drawing the Connections!

Save the Date!
Drawing the Connections 2023
Virtual Community Gathering: Tuesday, June 13
4 – 5 pm PT / 5 – 6 pm MT / 6 – 7 pm CT / 7 – 8 pm ET
Art Auction: June 8 – 18

Drawing the Connections highlights the intersections between art, activism, and breast cancer, and uplifts art-ivism as central to social change.

This art auction and virtual community gathering features a curated collection of pieces that focus on themes of womxn’s rights, health justice, and other social justice causes, each supporting the vital work of Breast Cancer Action. We are in conversations with incredible artists from across the country who will be supporting this event by donating their work, and we know there will be something for everyone available in this colorful, powerful, developing collection!

Save the date for this unique, art-focused event that raises crucial funds for our work. Tickets will be available soon!

Put it on your calendar today – because you don’t want to miss it!

The post Everyone’s fav art event is here! appeared first on Breast Cancer Action.

By KR, Executive Director

Thank you BCAction Community! We remain grassroots and people-powered because you continue to take action with us!

This is KR, Executive Director for Breast Cancer Action. Earlier this week you received an email from Heather Perkins, Deputy Director, with her powerful story and ask of you. I ask you now to continue your support as the staff, board, and I plan our scope of work for the next year of radical action.

Will you donate to support systemic interventions to address and end breast cancer for all communities?

Our work at BCAction is rooted in taking action to hold accountable the structures and systems that diminish people’s health and wellbeing. We galvanize activists across the country to raise our collective voices and to sign on to petitions, letters, and legislation that promise equitable outcomes toward the goal of health justice.

We need your continued financial help to do this work.

Will you join us in this vision? This work is unique in the breast cancer advocacy landscape. We do this work through a health justice lens unlike any other organization.

And we do so because we know this is the most effective approach to address and end breast cancer. It will take these types of large-scale public health changes that center those most impacted by the breast cancer crisis, to reverberate outward and most effective address this crisis for ALL communities.

Together, we can achieve a world in which people and communities thrive because they are healthy, liberated, and free from breast cancer.

Support Breast Cancer Action’s work with a financial gift today.

The post A world where people and communities can thrive, because they are free from breast cancer appeared first on Breast Cancer Action.

By Heather Perkins, Deputy Director

You are a fierce and fabulous human. Your unique being makes a difference in the lives of others and I am thankful for you!

I know that cancer steals moments.

Breast cancer should not be the disrupter in your life nor in the lives of people you love. That’s why we’re asking you to support BCAction’s work to address and end this disease.

Cancer tried to stop me but I am done with cancer.

Thirteen more years of living is happening for me because I had access, support, information, and love.

For more than 32 years, BCAction has been, and continues to be, the watchdog and the radical doer in addressing the breast cancer crisis. BCAction continues to show up to help people gain the information and the support needed when navigating a breast cancer diagnosis. BCAction’s work is made possible because of YOU. You choose to show up. You choose to raise your voice. You take action. Thank you.

To continue our work we ask you, again, to take action with us.

My partner and I donate to the work happening at BCAction. We donate what is possible for us because, as BCAction activists, we believe in the current and future work that will be achieved together. You, me, the staff, the board, and our community, together – stopping breast cancer and creating more moments with our loved ones.

My partner and I donated $130 in honor of 13 cancer-free years for me!

I am so thankful to be healthy! I am so thankful for you! YOU have given me years filled with more moments and memories – THANK YOU! Will you join me in donating some of your hard-earned money to address and end breast cancer?

One dollar at a time helps us continue the work. And remember – that work is untarnished by corporate greed or agendas. All your dollars go directly to addressing and ending the breast cancer crisis and to creating more quality, healthy time with loved ones. Thank you for your unyielding support!

With love and gratitude,

The post Cancer sucks. But know this… appeared first on Breast Cancer Action.

By Haleemah Atobiloye, Program Manager

Breast cancer activism goes beyond holding pink ribbon marketing culture accountable in October, and extends throughout the year.

It also means connecting the dots between our three core programmatic priorities: issues of breast cancer screening, treatment, and diagnosis; the root causes of breast cancer; and watchdogging pink ribbon fundraising. Our advocacy work addresses the intersecting issues of environmental justice, gender justice, racial justice, and health justice. 

Here’s what we actively supported in California in the month of April, alongside our coalition partners:

• We signed onto Physicians for Social Responsibility Los Angeles’ letter to the CA Senate Committee on Energy, Utilities, and Communications in support of SB 57 to delay utility shutoffs during extreme weather to protect vulnerable communities. 
• With our coalition partners in Last Chance Alliance, we sent a letter to the CA Senate Environmental Quality Committee in support of SJR 2, a resolution to negotiate the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty, calling for a phase out of coal, oil, and gas, and into a just transition.
• We joined dozens of other environmental organizations in signing onto CA Senate Bill 556, the Oil & Gas Pollution Accountability Act, which will create “health protective zones” to hold industry accountable for health conditions like respiratory ailments and cancer diagnoses, for people who reside within a certain proximity to oil and gas production facilities or a wellhead.
• We sent a letter in support of CA Assembly Bill 418, which will ban five toxic chemicals commonly found in processed foods and which have already been banned by the European Union.
• As a coalition member of the Last Chance Alliance, we signed-on to a letter from Voices in Solidarity Against Oil in Neighborhoods (VISION) to CA Governor Newsom and Secretary of Natural Resources Crowfoot, urging them to use their authority to rein in CalGEM to protect public health by putting a stop to oil drilling permits.

You can also read the March summary of our advocacy work on Facebook, including our support of the 2023 Banking on Climate Chaos Report.

Authored by Rainforest Action Network, BankTrack, Indigenous Environmental Network, Oil Change International, Sierra Club, Reclaim Finance, and Urgewald, this investigative annual report details which banks are driving the climate crisis by funding fossil fuels.

By connecting the toxic, cancer-causing chemical exposures caused by fossil fuel production, drilling, and manufacturing, with who is most impacted due to increasing extreme weather events and decades of environmental racism, we make it clear that breast cancer activism and advocacy are forms of both racial justice and climate justice. 

Thank you for supporting this work, and engaging with this intersectional advocacy toward the goal of educating ourselves and others as to the best, most effective solutions to address and end the breast cancer crisis, and stopping this disease before it starts.

You are our power.

The post Monthly update: our legislative advocacy appeared first on Breast Cancer Action.

By Heather Stone, Development Manager

What we’ve learned from preparing for our event Drawing the Connections is this: the Breast Cancer Action community is full of powerful and passionate artists.

From photography to collage to poster art, this auction will have something for everyone. If you haven’t yet, it’s not too late to join the extraordinary group of artists by submitting your piece to the Drawing the Connections art auction!

We’ve extended the submission deadline to Monday, May 8th!

If you want to participate but don’t know exactly what you want to submit, that’s okay too. Just fill out the form and I’ll follow up with you.

Don’t forget to save the date for our Virtual Community Gathering on Tuesday June 13th from  4 – 5pm PT / 5 – 6pm MT / 6 – 7pm CT / 7pm – 8pm ET. Tickets and sponsorship opportunities will be available soon.

At this event we will highlight a few of the participating artists whose art submission reflects and connects with Breast Cancer Action’s work to achieve health justice for all people at risk of and living with breast cancer. You will also get to hear from our amazing staff about the work we are doing!

This fundraiser will reflect our core values. BCAction is not your average breast cancer organization, and for three decades we have targeted this disease by addressing its root causes. The health inequities we face are the result of a complex interplay between culture, power, economics, racism, and sexism. While the mainstream breast cancer movement remains squarely focused on pink ribbons, “awareness” campaigns, and individual lifestyle choices, we approach breast cancer through a health justice lens.

We encourage submissions from artists who feel aligned with our values and are interested in addressing issues of breast cancer, health, and other social justice causes. We welcome art that explores these themes, however it is not required for you to stick to those themes or express them in a literal way. If you feel inspired to submit a piece, please do!

The deadline to submit a piece of art has been extended to Monday, May 8th. Please don’t hesitate to connect with me if you have any questions about this fundraiser or the submission guidelines.

The post Submission Deadline Extended! appeared first on Breast Cancer Action.

By Heather Stone, Development Manager

You’re invited to TWO upcoming Breast Cancer Action events this May and June – join us as these events are heating up!

The 19th Annual Billie Gardner Loulan Memorial Luncheon
Friday, May 5th, 2023 • 7:00 – 10:00pm
At the home of Pamela Dorrell and Amit Pandey in Portola Valley

We have TWO options for you: get tickets to attend this powerful event in person or if your schedule does not allow you to attend, please consider making a donation to support our critical cause.

For 19 years, powerful, critical-thinking members of the Loulan family community have gathered to honor family and friends affected by breast cancer.

Created in honor of her mother Billie Gardner Loulan, former Board Member and treasured BCAction Activist JoAnn Loulan created this vibrant annual event that supports our work to address and end the breast cancer crisis. 

This event will feature red hot music from Dr. Sig and the Super Naturals, featuring Ronny Crawford, Beth Stovall, Sig Knapstad, DB Walker, and Greg “Smitty” Smith!

Come for the cause, stay for the delicious food, inspiring program, energetic band, and wildly radical changemakers – YOU!

BCAction’s 3rd Annual Drawing the Connections is this June
Event details coming soon!

This vibrant, intersectional Art Auction and virtual Community Gathering illuminates the powerful overlap between art, activism, and social justice, also lovingly known as art-ivism!

While you can’t get tickets just yet, we need you to support this event in its planning stages by contributing your art!

Are you interested in supporting the event but you don’t have the creative skills of a sculptor, print-maker, digital designer, or other creators and craftpersons? Please – forward this email to those in your community who you think would be a good fit for this!

We encourage work from artists who are interested in addressing issues of breast cancer, gender justice, health justice and social justice; however, it is not required to stick to these themes or express them in a literal way. In other words, we welcome all creative perspectives.

Submit your art now and help grow the curated collection for Drawing the Connections 2023.

However you plug into these creative, community-based opportunities to support our work to address and end breast cancer, THANK YOU for joining us as event season heats up! We can’t wait to share in space and community with you.

The post Spring events are heating up with Breast Cancer Action appeared first on Breast Cancer Action.

By Zoë Christopher, Operations Manager and Program Officer

Actions speak louder than words.

In our latest blog post, “The Latest Train Derailment, Chevron, the EPA—and Breast Cancer,” I discuss the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)’s approval of fuels made from plastics, the toxic chemicals released into the atmosphere following the recent East Palestine Ohio train derailment, and how these could set us back years from addressing and ending the breast cancer crisis.

It is clear from these examples we need stronger, more decisive action from the EPA.

Chevron, one of the 5 fossil fuel companies that make up Big Oil, has millions of dollars invested in infrastructure for fracking and fossil fuel projects. The EPA’s approval of their latest plan to invest even more into plastic- and waste-based fuels is a greenwashed delusion, and is contributing to the breast cancer crisis.

Vinyl chloride is one of the chemicals the EPA announced was released into the air, ground, and water as a result of the Ohio train derailment. It is primarily used to make polyvinyl chloride (PVC) plastics, and it is considered carcinogenic. Plastics do not fully decompose, they aren’t renewable, and plastics production is fueling the climate crisis, which, as we’ve shown, exacerbates the breast cancer crisis.

Read the piece now, for our take on what these headlines mean for the breast cancer crisis.

At BCAction, we not only advocate for less dependence on only fossil fuels, but also for the elimination of practices that release toxic chemicals into the environment. It is the mission and job of the EPA “to protect people and the environment from significant health risks, sponsor and conduct research, and develop and enforce environmental regulations.” We must hold the EPA accountable!

Our unabashed, people-over-profit perspective on these developments is crucial to addressing the breast cancer crisis. Thank YOU for your continued support and engagement, which bolsters and galvanizes our watchdog work.

The post What do train derailments & fuels from plastics have in common appeared first on Breast Cancer Action.

By Haleemah Atobilye, Program Manager

On February 6th, BCAction became the first breast cancer organization to join the California Fossil Fuel Divestment Coalition.

The Coalition is comprised of organizations that support SB 252, The Fossil Fuel Divestment Act, which will prohibit administrators of the California Public Employees Retirement System (CalPERS) and the California State Teachers’ Retirement System (CalSTRS) from investing in fossil fuel companies, and requiring that they divest of all current investments by 2030.

Divesting from fossil fuels is a major step in the right direction toward addressing and ending the breast cancer crisis. And this bill will add to the growing movement pressuring banks and other financial institutions across the US to stop funding fossil fuel projects.

Over the past 10 years, CalSTRS and CalPERS have invested close to $9 billion in fossil fuel producers, during a time when the state of California has experienced an unprecedented number of wildfires, floods, and other critical environmental crises. The air we breathe, our water, our food, and everyday items we use contain toxic chemicals produced during the extraction, processing, and burning of fossil fuels. Exposure to many of these toxic chemicals has been linked to breast cancer risk.

We’re no stranger to being the first breast cancer organization in an environmental justice space, and in anti-fossil fuel work. We know this work is necessary because of the cancer-causing environmental exposures produced throughout the fossil fuel continuum, and the environmental racism inherent to the industry.

To address and end the breast cancer crisis, we must end our dependence on fossil fuels.

Thank you for your support, advocacy, and activism in connecting the dots between oil and gas drilling, environmental justice, and health justice. By raising our collective voices to stop dangerous oil and gas drilling, we work toward a future in which people and communities can thrive because they are healthy, liberated, and free from breast cancer.

The post Making it easy to follow legislation: what you need to know about SB 252 appeared first on Breast Cancer Action.

By Heather Stone, Development Manager

Please join us in uplifting art and activism at our 3rd annual art auction fundraiser, Drawing the Connections.

Planning is underway for our June event and we want you to submit your art work! This inspiring event will highlight the intersection of art, breast cancer, and social justice.

BCAction is not your average breast cancer organization, and for more than three decades we have taken on this disease by addressing its root causes and related health inequalities. We encourage work from artists who feel aligned with our core values of health justice as a human right, the uplifting of diverse voices, honesty and fearless truth-telling, action over awareness, and people over profit. We welcome work from artists who are interested in addressing issues of breast cancer, gender justice, health justice and social justice; however, it is not required for you to stick to those themes or express them in a literal way. In other words, we welcome your creative perspective.

By participating in the event, you are joining our community of art-ivists and activists who work to hold the powerful accountable and to end this public health crisis. So please submit your art today or share this form with artists you know! The deadline to submit your work is April 13, 2023. Please don’t hesitate to reach out to me if you have any questions about this fundraiser or our submission guidelines.

The post Plans for our 3rd annual art auction are underway! appeared first on Breast Cancer Action.

By Haleemah Atobiloye, Program Manager

Big Oil isn’t just price gouging — they’re using windfall profits to buy ballot initiatives and overturn vital health protections. 

Due to the current oil and gas monopoly controlled by five companies, Big Oil can intentionally restrict supply to artificially drive-up prices whenever they want. Even with crude oil prices down, they are jacking up prices in California to make record profits — oil refiners make 30% more profit on the West Coast than the rest of the nation, and Californians pay about $3 more per gallon on average.

California Members: Sign our petition supporting Governor Newsom and stand up to these Big Oil bullies!

We must hold Big Oil accountable and stand firm as they use their record profits to subvert democracy. 

California recently passed SB 1137 into law, banning oil and gas drilling within 3,200 ft. of sensitive sites like homes, schools, and playgrounds. Big Oil immediately spent $20 million lying to Californians to secure signatures for a referendum to overturn this historic bill, and they succeeded. SB 1137 is now headed back to the ballot in California.

Stand up to Big Oil’s attempts to reverse bills that would protect communities from toxic fossil fuel production!

As a health justice organization, we prioritize fossil fuel work because oil and gas drilling, refining, and manufacturing are primary drivers of the climate crisis we’re experiencing, as described in our ground-breaking factsheet The Climate Crisis and Breast Cancer, thereby increasing our risk for this devastating disease.  

As the climate crisis intensifies, so do prevailing health injustices. Black, Brown, Indigenous, and low-income communities are already on the frontlines of fossil fuel impacts and as climate change worsens, these communities will bear an even greater burden of exposure.

Take action and join us in connecting the dots: stop Big Oil’s price gouging that is used to overturn public health protections!

The post Join us in demanding a cap on Big Oil’s greed—protect public health! appeared first on Breast Cancer Action.

By Haleemah Atobiloye, Program Manager

Fossil fuel companies have amassed enormous profits at the expense of public health and our environment, particularly in recent months.

Californians pay significantly more for gas than anyone else! This fall, gas prices climbed as high as $7 a gallon, meaning Californians pay about $3 more for gas than drivers anywhere else in the country. This has resulted in a cost-of-living crisis for many residents of the state.

Stand up to Big Oil by taking action with us now!

Recently Big Oil spent upwards of $20 million while lying to Californians to secure signatures for a referendum meant to overturn SB 1137, a law banning new oil drilling within 3,200 feet of sensitive sites like homes, schools, hospitals, and prisons. Their dirty money is buying ballot initiatives, killing and gutting bills that would protect communities from their toxic fossil fuel pollution, and overturning vital regulations meant to protect our health and our environment.

Take action now and join us in holding Big Oil accountable for the harm they cause to the environment, their blatant attacks on public health, and their insatiable greed!

SB 1137 was championed by Governor Newsom, democratically passed by the California legislature, and hailed internationally as an historic win for communities across California living with the toxic fumes, spills, and leaks from neighboring oil wells.

The oil industry is spending their record profits to undermine our democracy with disinformation, delay action on climate change, and overturn vital protections for communities living next to toxic oil drilling sites. Big Oil’s windfall profits threaten our financial security, our democracy, and our health.

For the sake of our health, the environment, and social justice, please sign this email petition to urge your legislators to stand with Governor Newsom. We are long overdue in holding Big Oil accountable for their greed!

The post ACTION ALERT: Stop Big Oil from subverting democracy! appeared first on Breast Cancer Action.

By Zoë Christopher, Program Officer and Operations Manager

It took twelve years but you helped make it happen!

The Lymphedema Treatment Act was first introduced into Congress in 2010 and on the 23rd of December 2022, it finally passed as part of the Consolidated Appropriation Act of 2023. During the previous three Congresses, and with some help from activists like you, the bill gained bipartisan support with more than 400 House and Senate co-sponsors, and we now have a new Medicare Part B benefit category for doctor-prescribed compression supplies to treat lymphedema.

Because most insurance companies follow Medicare mandates, the 3-5 million Americans who need access to these supplies should finally see the costs covered by their carriers.

This win was a grassroots effort, led by the all-volunteer Lymphedema Advocacy Group, that brought on allies, patients, and activists like Breast Cancer Action members.

We are grateful you responded to our calls to action, whether it was pressuring legislators, making phone calls, or signing and sending letters to your representatives.

The new law will go into effect on January 1, 2024. It will provide coverage for thousands of patients diagnosed with lymphedema who have suffered physically, with this often debilitating and painful condition, and financially, as the cost of compression garments can be exorbitant. And it will save Medicare hundreds of millions of dollars a year through avoided hospitalizations. For more information about this bill, check out this FAQ resource that the Lymphedema Advocacy Group put together.

For your perseverance, your commitment to health equity, your compassion for people living with lymphedema, and your efforts to bring health justice to all folx – we thank you!

The post Congress Passes the Lymphedema Treatment Act! appeared first on Breast Cancer Action.

By KR, Executive Director

Thank you, BCAction Community! We are successful because you choose to invest in the work to address and end breast cancer.

Together you helped raise over $80,000 to support our unique and vital programming as the watchdog of the breast cancer industry.

As we transition into the new year, you can count on BCAction to continue our mission to achieve health justice for all people at risk of and living with breast cancer with a focus on policies, institutions, and practices, and by centering people with the furthest relationships to power.

Throughout 2023, we will continue to demand that people and public health are prioritized over corporate profit, to call out the ways unchecked capitalism enables pink ribbon marketing and profiteering from the breast cancer crisis, and to provide unrestricted access to our Resource Library, which includes toolkits, fact sheets, podcasts, and webinars that provide critical information for people living with and at risk of this disease.

You make this work possible.

Thank you for your continued support and commitment to a world without breast cancer.

The post Thank you for supporting Breast Cancer Action this year appeared first on Breast Cancer Action.

By KR, Executive Director

Thank you to everyone who’s invested in Breast Cancer Action’s cause and purpose. We remain grassroots and people–powered because of YOU – our community. 

Your investment to BCAction moves us toward a world in which people and communities thrive because they are healthy, liberated, and free from breast cancer.

Your year-end gift makes our crucial work possible. Please support BCAction with a gift today which supports our mission to achieve health justice for all people at risk and living with breast cancer!

Together, we will address and end the breast cancer crisis.

Wishing you a new year filled with peace and wellbeing.

The post Last chance in 2022! appeared first on Breast Cancer Action.

By KR, Executive Director

As I look back at the last year, I am proud of all we’ve accomplished together. However, there is so much more to be done to achieve health justice for all people at risk of and living with breast cancer. 

• We launched our 2022 – 2027 Strategic Plan, “Our 5-Year Strategic Vision: A Radical Strategy for Addressing and Ending Breast Cancer Through A Health Justice Lens,” to guide the next five years of our collective activism.
• We grew our work to stop PFAS exposures in California.
• We strengthened our federal level advocacy work and demanded the passage of the Scientific Integrity Act, the Reducing Hereditary Cancer Risk Act, and the Safety and Landmark Advancement Act.
• We launched our 20th Think Before You Pink® campaign: A (R)evolution, which connected the dots across decades of pink ribbon marketing culture and showed how breast cancer fundraising strategies put profits over people.

And we’ve done so much more thanks to you! Please make your year-end gift today to support our work to address and end breast cancer!

As we wrap up this year, we want to extend our deepest gratitude to our community of activist supporters.

We can do this work because we aren’t in the pocket of the breast cancer industry. We don’t take money from corporations that profit from or contribute to breast cancer. The vast majority of our funding comes from individual members and supporters like YOU.

We are grassroots and people-powered. Your year-end gift makes our work possible. Support BCAction with a gift today!

The post We need your support going into 2023 appeared first on Breast Cancer Action.

By KR, Executive Director

We are grassroots and people-powered. 

Stand together with our nationwide community of activists to help us achieve health justice for all people at risk of and living with breast cancer. Breast Cancer Action is committed to the highest ethical standards and ensuring that our education, advocacy, and activist work is conducted with integrity and without the bias of corporate influence.

We raise the vast majority of our funding from individuals like YOU—and you can trust we’ll never take money from corporations or organizations that profit from or contribute to breast cancer. That means we’ll always put your health first.

BCAction’s conflict of interest policy ensures our independence and is our continued promise to you – our refusal to accept funds from any corporation that profits from or contributes to cancer means that we can continue to speak truth to power and to hold our leaders accountable. Stephanie Schus shares why she supports BCAction and our dedication to this conflict of interest policy:

 “I’ve been giving for years and especially like that your organization doesn’t take money from corporations that pink wash or sell products that can contribute to bad health and breast cancer.”

For over 30 years, our community has stood by our side as we have done our critical work. Among the endless sea of lucrative breast cancer charities, corporate donors, and pharmaceutical-funded research agendas, the independent voice that defines Breast Cancer Action has never been more urgently needed, and our relevance as an activist watchdog organization is greater than ever.

Our supporters know they can count on BCAction’s integrity and commitment to never take funding from any organization that causes cancer . Your donation will support our crucial work to address and end the breast cancer crisis.

Please make your fully tax-deductible year-end donation today.

The post You are the reason we do what we do appeared first on Breast Cancer Action.

By The Breast Cancer Action Team

Our members know that they can trust Breast Cancer Action to provide a health justice lens on issues relevant to the breast cancer community.

Dr. Sherryl Kleinman has supported BCAction’s mission for over 20-years. She recently shared what inspires her to give to Breast Cancer Action:

BCA is the only organization I trust when it comes to breast cancer. No pink ribbons, and the recognition that breast cancer is an environmental and thus political matter that requires a movement! Thanks for all the work you do.

– DR. SHERRYL KLEINMAN – 

Make your year-end donation to support our work in 2023.

Like Dr. Kleinman stated, the work to address and end breast cancer is a MOVEMENT. It requires unabashed culture change work to name the issues that impact the breast cancer community have always been political and politicized.

Going beyond education and advocacy work, our bold activism is unafraid to connect the dots on how systems and structures disproportionately impact different communities, and enable the breast cancer crisis to continue.

Because we never compromise our values, our work remains unique in the breast cancer landscape. We work to mobilize our network of nationwide community members and hold the breast cancer industry accountable together.

Today and looking ahead, we’re asking you to invest in this vital work to address and end breast cancer. Please make your fully tax-deductible year-end donation today.

Thanks to the support and engagement of our powerful and grassroots community, together we can continue to grow the movement to address and end breast cancer, so all communities can be free of breast cancer.

The post Why I Support Breast Cancer Action appeared first on Breast Cancer Action.

By Haleemah Atobiloye, Program Manager

We sent 5 members of our small but mighty team to this year’s SABCS – and now we’re reporting back to you.

The BCAction team attended this year’s San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium (SABCS) from December 6th through December 10th with our critical and social-justice-focused lens, to provide our unique, patient-centered perspective on the latest breast cancer findings.

SABCS is the largest breast cancer conference in the world that gathers doctors, researchers, patient advocates, and Big Pharma industry representatives to share the latest updates on drugs, treatments, and standards of care.

Throughout the week, our staff who attended the symposium, including myself, Executive Director Krystal Redman, Deputy Director Heather Perkins, Program Officer and Operations Manager Zoe Christopher, and Communications Manager Tibby Reas Hinderlie, provided rapid-response takes on social media and published 12 blog posts detailing a comprehensive summary of our biggest takeaways.

As we know, breast cancer awareness and making healthy lifestyle choices are not enough to address and end the breast cancer crisis. Our analysis from this year’s conference further solidifies this stance demonstrating across a range of topics that breast cancer is a social justice and public health issue.

Check out our #SABCS22 blog posts now, on the following topics:

• SABCS 2022 Foreword
• Are You Really Ready to Build Trust? (Part II): Putting Principles into Practice
• Bringing Trials to All Patients
• Changes in Tumor Microenvironment May Not Fully Explain Disparities in Breast Cancer Outcomes of Black Women
• Digital Health and PROs in Breast Cancer Research and Care: Patient Perspective
• Does Everyone Need an Annual MRI with a Mammogram?
• Financial Toxicity: The Fruits of a Broken Healthcare System
• Inequities in Big Data, Privacy, and Telemedicine
• Patient-Reported Outcomes – They May Be Beneficial But…
• Put The Right Incentives in Place to Encourage Drug Adherence
• Reproductive Freedom and Pregnancy-Associated Breast Cancer
• The Burden of Overtreatment – DCIS and BabyTam Research Reprised at SABCS 2022 vs 2018
• Viewing The Relationship Between Obesity and Breast Cancer Through a Social Justice Lens

Our strategic plan segments our work into three core components: Action & Accountability, Equity & Justice, and Advocacy & Research. We operationalize our values in our advocacy and research work by insisting on patient- and people-centered practices, policies, science, and treatment, and our SABCS analysis is a significant part of this work.

We are unabashed about infiltrating a space designed for clinicians and practitioners and demanding the industry grapple with what truly patient-centered science and research could look like.

Show your support of this bold work with a year-end gift today. With the strength of our community, we continue to provide activism, advocacy, and education toward systemic changes that will stop breast cancer before it starts.

The post SABCS 2022 Overview appeared first on Breast Cancer Action.

By KR, Executive Director

Breast Cancer Action provides evidence-based information and resources from our experienced, compassionate staff, available at no cost to anyone who needs it.

Make your year-end donation today so that we can continue to provide these crucial services and our unique advocacy work in 2023.

This year, with your support, we will:

• Directly name how rampant, unregulated capitalism enables pink ribbon marketing culture and profiteering from the breast cancer crisis.
• Through our California-based and federal-level advocacy work, demand that people and public health are prioritized over corporate profit.
• Continue to share our ground-breaking materials on breast cancer and the climate crisis, to educate students, activists, and the general public about the intersection of fossil fuel extraction, the climate crisis, and breast cancer.
• Stand strong as a trusted resource and provider of free access to our Resource Library, which includes toolkits, fact sheets, podcasts, and webinars that provide critical, evidence-based information for people living with and at risk of breast cancer. 

BCAction’s perspective is patient-centered, trustworthy, clear, and consistent. And because we are people-powered, we can only do this with your support. 

Please make your fully tax-deductible year-end donation today.

The post Prioritize people over profits in your end of year giving appeared first on Breast Cancer Action.

By Heather Perkins, Deputy Director

Thank you for your part in our work to address and end breast cancer.

This year when we surveyed our community of members, we learned that two-thirds of the respondents have had breast cancer themselves or have faced a breast cancer diagnosis in their family.

It is clear that this work is deeply important and urgent to our community.

And it follows that the work to stop breast cancer before it starts – either by demonstrating in the streets, taking action by contacting legislators, or by acquiring, learning from, and sharing our unbiased, patient-centered resources – is emboldened and made possible by our nationwide network of members and allies.

We’re releasing our 2021 – 2022 Annual Report, detailing exactly the types of rapid response, thought leadership, and health justice work we engaged in during this time period in our efforts to end the breast cancer crisis.

In it you’ll see the pictures, graphics, and numbers that reflect the power of what we are able to achieve together.

We are unabashedly unique in the breast cancer landscape. We’re evolving, responding, and strengthening what it means to demand systemic changes to address and end this devastating disease and its disproportionate impacts on different communities.

See the 2021-2022 Annual Report now.

Thank you for your part in supporting and making this work possible. Our community is our power, and we will continue this work in 2023 and beyond until all communities are free from breast cancer.

The post A year of evolution and growth that you made possible appeared first on Breast Cancer Action.

By KR, Executive Director

There are glaring disparities in rates of breast cancer diagnosis, treatment, and mortality–and this is unacceptable.

And this is why health justice values will always guide our radical work, to address and end breast cancer for all communities. 

With your support Breast Cancer Action will continue to use our independent, watchdog voice on behalf of ALL people living with and at risk of breast cancer, to focus on the systemic issues and tackle the root causes of breast cancer.

Out of this year’s Strategic Planning sessions has come our revitalized organizational vision: We envision a world in which people and communities thrive because they are healthy, liberated, and free from breast cancer.

We know that the same solutions that will most effectively address disparities in breast cancer will be the best solutions to address the breast cancer crisis overall, which is why we center in our work those with the furthest relationships to power.

Show your support of this vision with a contribution to Breast Cancer Action today.

In bringing this vision to practice, we have outlined the following organizational values. At BCAction, we value:

• People’s health and wellbeing, not corporate profit
• Integrity and freedom from conflict of interest
• Transparency and accountability from ourselves and others
• Uplifting and centering diverse voices and lived experiences
• Honesty, fearlessness, and truth-telling about the breast cancer crisis
• Collective action and cross-movement work that changes the world for the better
• Health justice as a human right
• Action over awareness
• Partnering with integrity, purpose, and passion
• Being critical consumers of inclusive science

Thank you for your part in the continued growth of Breast Cancer Action’s unique and radical work.

YES! I will support BCAction’s health justice work with a year-end gift today.

The post Our values – outlined one by one appeared first on Breast Cancer Action.

By KR, Executive Director

This has been another powerful year for Breast Cancer Action, and we want to close out 2022 by sharing what we achieved together: 

We launched our 2022 – 2027 Strategic Plan, “Our 5-Year Strategic Vision: A Radical Strategy for Addressing and Ending Breast Cancer Through A Health Justice Lens,” to guide the next five years of our collective activism. Our mission and vision were evolved in this process. BCAction’s updated mission is to achieve health justice for all people at risk of and living with breast cancer by focusing on systemic interventions, which include policies, institutions, and practices, and by centering people with the furthest relationships to power.

We grew our work to stop PFAS exposures in California by signing onto legislation including: the Safer Clothes & Textiles Act; the PFAS-Free Beauty Act; and the Keep Food Containers Safe from PFAS Act of 2021.

Your contributions support this bold and vital advocacy work!

We strengthened our federal level advocacy work and demanded the passage of the Scientific Integrity Act, the Reducing Hereditary Cancer Risk Act, and the Safety and Landmark Advancement Act. In our continued work to address the fossil fuel industry’s rampant exacerbation of the climate crisis, we signed on to numerous letters to both state and federal lawmakers, pressuring them to suspend or ban fossil fuel extraction.

We launched our 20th Think Before You Pink® campaign: A (R)Evolution, which connected the dots across decades of pink ribbon marketing culture and showed how breast cancer fundraising strategies put profits over people.

We collaborated with Instagram Influencer Blair Imani Ali to amplify the message that pink does not solve breast cancer, and that we need action over awareness!

We shared video messages from community members as to the WHY BCAction’s work resonates with them personally.

Show your support with a year-end gift to Breast Cancer Action today, if this work resonates with YOU!

And closing out the year, we virtually attend the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium, a global conference of scientists, doctors, breast cancer patients, and patient advocates, to continue our core work to challenge, lift, and give voice to people living with or caring for people living with breast cancer.

And we’ve done so much more thanks to you! We are grassroots and people-powered. Please consider making a year-end gift with confidence, knowing your investment directly impacts our work to address and end breast cancer!

The post Your investment supports what is possible appeared first on Breast Cancer Action.

By Haleemah Atobiloye

Some good news: on the 17th of November, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Lymphedema Treatment Act!

This bill rightfully ensures Medicare coverage of doctor-prescribed compression garments for the treatment of lymphedema. We are grateful for your support thus far. However, we still have more work to do! We currently have less than a month to get the Lymphedema Treatment Act through the Senate and passed into law before the end of this year!

Take action and join us in calling on members of Congress to pass the Lymphedema Treatment Act this year!

Lymphedema is one of the heartbreaking side effects of breast cancer treatments. The condition causes swelling in an arm or leg due to a blocked flow of fluids. This blockage can occur when lymph nodes are removed or damaged and it can be extremely painful. To treat lymphedema, patients need compression supplies to control their swelling.

Please sign this email petition to urge your Senator to pass this bill OR place phone calls to Senate offices urging them to pass this very important.

We need your help to lessen the burden on those living with breast cancer who can’t afford these treatments. Join us in this act of health justice.

The post With one easy step, you can help pass the Lymphedema Treatment Act! appeared first on Breast Cancer Action.

By Haleemah Atobiloye, Program Manager

The San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium (SABCS) brings together researchers, clinical practitioners, advocacy groups, and patients to discuss the latest and emerging breast cancer research and practices.

Our team will be in attendance from December 6th to the 10th, with a critical mindset, patient-centered framework, and most importantly, on behalf of people living with and at risk of breast cancer. We’ll be tuning in to sessions, debates, and workshops that focus on therapeutic practices, drugs and clinical trials, big data and health equity, challenging types of breast cancer, and the intersectional impact of breast cancer treatments on patients.

We will be listening and participating to learn about recent research breakthroughs in the quality of care that breast cancer professionals are providing, and whether the drugs pushed by pharmaceutical companies are effective, accessible, and affordable.

To prepare for our upcoming analysis of the sessions, we’re releasing some of our foundational resources. We’ve updated the following trusted fact sheets:

• Health Is Not Just Healthcare
• Ductal Carcinoma in Situ
• The Facts and Nothing But the Facts

For those who are planning to attend, we encourage you to have these fact sheets handy, and read our blog posts from previous years, including our 2021 analysis.

Throughout this week we’ll be dropping rapid responses on Twitter at @BCAction, so follow us here to stay up-to-date. Following the conference, we’ll post our critical analysis on our website.

As always, we will continue to use our independent, watchdog voice on behalf of people living with and at risk of breast cancer to focus on the systemic issues and tackle the root causes of breast cancer. 

The post #SABCS2022 from a health justice perspective appeared first on Breast Cancer Action.

By The Breast Cancer Action Team

Thank you, BCAction Community! Your #GivingTuesday support is an investment in the health and wellbeing of our communities.

#Giving Tuesday is one day of collective global philanthropy. But our mission is to address and end breast cancer every day. This work happens because YOU believe in, support, and share our work. Thank you!

Breast Cancer Action is a lean organization with an outsized impact. For over 30 years our power has come from the commitment and support of our members. We raise the vast majority of our funding from individuals like YOU—and you can trust we’ll never take money from corporations or organizations that profit from or contribute to breast cancer. That means we’ll always put your health first.

You heard from 3 board members on #Giving Tuesday. We want to hear from YOU. Financial investments to our mission happen every day. Donate today to make your contribution on any day — to raise your voice, celebrate a loved one, or to share the reason you support our work.

And our independence – our refusal to accept funds from any corporation that profits from or contributes to cancer – means that we can continue to speak truth to power and to hold our leaders accountable, no matter who they are. Together, we will continue, every day to raise our voice to injustices and truths, so people are placed before profits. Together, we will not stop until the burdens of the breast cancer crisis end.

Please join us today.

The post Thank you to our nationwide BCAction community! appeared first on Breast Cancer Action.

By Heather Perkins, Deputy Director

You have until the end of the day to support Breast Cancer Action’s vital work during this global day of giving – please join us!

The video below illuminates the reasons why Stacey, our External Affairs Board Chair and Board Member, values, promotes, and invests in BCAction’s work.

Stacey shows: “BCAction works to stop breast cancer before it starts by advocating for large scale, systemic changes to address and eliminate racial disparities and environmental exposures linked to breast cancer. This giving Tuesday we’re asking you to invest in the health of everyone at risk of or living with breast cancer.”

Show your support for the unbiased and unabashed work of our health justice organization. Together we remain resilient, radical, and relevant because YOU choose to join us!

The post Join Stacey today on #GivingTuesday appeared first on Breast Cancer Action.

By Heather Perkins, Deputy Director

As you know, #GivingTuesday is an opportunity to support a cause that brings more meaning to your life.

Watch the video link below to learn why CoCo, our Internal Affairs Board Chair and board member, resonates with, promotes, and invests in BCAction’s work.

CoCo succinctly summarizes BCAction’s unique role within the breast cancer landscape: “to address and eliminate environmental exposures linked to breast cancer, to produce unbiased patient-centered resources to those who need them free of charge, and to call out and stop pink ribbon marketing culture that trivializes and normalizes this devastating disease.”

Today and beyond, we’re asking you to invest in our vital work to address and end breast cancer.

Together we remain resilient, radical, and relevant because YOU choose to join us!

The post Hear CoCo’s story and her personal connection to BCAction appeared first on Breast Cancer Action.

By Heather Perkins, Deputy Director

Opportunity is gifted to us today.

Today is #GivingTuesday, the day designed to collectively invest and give voice to causes that connect us with purpose and inspire us to act. 

We invite you to join us this #GivingTuesday on a journey. You, as a valued member of our community, will receive three emails throughout the day, each with a personal message from your fellow BCAction community members.

Hear from Tamatha below, a longtime BCAction activist and board member about her personal connection to BCAction and her pride in our values.

Today connects us to why we choose to invest our time, talent, and money in the causes and work of BCAction. Today inspires and propels our work forward to address and end breast cancer.

Your support is crucial to our work. As you plan how to invest your time, talent, and money this #GivingTuesday, we ask you to consider making a gift of this year to BCAction. Your financial investment in BCAction’s mission promises to propel our work forward, deepens our reach to our national community of members, and amplifies our work to address and end breast cancer.

Together we remain resilient, radical, and relevant because YOU choose to join us!

The post Today! #GivingTuesday – the day to gift in meaningful action with BCAction appeared first on Breast Cancer Action.

By The Breast Cancer Action Team

Tomorrow is #GivingTuesday. A day designed to take collective action.

As you decide how to invest your time, talent, and money, we encourage you to also plan how to expand the reach of your gifts.

#GivingTuesday provides the opportunity to strengthen causes that are meaningful to us. The opportunity to introduce people to nonprofit organizations that are close to our heart. The opportunity to invite others to join us in collective action. Here are just a few ways you can promote and support the critical work of BCAction:

• Time – Tell folks about BCAction
• Talent – Join a BCAction committee
• Money – Invest in our vital work to address and end breast cancer

Tomorrow, #GivingTuesday, gifts us the opportunity to make a difference in the lives of others by supporting work that impacts the health and wellbeing of our communities. Here is to gifts that last a lifetime.

The post Countdown to Collective Generosity appeared first on Breast Cancer Action.

By KR, Executive Director

We’re celebrating and recognizing staff transitions, as we welcome new Program Manager Haleemah Atobiloye! 

Haleemah started with the BCAction team in September and supported our October Think Before You Pink® campaign alongside outgoing Program Manager Jayla Burton.

Haleemah has an impressive background in not-for-profit organizations and social justice advocacy.

She has a Master’s degree in International Development with a focus on the International Political Economy from Ohio University, and a Bachelor’s Degree in Communications from Crescent University. Haleemah brings her social justice perspectives and several years of work experience in the social sector, and her ability to complete insightful yet empathetic mixed-method social science research strengthens the team at Breast Cancer Action.

While we celebrate Haleemah’s onboarding, we give thanks and appreciation to outgoing Program Manager Jayla Burton, for her impact in this role and all that she accomplished in during her time with us.

Jayla started with BCAction in 2019. She has been with the us through our transition to a virtual, national organization, led three years of groundbreaking Think Before You Pink® campaigns, and expanded our advocacy and policy work. 

Her impact on Breast Cancer Action’s work has been invaluable and will reap lasting results.

The Breast Cancer Action community is made up of compassionate, bold truth-tellers, in our staff, our board, and our members. Thank you for your part in the continued growth of Breast Cancer Action’s unique and vital work.

The post Celebrating our BCAction Program Leadership appeared first on Breast Cancer Action.

By Heather Stone, Development Manager

Giving Tuesday is November 29! 

Our shared connection to Breast Cancer Action’s mission drives our determination and our work forward, until we address and end breast cancer.

Giving Tuesday is a global movement unleashing the power of radical generosity and philanthropy.

How you choose to invest your time, talent, and money is a deeply personal decision and action.

Your financial investment to BCAction’s mission promises to propel our work forward, amplifies our voice, and deepens our connections and reach to our national community of members.

As you plan how to invest your money this Giving Tuesday, we ask you to consider your first financial gift of this year or an additional financial gift to BCAction.

You can learn more about ways to support our vital work here. Together, we remain resilient, radical, and relevant because YOU choose to join us in our work!

Thank you!

The post Save The Date – Giving Tuesday appeared first on Breast Cancer Action.

By Heather Perkins, Deputy Director

Right now over 40,000 attendees, including 100 heads of state and world leaders, are gathering for COP27, the climate implementation summit held this year in Egypt. If we’re going to derail global warming and the climate crisis, we need to take action now. 

Exacerbated by rampant, unchecked capitalism and the endless drive for profit, the fossil fuel industry is the primary driver of the climate crisis.

Please read and share The Climate Crisis and Breast Cancer, our latest fact sheet that exposes the double burden of fossil fuels and climate change on the breast cancer crisis.

In no uncertain terms and with simple graphics, we show how, as the climate crisis intensifies, so do prevailing health injustices. We cannot ignore  these issues that must be addressed at the intersection of racism, classism, and health justice.

This fact sheet focuses on:

• Hurricanes and Tsunamis 
• Heatwaves and Drought 
• And Wildfires 

We show how each of these extreme weather events, exacerbated by environmental racism, increases exposure to cancer-causing chemicals of concern, and frontline and BIPOC communities suffer a disproportionate impact. 

We must prioritize the health and well-being of our communities instead of the fossil fuel industry that’s driving us all toward an irreparable climate catastrophe.

Your first step toward structural change is to understand and expose how the breast cancer crisis is impacted by man-made phenomena that includes fossil fuels and climate change. We must all educate our communities, policy-makers, and government leaders in order to do better. Join us by downloading and reading the factsheet now.

The post FACT SHEET ALERT: The Climate Crisis and Breast Cancer appeared first on Breast Cancer Action.

By Zoë Christopher, Operations Manager & Program Officer

We want to thank all of you who, even in the midst of the current societal uncertainty and concern, participated in this year’s Think Before You Pink® campaign: A (R)Evolution. Together we will continue to push back on the rampant, unregulated capitalism that fuels pink ribbon cause marketing.

Breast Cancer Action has a long history of focusing on the root causes of breast cancer, and this October we took a hard look at the corporate tactics used to perpetuate the idea that somehow, consumerism lies at the root of the solution to ending this disease. But now, after 20 years of calling out bad actors, our community of passionate activists has had enough.

We’re fed up with being manipulated by false advertising. We’re fed up with the revolving door that allows regulatory agencies to stay in bed with lobbyists. We’re fed up with manufacturers lacing our products with cancer-causing chemicals. We’re fed up with living every day in a toxic soup because of the suppression of scientific evidence. And particularly in today’s economic climate, we’re fed up with our dollars doing little more than lining corporate pockets.

And with your commitment to this work, we’re making a difference. Highlights and impacts from the last month include:

• Fierce advocate for women’s health and Instagram Influencer Blair Imani highlighted our Critical Questions for Consumers in her series, SmarterInSeconds.
• Writing for Jezabel, Journalist Gila Pfeffer encouraged readers to Think Before You Pink because empty “awareness” is no substitute for meaningful action.
• Writing for Everyday Health, journalist Leona Vaughn interviewed our Deputy Director, Heather Perkins, to educate the public on the pitfalls of pink ribbon cause marketing and how to avoid them.
• Even ABC7 News is providing guidelines to help determine the most effective ways to contribute to ending the breast cancer crisis, using our Critical Questions.

Our 20 Year Look-Back video on the wins achieved throughout Think Before You Pink® shows how the industry-disrupting campaign has continued to change the landscape of breast cancer fundraising year after year. If you haven’t had a chance to watch it yet, tune in to see the impact our collaborative actions have had.

So thank you for everything you do to support this work, from educating yourself and spreading the word to friends and family, to signing on to our open letter to the breast cancer industry, to donating. You make our work possible.

The post The end of another October appeared first on Breast Cancer Action.

By Zoë Christopher, Program Officer & Operations Manager

This month, you have joined us as we recognized two decades of mobilizing people to think critically about pink ribbon marketing and culture.

An Evolution: How has pink ribbon marketing and culture evolved?  

The pink ribbon is one of the most successful marketing campaigns of the 21st century, but it’s real impact on the breast cancer crisis is minimal considering the billions of dollars raised. Much has evolved since the inception of pink ribbon gimmicks. What was once a simple strategy of slapping a pink ribbon on a product, pinkwashing has become insidious and more pervasive, inspiring cause-marketing tactics across industries. Motivated by profit, not public health, these types of campaigns are both unique to and normalized under capitalism.

Late-stage capitalism and health justice 

Late-stage capitalism is an economic and cultural term used to refer to “absurdities, contradictions, crises, injustices, inequality, and exploitation created by modern business development.” Discriminatory racial classification, environmental negligence, and economic exploitation is built into the fabric of this unchecked, profit-over-people economic system, and like the breast cancer crisis itself, these injustices disproportionately impact our Black, Brown, and Indigenous communities.

A Revolution: What can we do about it?  

To support our Think Before You Pink campaign, A (R)Evolution, educate your network on the impacts of rampant late-stage capitalism on our health, organize your community to do something about it, and take action with us! Here’s how:

1. Educate: Learn how rampant, late-stage capitalism encourages profiteering off of breast cancer. You can share the facts on Twitter, Facebook, or other social media platforms to educate your network.
2. Organize: Have you seen pink ribbon marketing in your community that may be spreading misinformation or empty awareness? Develop your own Think Before You Pink® campaign with the guides from our free newly-revised Think Before You Pink® Toolkit.
3. Take Action: If you haven’t already, sign our Open Letter to the Breast Cancer Industry!

Together we’ll continue to push the boundaries of what breast cancer advocacy looks like, demanding large-scale, meaningful changes to address and end this crisis, not pink ribbon profiteering.

The post Have you stood up to the Breast Cancer Industry this month? appeared first on Breast Cancer Action.

By KR, Executive Director

Huge & heartfelt appreciation to everyone who joined us at Radical Disruption and Compassionate Resistance.

It was an engaging evening of stirring conversation and direct action. If you weren’t able to attend, you can still support the event by bidding on our silent auction, open until midnight on Tuesday, October 25. From phenomenal seats at a Warriors game (!!!), to gift certificates for independently owned businesses around the country, there’s something here for every interest and every price point.

See the 55+ items in our auction from across the nation.

At Radical Disruption Compassionate Resistance, we screened a video by Instagram Influencer Blair Imani from her series Smarter in Seconds, watched a powerful look back video on 20 years of Think Before You Pink® campaigns, took collective action on our open letter to the breast cancer industry as part of our 20th Anniversary Think Before You Pink® campaign: A (R)Evolution.

The event centered our inspirational and unabashed guest speaker, Tiah Tomlin-Harris. Our deepest gratitude and a huge thanks to Tiah. Tiah boldly called out injustices in breast cancer disparities, issues of toxic chemicals in personal care products, and systemic issues of access and racial justice in how different communities face barriers to different types of products. This conversation got to the heart of the connections between breast cancer, capitalism, and environmental, racial, and health justice.

We also want to shout out The Sly Band’s grooves and good vibes which closed out the evening perfectly.

Stay tuned for clips of this powerful conversation. But in the meantime, check out the auction that supports our unique work to call for more transparency and accountability by companies that take part in pink ribbon marketing culture, and to truly get to the root of the breast cancer crisis.

The post Thank You for Joining Us at Radical Disruption Compassionate Resistance appeared first on Breast Cancer Action.

By Haleemah Atobiloye

It’s time to Think Before You Pink® and take action!

Going beyond pink ribbon marketing, BCAction’s 2022 campaign, Think Before You Pink®: A (R)evolution, exposes the tenets of late-stage capitalism and the deceptive strategies used by profit-driven campaigns, including cause marketing, suppression of scientific evidence, and political interference. The bad actors using these tactics do not center people with breast cancer and we are unabashedly calling them out!

Add your name to our open letter today and join us in addressing the rampant capitalist practices that enable unchecked profiteering of breast cancer, and what we must do about it!

To say that our society has dangerously moved beyond the core tenets of free market ideology and into late-stage capitalism is an understatement.

A significant number of the population is not concerned when a breast cancer patient has to crowdfund to raise money for necessary treatment, or when advocacy coalitions spend years demanding the passage of bills that will reduce the amount of cancer-causing chemicals in the environment, or when the gaps in our severely under-funded basic public health services become glaringly obvious.

Add your name to our open letter now, demanding that we put people before profit.

Breast cancer awareness has ballooned into a multibillion-dollar industry as the practices and tactics of late-stage capitalism are designed to encourage unlimited profiteering, instead of focusing on the structural change solutions that will end the breast cancer crisis.

What will help to address and end this crisis is breast cancer fundraising transparency and accountability, the dissemination of evidence-based information, and policies that provide structural change solutions that stop this disease before it starts.

Take action by adding your name and joining us in calling out the impact of late-stage capitalism on the breast cancer crisis.

Throughout 20 years of Think Before You Pink® campaigns, we’ve made incredible headway, and we’re changing the culture of pink ribbon fundraising. YOU have made that possible by sharing in our vision of a world without breast cancer, where all communities and our public health is prioritized above corporate interests. Together we’ll continue to push the boundaries of what breast cancer advocacy looks like, demanding large-scale, meaningful, and impactful changes to address and end this crisis, and not settling for pink ribbon promises.

Thank you for your uncompromising activism to stop breast cancer!

The post Action Alert! Think Before You Pink®: A(R)Evolution appeared first on Breast Cancer Action.

By Katy Simon, Grassroots Fundraising and Development Assistant

Our Radical Disruption and Compassionate Resistance online auction is now open!

From today through Tuesday, October 25th, we are featuring an extensive variety of experiences, such as a 12-month subscription to the Book of the Month Club, gift cards including Mariposa Bakery (gluten-free) and Good Vibrations, personal care items, home goods, tickets to a Warriors game, a deluxe Bay View Room at the Claremont Hotel and Spa and more! And all proceeds benefit Breast Cancer Action’s vital work to achieve health justice for everyone at risk of and living with breast cancer.

Here are the steps to help you start bidding:

1. To participate in the auction, you’ll need to register. Just click on “Register” on the top right-hand corner of the screen and fill in your information. You’ll receive a text confirmation.

2. Then visit our online auction to check out all the amazing items and start bidding!

3. Updates will be sent to you via text message and you’ll be able to monitor your bids right from your phone.

4. If you haven’t yet, get your ticket to our Radical Disruption and Compassionate Resistance nationwide virtual event!

Radical Disruption and Compassionate Resistance
Tuesday, October 18th, 2022 5:30 PT / 6:30 MT / 7:30 CT / 8:30 ET

Your support sustains the programs of our grassroots, health justice organization. Together we call out pinkwashing, make the connections between environmental exposures and breast cancer, and provide unbiased resources on issues of breast cancer screening, treatment, and diagnosis.

Join us in this collaborative work to address and end the breast cancer crisis by attending the event, and bidding now! Thank you for making this work possible.

The post Ready, set, bid! appeared first on Breast Cancer Action.

By Heather Stone, Development Manager

I can’t wait to see you tomorrow.

Radical Disruption Compassionate Resistance is both an annual fundraiser and a space for our community of members to connect, engage, and take collaborative action.

Last chance for tickets! Radical Disruption and Compassionate Resistance
Tomorrow, Tuesday, October 18th 5:30 PT / 6:30 MT / 7:30 CT / 8:30 ET
Nationwide Virtual Event

This event lineup is superb. We’re featuring guest speaker Tiah Tomlin-Harris, a video by Instagram Influencer Blair Imani, a look back video on 20 years of Think Before You Pink® campaigns, and a peek into our awesome auction items, featuring over 50 experiences, tickets, and delicious goodies I can’t wait to bid on.

Don’t miss your last chance to get tickets before the big night!

As a national, virtual organization we are energized and emboldened by opportunities to connect with you. And we’re honored to open up this space to connect with our work, learn more about this year’s Think Before You Pink® campaign A (R)Evolution, and reflect on and revitalize our collaborative work to address and end breast cancer.

You are our power, and we look forward to sharing (virtual) space with you at tomorrow night’s Radical Disruption Compassionate Resistance.

The post Countdown to the big event appeared first on Breast Cancer Action.

By Heather Perkins, Deputy Director

On Tuesday, October 18th, we will gather to reflect on 20 years of Think Before You Pink® campaign actions and achievements.

Together, we will hear from featured guest Tiah Tomlin-Harris, see a look-back video on our industry-disrupting accomplishments, and remind ourselves how to Think Before You Pink® by the incomparable Blair Imani.

And I want you to join us!

Your participation will help energize the evening and elevate the program for a thought-provoking hour, and embolden our work as we take collective action!

Tiah Tomlin-Harris: Following a diagnosis of an aggressive form of breast cancer (or Can’t-cer as she calls it), Tiah vowed to help as many women as she could fight and survive breast cancer, particularly Black women, who are disproportionately impacted by this disease.

Tiah believed that no sister should walk this journey alone and founded the My Breast Years Ahead Sisterhood, a sisterhood of women survivors. Tiah has dedicated herself to being a change agent and a community advocate by increasing awareness, speaking out about prevention, encouraging people to take action for their health, and giving people hope.

Get your tickets now! Radical Disruption and Compassionate Resistance
Tuesday, October 18th, 2022 5:30 PT / 6:30 MT / 7:30 CT / 8:30 ET
Nationwide Virtual Event

We will also enjoy a critical take on pink ribbon marketing from Blair Imani in her viral series, SmarterInSeconds. She is the LA Times Bestselling author of Read This to Get Smarter, and Head of Education at Feminist for All. Her scholarship spans intersectionality, gender studies, race and racism, sociology, and United States history. Her work centers women and girls, global Black communities, and the LGBTQ+ community. As an educator, influencer, and semi-retired organizer, Blair Imani is dedicated to making the world less terrible and amplifying the voices and work of those fighting the good fight.

To cap it all off, The Sly Band will perform while our actions keep moving forward the work to address and end breast cancer. The Sly Band is an 11-piece, high-energy dance party band. Their set list is a diverse mix of pop, rock, R&B and classic songs for all ages. We are thrilled to have them help us celebrate an evening of Radical Disruption and Compassionate Resistance!

Learn more about all of our guest and get your ticket here.

The post We can’t wait for October 18 – this is why… appeared first on Breast Cancer Action.

By Haleemah Atobiloye, Program Manager

How much money from each pink ribbon product sold goes toward breast cancer? Which breast cancer organization gets the donation, and what types of programs does this donation support? What is the company doing to assure its products are not contributing to breast cancer risk?

For 20 years, BCAction has been encouraging folks to ask these critical questions before taking part in pink ribbon marketing and culture.

Pink ribbon marketing is hugely successful, and companies from various sectors have amassed billions of dollars from pink product sales. Despite this large amount of money being “raised for breast cancer,” people assigned female sex at birth in the United States have a 1 in 8 chance of developing breast cancer during their lifetime.

And there are glaring health disparities in diagnosis and treatment, resulting in higher death rates for people of color who have breast cancer. 

That’s why this October, in addition to telling you the story of how late-stage capitalism is negatively contributing to the breast cancer crisis, with our 2022 Think Before You Pink® campaign, “A R(Evolution),” we have updated and are relaunching our trusted resource, BCAction’s Think Before You Pink® Toolkit.

Go beyond being critical and take action. Download our revamped Think Before You Pink® Toolkit for a guide on how to call for transparency and accountability from companies that take part in breast cancer campaigns and fundraisers. You’ll find templates for writing letters, along with a host of other useful information you can use to call for more accountability from pink ribbon marketing culture.

Download Breast Cancer Action’s updated and FREE Think Before You Pink® Toolkit today, share it, and engage with your network on social media to let your community know about this valuable resource.

Let’s work collectively to address and end breast cancer!

The post Access our newly-updated Think Before You Pink toolkit appeared first on Breast Cancer Action.

By Zoë Christopher, Operations Manager and Program Officer

Ready to turn pink fatigue and frustration into action?

Join us Tuesday, October 18, for our annual member connector and fundraiser event. 100% of proceeds support BCAction’s work toward health justice for everyone at risk of and living with breast cancer.

Together, this October (what we consider Breast Cancer Industry Month) we will continue to raise our voices in pursuit of the root causes of breast cancer, and will scale our work to address and end the breast cancer crisis that 1 in 8 face each year. Your representation at our Radical Disruption and Compassionate Resistance solidifies our cause and inspires us to continue our work.

If you’ve been impacted by breast cancer or don’t see yourself represented by pink ribbons and empty awareness, know that you are not alone. We encourage you to join us at our October member connector event, Radical Disruption Compassionate Resistance, and take action on our Think Before You Pink® campaign “A (R)Evolution.” All ticket proceeds support our critical programmatic work, including this year’s 20th anniversary of exposing industry tactics designed to capitalize on breast cancer.

• By purchasing a ticket starting at the Advocate level you’ll have a chance to submit the names of loved ones or activists that you want us to honor in our slideshow.
• When you buy a ticket at the Organizer level or higher you’ll receive a special invitation to a pre-event happy hour that includes a cooking demonstration with Chef Mat Schuster of Canela Bistro and Wine Bar in San Francisco.
• And when you sponsor at the Campaigner level or higher you’ll receive a special tapas kit to enjoy during the pre-event happy hour and cooking demonstration with Chef Mat Schuster of Canela Bistro and Wine Bar in San Francisco.
• A Supporter ticket advances our program work and supports our collective action at the event.
• An Uplifter ticket sponsors someone else to attend. This will help us make this event accessible to as many people as possible by welcoming people to join our work to address and end breast cancer.

Together we can address and end breast cancer. Join us!

The post It’s October & we take action – Join Us appeared first on Breast Cancer Action.

By Heather Perkins, Deputy Director

Think Before You Pink®. 20 Years. An Evolution. A Revolution.

Think Before You Pink® 2022 is here! Think Before You Pink: A (R)Evolution doesn’t just call out one egregious pink product. We’re calling out gross, profit-above-all-else capitalism as the common denominator running throughout two decades of Think Before You Pink® campaigns.

Here’s the problem: Pink ribbon culture has morphed into outrageous capitalistic campaigns, less blatant today but more insidious. As we honor 20 years of work to calling for transparency and accountability from the breast cancer industry, we’re also exposing industry tactics designed to capitalize on breast cancer.

The industry tactics that Think Before You Pink®: A (R)Evolution exposes are:

1. The Manipulation of Media, Marketing, and Advertising
2. Disinformation and the Suppression of Scientific Evidence
3. Political Influence and Interference

See the campaign details now.

Join us in exploring how unregulated, rampant capitalism distracts the public with cause-marketing and consumerism while prohibiting structural change solutions.

Throughout the month we will:

Educate. We’ll be releasing materials and resources throughout October so you can learn more about how late-stage capitalism encourages ongoing profiteering off of breast cancer.

Organize. Help spread the word on the consequences of pinkwashing and share our resources with your community, including our soon-to-be-released updated Think Before You Pink® toolkit.

Take Action. Join us for our October activist connector event, Radical Disruption Compassionate Resistance, and get ready to take action on our campaign!

Make sure you are following us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram to stay up to date on all things Think Before You Pink®!

The post Think Before You Pink: Capitalism & Breast Cancer appeared first on Breast Cancer Action.

By Tibby Reas Hinderlie, Communications Manager

In case you missed it, we wanted to be sure you saw this critical take on Think Before You Pink® from Blair Imani and her series, Smarter in Seconds.

This video already has over 400,000 plays, and it’s rapidly spreading the word on why awareness is not enough, and what you can do to scope out pink ribbon products, based on Breast Cancer Action’s 4 Critical Questions to Ask Before You Buy Pink.

Watch the powerful Instagram reel now and get ready to join us for this year’s Think Before You Pink® campaign, launching this Saturday, October 1!

The post Must Watch: Video Explainer on Think Before You Pink® appeared first on Breast Cancer Action.

By Heather Perkins, Deputy Director

Every day is a gift. It is important we take time to pause and reflect.

Who inspires you? Who encourages you?

The people who show up in your heart, mind, and life are the people who make life matter most. Cherish your people.

One of the most intimate and motivating actions taken is when we receive donations in honor of the bold activists who work to address and end the breast cancer crisis, and in memory of the loved ones lost to cancer.

The Breast Cancer Action community remains determined to end the breast cancer crisis. And we remain vigilant in our work to keep people healthy, thriving, and able to show up in life, to be with their people to make moments and memories together.

We give thanks, gratitude, and remembrance to every person with a lived experience of breast cancer. Loved ones, lost to cancer, live forever in our hearts and stories, which motivates us daily to end the breast cancer crisis. Gifts made in memory or in honor of a loved one remind us to remain steadfast in this mission.

We are honored to acknowledge the tributes made from January 2022 through August 2022.

Our grief over losses, our celebration of the triumphs, and our rage about the persistence of breast cancer, drive our mission forward.

Lifting up the stories and memories of our loved one emboldens the continued work of Breast Cancer Action. We are honored to be a part of the collective memory of the loved ones remembered in this way.

Thank you for your support and for your part in this work.

The post Who inspires us? appeared first on Breast Cancer Action.

By Zoë Christopher, Operations Manager and Program 

20 years. 20 years!

It was 20 years ago in October that we started Think Before You Pink®, ignited a movement, and changed the breast cancer landscape forever.

Together, we push back on “awareness” that doesn’t include action, pinkwashing, misinformation, and the sexualization of breast cancer – and we’ll do it again together this year.

We formally launched Think Before You Pink® in 2002 with a ¾ page ad in the New York Times calling out companies whose pink ribbon promotions did more for company profits than for the breast cancer cause. Since the inception of the campaign, pink ribbon marketing and culture have evolved, and so have we.

Today we are standing at the ready to call out modern-day trivialization, normalization, and straight-up nonsense surrounding breast cancer during October. Are you ready?

Here’s how you can get in on the action ahead of the Think Before You Pink® launch on October 1:

• Let us know if you see any pink ribbon marketing campaigns! The flurry of pink ribbon products has already started. Let us know what you see by emailing info@bcaction.org, or tagging us on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter @bcaction.
• Get your community ready to take action. Stay tuned for the launch of our campaign October 1st and tell your friends, family, and colleagues to join us in action. Make sure you follow us on social media and sign up for our email list now, so you can share posts and forward actions to your circle.
• Download our resources. We’ve made it easy to debunk pink ribbon marketing culture with the following resources: Questions to Ask Before You Buy Pink, Questions Before You Walk for Breast Cancer, and the History of the Pink Ribbon.
• Help make this work possible with a donation. Breast Cancer Action refuses funding from any corporations that profit from or contribute to the breast cancer epidemic. Your contribution helps to continue our work.

Thank you for your ongoing work to disrupt the breast cancer industry and call out corporate giants, mega-nonprofits, and government leaders who exploit the goodwill of the breast cancer community for their own gain in October.

And remember! – Stay tuned for the launch of our 2022 Think Before You Pink® campaign on October 1st.

The post Pinktober is coming… appeared first on Breast Cancer Action.

By Heather Stone, Development Manager

Save the date!

Please join us on Tuesday, October 18th, 2022 from 5:30 – 6:30 PT / 7:30 – 8:30 CT / 8:30 – 9:30 ET for our annual virtual community member connector and fundraiser: Radical Disruption and Compassionate Resistance!

Connect with Breast Cancer Action’s community of unabashed, compassionate change-makers from across the nation as we get together for special speakers, videos, and entertainment. We are celebrating 20 years of collective actions from our industry-disrupting Think Before You Pink® campaigns!

Mark your calendar for October 18th today! Tickets will be available soon, and you can show your support now by becoming an early sponsor. For more information, please email me at hstone@bcaction.org.

The post Raise a ruckus with us on October 18 appeared first on Breast Cancer Action.

By Heather Perkins, Deputy Director

Your voice matters to us.

This survey could not have come at a better time. I started as Breast Cancer Action’s newest Deputy Director in July, and I am eager to get to know our community of breast cancer activists and to do this work alongside you. What motivates you to be actively involved with our organization, what activates and inspires you most about our values and programs, and how do you engage with our work?

You’re invited to participate and share your experiences through our community survey, which closes next week.

We’ve already received invaluable feedback from participants, and are actively learning from your responses. We’ve learned that over 60% of our members’ families have been impacted by breast cancer. We’ve also seen that one-third of respondents have been involved with Breast Cancer Action for over 10 years – a strong testament to the ongoing need for our critical voice.

To ensure we hear your voice, please know the last chance to complete our survey is Wednesday, September 14, 2022.

We want to thank our members who have already graciously taken the time to complete our survey, offering us critical feedback, that will help improve our outreach. As the grassroots, radical watchdog organization of the breast cancer movement, our work and mission are driven forward by community members like you. We value your voice and active participation in this movement.

I am truly looking forward to learning about you and your priorities as to how we will address and end breast cancer together. Thank you for being a part of this industry-disrupting community. Here’s that link one more time.

The post Last chance to add your thoughts on BCAction’s survey appeared first on Breast Cancer Action.

By Tibby Reas Hinderlie, Communications Manager

Your input can make a real difference.

Breast Cancer Action launched our community survey this month. In it, we’re asking questions about how you’d like us to be in relationship with you, to most effectively address and end the breast cancer crisis together.

Take the survey now and help shape how BCAction engages, mobilizes, and collaborates with members like you.

As Breast Cancer Action’s Communications Manager, your responses about how you’d like to be contacted—and how often—are especially important to me, and will be used to help determine how we communicate with you. In addition to these types of logistical questions, your insight on our activist and advocacy work is especially important to the team.

What motivates you to take action with an organization?

Does Breast Cancer Action provide the resources you need to take action with us? Let us know!

These are the types of questions you’ll have the opportunity to provide feedback on. Our members are our power, and our history of outsized wins has only been possible thanks to the collective action of our community.

We look forward to hearing from you, and learning from you. Your response will guide how our activist work continues to advance. Thank you for your invaluable input.

The post Reminder: We Want Your Feedback appeared first on Breast Cancer Action.

By Zoë Christopher, Program Officer & Operations Manager

The correlation between fossil fuels and breast cancer has been well documented and we’ve taken it a step further.

As extreme weather events intensify as a result of climate change, the health impacts, including those associated with breast cancer, are often overlooked. The fossil fuel industry and the climate catastrophe doubly impact and exacerbate the breast cancer crisis.

To understand how this happens, check out our latest factsheet!

Today we are launching out newest resource, The Climate Crisis and Breast Cancer.

This groundbreaking document explains the connection between the fossil-fueled climate crisis and the growing threat to those living with and at risk of breast cancer.

The environmental impacts are a double-edged sword with fossil fuels on one side and climate change on the other. The fossil fuel continuum exposes us to dangerous chemicals that contaminate our air, soil, and water, and the fossil fuel industry is one of the largest contributors to the climate crisis.

We all feel the collective effects of climate crisis, however this crisis deepens prevailing health inequities for frontline communities. Low-income and BIPOC communities continue to be disproportionately burdened by the compounded impacts of both the fossil fuel industry and the climate crisis.

Health justice = environmental justice.

We must do more than acknowledge climate change as an issue. We hope that this resource helps you connect the dots between fossil fuels, climate change, and breast cancer, all of which are undeniably intertwined. Join the movement and learn how to take a stand against climate change in the name of breast cancer and public health.

The post How the climate crisis intensifies the breast cancer crisis appeared first on Breast Cancer Action.

By KR, Executive Director

We are excited to announce she is joining the Breast Cancer Action team as our newest staff member and Deputy Director.

Heather excels in her professional roles.

She is a mission-driven nonprofit leader with 20 years of experience in senior-level leadership capacities at local, state, and national organizations scaling and sustaining social innovation via complex systems.

Heather brings experience to BCAction as a cross-functional strategist, organizational change architect, and thought leader with a stellar record of achievement in multi-sector collaboration, program innovation, talent development, and resource development.

And, she is deeply familiar with our mission, vision, and values, and ready to continue our trajectory toward fruition.

Diagnosed with breast cancer in her early 30s, she knows the physical, mental, emotional, and financial impact a cancer diagnosis and treatment can bring. Her lived experience demonstrates that access to transparent and unbiased information and options are critical and often a challenge to obtain. She believes every human has the right to be their own health advocate, and to do so everyone must have access to independent evidence-based data to inform their decisions.

The post Welcome our Deputy Director Heather Perkins to the BCAction team! appeared first on Breast Cancer Action.

By Jayla Burton, Program Manager

As you know, Breast Cancer Action is unlike any other breast cancer organization.

We’ve been the independent voice and rapid-response watchdog for the breast cancer resistance for more than 30 years and none of this would be possible without our passion-driven community of activists that apply pressure that results in real change.

We provide support, resources, and opportunities for you to take meaningful action, and in this email you’ll find a recap of what we’ve been up to for the last few months, different ways to get involved, and what to be on the lookout for!

Live in your activism and take action with us today!

The Lymphedema Treatment Act. This bill will change Medicare law to cover doctor-prescribed compression supplies and other devices used to treat lymphedema, a painful and debilitating condition that often results from breast cancer treatments. Take action and join us in calling on members of Congress to pass the Lymphedema Treatment Act this year!

The Scientific Integrity Act. When science is censored or politically manipulated, it can interfere with a federal agency’s ability to implement strong regulations. This bill will ensure regulations are based on accurate scientific evidence. If you believe that patient safety comes before politics, take action with us today!

The Safer Beauty Bill Package. These four bills will make beauty and personal care products safer by: banning toxic chemicals, making ingredient transparency the new industry standard, and reducing unsafe chemical exposures for all communities, especially women of color and salon workers, two vulnerable populations that are disproportionately exposed to toxic chemicals. Take action with us and our partners to urge your Congressional representatives to support the Safer Beauty Bill Package.

Take bold action with us as we call for systemic changes that move toward health equity, ensure politics don’t interfere with science, and remove toxic exposures that may increase our risk for breast cancer.

See Our Take Action Page.

Check out our newest podcast episodes!

In the episode titled Storytelling: A Powerful Agent of Change, our Executive Director KR and longtime BCAction Supporter and Author Dena Taylor talk about the powerful role of storytelling in our interpersonal journeys as well as in our efforts to create change.

The Trust in Science: A Panel Conversation episode is a recap of a dynamic discussion between BCAction Executive Director KR, BCAction Board Member Tamatha Thomas-Haase, and Tigerlily Founder and CEO Maimah Karmo. Tune in to this discussion on how to bridge our community and the scientific community in an effort to begin building trust, while still holding science accountable.

See all Podcast Episodes.

Inward, upward, and onward!

We released our 2022 – 2027 Strategic Plan, A Radical Strategy for Addressing and Ending Breast Cancer Through a Health Justice Lens. Be sure to check it out. As we deepen and expand our legacy, we can’t do this work without your support. Next month, we will be launching a survey to give you all an opportunity to let us know what you’d like to see in our work!

Read the Strategic Plan.

The post Boots on the Ground appeared first on Breast Cancer Action.

A message from KR and Zoë Christopher

Earlier this month we released our 2022 – 2027 Strategic Plan: A Radical Strategy for Addressing and Ending Breast Cancer Through a Health Justice Lens.”

This is an opportune time to address some of the feedback and questions we’ve been fielding from our community members, and we’ve done so in a statement we’re calling “Roots to Leaves.”

In this statement we address questions from those eager to be in-person with us again, as well as questions about where we’re headed following our transition to a virtual, national organization.

You’ll see the clear, outlined organizational priorities in our Strategic Plan, but we’ll dive deeper into some responses and reflections in our accompanying statement “Roots to Leaves.”

Breast Cancer Action is strong and resilient, and has been adaptive to the changing times for 30+ years. Our roots and our core values woven throughout our history inform our future visions and our values. And questions from our base about how the vision and values are manifested in our programmatic priorities are a reflection of the deep care and alignment people from across the nation feel with our core strategies to addressing and ending the breast cancer crisis.

We’re grateful for feedback, appreciative of the opportunity to respond, and to grow together. Thank you for your part in building up and carrying out the work to stop breast cancer before it starts, to stop pinkwashing, and to address and end this health crisis.

The post Roots to Leaves: Our strategic plan & where we’re headed appeared first on Breast Cancer Action.

By Heather Stone, Development Manager

Thank you for helping to make Tuesday night’s Drawing the Connections Community Gathering such a delightful evening!

We had BCAction members from across the nation join us virtually, and our moving artists and speakers made it a powerful gathering.

Now all that’s left is to bid on our curated collection of health justice-centered pieces. Please bid high and bid often to help us close out Drawing the Connections successfully!

The Drawing the Connections Art Auction is open through THIS SATURDAY June 18.

The auction features over 40 pieces, including pieces like Theresa Polley-Shellcroft’s “Edge of Color, After the Storm,” depicting Theresa’s relief following breast cancer treatment, and “Maternal Mortality” from Wilhelmina Grant-Cooper, the founder of SISTAAH, Inc. (Survivors Inspiring Sisters Through Art & Advocacy for Health), an arts-based non-profit organization seeking to inform, encourage, and facilitate access to early detection of cancer by connecting the medically underserved to free screening services and information.

You can learn more about the artwork from our featured speakers and read their powerful insights about their work below.

Then be sure to head over to the auction! By supporting these artists you’ll also be supporting our work to address and end the breast cancer crisis.

Your support is our power. Thank you for practicing art-ivism alongside all of us at Drawing the Connections.

“The sun asks you to allow the light of birth, healing, rebirth, and raw joy to give power to your creative wisdom, and as you manifest a future that serves you. The sun reminds you to fortify your soul in tranquility and prepare for the sparkling intersections between calm and chaos. The sun’s rays shape systems and enlighten communities. She asks you to do the same. To open the floodgates up to the joy, to the confidence, and the revolutionary self-love that you deserve.”

– Cristy C. Road, Drawing the Connections speaker and artist, on her piece “THE SUN”

“I’ve donated two pieces. One is a self-portrait after breast reconstruction, after breast cancer and after a double mastectomy. I’ve since had my reconstruction removed, because I had breast implant illness. No regrets. But it’s been a hell of a journey. I’d like to see more done to raise awareness of the dangers of breast implants. And I’d like to see plastic surgeons dedicated more to the interests of breast cancer survivors, and not of corporations and the money that they receive for them.”

– Shelley Zentner, Drawing the Connections speaker and artist, on her piece “Reconstructed”

“I am so proud and honored to be participating in this year’s online gathering and art auction for Drawing the Connections by the beloved folks at BCAction. … BCAction is such a remarkable nonprofit that I have endless trust in and respect for.

Their platform has guided me through essential topics that became crucial to my own personal research for the photographic series “The Pink Project.” BCAction is clearly defined by the notion that pink ribbon products create an empty awareness and distract us from meaningful actions that can help achieve health justice for us all. I am grateful for their tenacity and truthtelling and for all the work that they do.”

– Sonya Naumann, Drawing the Connection speaker and artist, introducing her piece “The Pink Project – Lettuce”

The post Thank you for an incredible evening of art-ivism appeared first on Breast Cancer Action.

By Heather Stone, Development Manager

The Drawing the Connections (virtual!) Community Gathering is TOMORROW night, June 14th at 4pm PT / 6pm CT / 7pm ET!

This social justice themed art-ivist fundraiser offers you two ways to support the work of Breast Cancer Action: an art auction featuring an intentionally curated collection that is now open, and a virtual Community Gathering event – for which there is just ONE day left to get tickets!

Learn more and join us in BOTH ways of supporting our participating artists and our crucial work to address and end the breast cancer crisis.

Community Gathering Tomorrow, June 14

Tomorrow, Tuesday, June 14 is the culmination of this creative campaign when we’ll meet (virtually!) to learn more about the art and to hear from the artists and our incredible line-up of featured speakers.

Tickets are free, made possible by freewill donations! Get yours today and consider donating if you’re able.

Our Community Gathering will feature:

• Our event host and emcee, popular comedian Lisa Geduldig. Lisa is a San Francisco-based comedian and the creator, producer, and MC of Kung Pao Kosher Comedy — Jewish Comedy on Christmas in a Chinese Restaurant.
• Four participating artists: Cristy C. Road, El Maldito, Shelley Zentner, and Sonya Naumann. From spoken word to performance art, each of these four featured artists and speakers will bring their own unique vibe to our evening.
• Breast Cancer Action’s own Executive Director KR, who will speak about our unique programming priorities and current campaigns.

So get your tickets today – we can’t wait to practice art-ivism alongside you!

Art Auction Open June 9 – 18

This collection is awe-inspiring, and it is now open for bids!

The Drawing the Connections Art Auction highlights over 40 pieces of art from values-aligned artists.

Some directly depict feelings, processes, and bodies going through breast cancer treatment. Others are not directly related to breast cancer, pinkwashing, or social justice, and instead are from creators who strongly support our work to achieve health justice.

This means there is something for everyone here. So check it out today and be sure to bid on the pieces that resonate with you before the auction closes Saturday, June 18!

The post One day left to get tickets – and two ways to support BCAction! appeared first on Breast Cancer Action.

By Jayla Burton, Program Manager

In our latest podcast episode, we break down what it means to build trust in science.

This episode covers the historical context of why certain communities don’t trust science, what is needed in order to start building trust, and who needs to be held accountable in this process.

Take a listen to our new episode, Trust in Science: A Panel Conversation.

Breast cancer science is continually evolving. Over the last few decades, there have been huge shifts in how we approach and treat this disease. For example, the development of immunotherapies and targeted therapies have given patients alternatives to surgical interventions and radical mastectomies. Additionally, researchers and practitioners are finally starting to acknowledge that breast cancer is influenced not only by individual behaviors and family history, but by environmental factors as well.

Though we have come a long way, there is still a long way to go to ensure treatments are safe, effective, and accessible. Patients are asked to “trust science,” but this cannot be done without science being trustworthy.Building trust is a long-term goal and can only be achieved through consistent truth-telling, honesty, listening, decentering of privilege, naming and addressing inequitable power dynamics, and so much more.

Trust in Science: A Panel Conversation offers the highlights of a conversation held at the 18^th Annual Billie Gardner Loulan Memorial Benefit, with BCAction Executive Director Dr. Krystal Redman, BCAction Board Member Tamatha Thomas-Haase, and Tigerlily Founder and CEO Maimah Karmo. Together they discussed how our organizations can build a bridge between our community and science in an effort to begin building trust, while still holding science accountable.

We’re excited to bring you highlights from this panel conversation. Take a listen today!

The post This is how we begin to build trust in science appeared first on Breast Cancer Action.

By Tibby Reas Hinderlie, Communications Manager

I am passionate about Drawing the Connections because it provides an opportunity to support artists, to purchase artwork by exciting, values-aligned creators from across the nation, and to do so while contributing to our work to address and end breast cancer.

Join me and the Breast Cancer Action staff at Drawing the Connections on June 14, at 4pm PT / 6pm CT / 7pm ET.

Our accompanying art auction launches NEXT WEEK so check out my personal picks below and get your tickets today!

Marilyn Levin – “Landscape of My Breast” (8×12 watercolor)

Watercolor made soon after her first breast cancer treatment.
Marilyn Levin is an artist and art educator living in San Francisco and Boston. She received her MFA in painting from the University of California Los Angeles where she studied with Richard Diebenkorn.

Levin has exhibited in the United States, Europe, and India and her work is represented in many public and private collections as well as several museums, including the San Francisco MOMA, the Rose Art Museum at Brandeis University, the Kresge Collection at Harvard University, and the Sanskriti Museum in Delhi, India. She has received grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Atlantic Center for the Arts, the Sanskriti Foundation, and the Massachusetts Cultural Council. She has taught in the Tufts/Museum School Dual Degree program for over 25 years, and has led workshops in Massachusetts, Italy, and Mexico. Her work grows out of a concern for painterly abstraction and is concerned with color and its relationship to reflective surfaces.

Electric Meatsuit – “Overstanding Excellence” (12×12 digital art print)

Digital print of original piece made with acrylic and ink on canvas. Created in honor of Black excellence. “I cannot find the proper words to describe how this piece makes me feel, but let the piece be the message that the tongue could not convey.”

Electric Meatsuit is a Bay Area artist originally from Alabama who expresses his lived experiences through his deeply thoughtful art. His body of work spans various mediums including watercolor, illustration, photography, street art and poetry.

Alexis Amann – “Double Wave Magic – Painted Amulet Necklace”

One-of-a-kind magical amulet. The artwork is hand-painted and double-sided on Arches cover paper. It is enclosed and sealed in a 2.5 x 1.7 octagon glass and antique copper locket, with a chain and clasp. The necklace chain length is approximately 18 inches.

Alexis Amann was raised on the magical Oregon Coast and has called the San Francisco Bay Area home for over a decade. Her art is character-driven and rooted in storytelling and narrative, existing in a world that is part mundane and part magic, and full of everyday things and weirdness. She makes paintings, drawings, installations, illustrations, comics, and products that reflect this world—a place where you’ll encounter sentient turnips, searching and wise women, witches and hags, harpies, magic cottages, mermaids, plants, monsters, and beings that are in between all these things. Crocodiles drink martinis, giant toads fly to the moon, and women go on dates with ghosts. It’s a place where the mundane meets the fantastical and mythological, where journeys are undertaken and harpies fight and puke. It’s a funny, hard, imperfect but beautiful world, and everyone is just trying to figure it out the best they can. Alexis earned her BA in Drawing/Painting/Printmaking from Portland State University and her MFA in Painting from the San Francisco Art Institute. Her artwork has been exhibited in Los Angeles, New York, Portland, Seattle, Detroit, and the San Francisco Bay Area.

The post You’re invited! To see these and other pieces at Drawing the Connections appeared first on Breast Cancer Action.

By KR, Executive Director

It’s been long anticipated, and now it’s in your hands.

I am honored to debut our 2022 – 2027 Strategic Plan, “A Radical Strategy for Addressing and Ending Breast Cancer Through a Health Justice Lens.” It outlines our path from our roots to our vision.

We’ve seen a few shifts since the release of our 2014-2019 Strategic Plan—in leadership, in the location of our (now virtual) offices, and in the larger growing breast cancer movement. But we have always been grounded in social justice, and in our unabashed claim to our right to quality healthcare, treatment, and policies that will keep us and our loved ones safe, healthy, and thriving.

This foundational document focuses on three programmatic priorities: ACTION and Accountability, Equity and Justice, and Advocacy and Research—each navigated through our radical health justice and environmental justice lenses.

Read our 2022 Strategic Plan now to see our reinvigorated mission, vision, and values statements, our updated theory of change, as well as a new strategic planning map. Explore the document and you’ll gain insight into how this work came together, through graphic notes detailing our internal strategic planning sessions and the radical questions we asked of ourselves and the breast cancer movement.

Breast Cancer Action is enduringly unique, adaptive, and consistently at the forefront of the health justice movement.

Presenting our strategic plan is an invitation to familiarize yourself with this work as a constituent, a member, or a person living with or at risk of breast cancer whom we do this work for, and an open and genuine invitation to join us in this work.

I hope you read and see your values reflected back to you in “A Radical Strategy for Addressing and Ending Breast Cancer Through a Health Justice Lens” and thank you for helping to make this work possible!

The post A radical strategy for addressing and ending breast cancer appeared first on Breast Cancer Action.

By KR, Executive Director

I’m going LIVE tomorrow on our Instagram to talk about Breast Cancer Action’s upcoming event, Drawing the Connections.

Drawing the Connections is both a virtual Community Gathering on Tuesday, June 14, and an accompanying art auction, with a curated collection of pieces centered around breast cancer, social justice, and health justice.

Tickets are now available, and in getting the word out we’ve been spotlighting our staff’s picks of some of our favorite pieces available in the art auction.

Well, I’m going to do things a little differently – instead of showing you my staff picks here in this email, I’m going to announce them LIVE on Instagram tomorrow June 1 at 1pm PT / 3pm CT / 4pm ET!

So now is your chance – follow Breast Cancer Action on Instagram at @bcaction to stay up to date with us, get the latest announcements about art that will be available at our upcoming Drawing the Connections art auction, and to learn how to get your tickets for this art-focused annual event.

As always, we do this work to address and end the breast cancer crisis through a health justice lens. And funds raised through this creative and intentional Community Gathering event will go to do just that.

How to get involved is easy – follow us on Instagram and I’ll see you LIVE tomorrow June 1 at 1pm PT / 3pm CT / 4pm ET!

The post Join me LIVE on June 1st? appeared first on Breast Cancer Action.

By Zoë Christopher, Program Officer & Operations Manager

Art has always informed my work and my values.

I look forward to sharing the curated collection of social justice and health justice-themed artwork with you at Breast Cancer Action’s virtual community gathering and art auction, Drawing the Connections, on June 14th at 4pm PT / 6pm CT / 7pm ET.

All of the artwork in this collection is on point, and I want to share a few of my favorites with you! Check out these pieces and then grab your free ticket to the event! It’s a wonderful way to support both our community of artists and BCAction’s work toward achieving health justice for all.

Shelley Zentner – “Reconstructed” (24×18 work on paper, unframed)

Shelley’s evolving style is deeply rooted in the Welsh tradition of art that is dark, dramatic, and filled with poetry. Specializing in oils and charcoal, her work can be described as narrative impressionist realism. She began figure drawing at age 11, staged her first exhibition as a professional artist at 20, and became a gallery owner at 25. After a career hiatus that involved burn out, traveling, falling in love, becoming a mother, teaching art and surviving cancer, Shelley has now resumed her status as a full-time artist.

Shelley works and lives with her family in Lake Tahoe, California.

Denis Englander – “Shanghai” (16×20 aluminum borderless print)

Born in 1947 in California and raised and currently living in San Francisco, Denis has been playing with photography since the ‘70s. He reaps a lot of pleasure from a full spectrum of captured memories.

Photography increased his awareness of the world around him while offering many areas for discovery, self-expression, and the creation of rich friendships. In addition to North America, Denis has also photographed in Western Europe, China, and Japan. His favorite photography genres, in both color and black & white, include: Street, Landscape, Portrait, Architecture, Abstract, Still Life, Travel, Macro, Sports, and ICM (intentional camera movement). Whatever catches his eye might become a memorable image.

Bonnie Neumann – “Untitled” 10×10 (work on paper, unframed)

Bonnie Neumann has an MFA from Mills College and has been making art in the Bay Area for over 30 years. Her work has been exhibited in museums and galleries nationally and internationally.

Her work is in the art collections of the US Embassy in Tunis, Tunisia, Stanford University Medical Center in Palo Alto, CA, the Community Hospital of Monterey Peninsula in Monterey, CA, the Sequoia Consulting Group of San Mateo in San Mateo, CA and the Ellington Condominium Complex in Oakland, CA, as well as in numerous private collections.

The post I love these! appeared first on Breast Cancer Action.

By The Breast Cancer Action Team

Want to learn more about our critical work and support Breast Cancer Action? Join us for two powerful upcoming events:

The 18th Annual Billie Gardner Loulan Memorial Benefit featuring the conversation “Building Trust in Science” will premiere May 19, 2022 at 4:00 pm PT / 6:00 pm CT / 7:00 pm ET.

Distrust in science is common in many fields, including in the breast cancer community. In this pre-recorded conversation, Executive Director Dr. Krystal Redman and two other health-justice specialists will shed light on how we can be a bridge between our community and science in an effort to begin building trust while holding science accountable.

Started in honor of her mother Billie Gardner Loulan, former BCAction Board Member JoAnn Loulan created this event 18 years ago, and has raised over 1.5 million for Breast Cancer Action through the years! Join her in this incredible effort by being present for this dynamic video premiere!

Your donation gets you early access to this crucial and urgent conversation.

The 2nd annual Drawing the Connections Virtual Community Gathering will be held June 14, 2022 at 4:00 pm PST / 6:00 pm CST / 7:00 pm EST!

With this event and the accompanying art auction, which runs June 9 – 19, we’ll highlight the intersection of art, activism, breast cancer, and social justice – and uplift art-ivism as a driver of social change.

Reserve your (virtual) seat and join us in this celebration of health justice and artistic creativity on June 14th, 2022 at 4pm PT / 7 pm ET.

As an organization rooted in social justice, tickets to Drawing the Connections are free. However, if you are able, we encourage you to become a sponsor or make a donation to help make this event accessible to as many people as possible while supporting our vital work to address and end breast cancer.

We hope to see you at these upcoming deeply impactful events each benefiting our work to address and end breast cancer.

The post Two Events to Support Breast Cancer Action appeared first on Breast Cancer Action.

By Jayla Burton, Program Manager

Stories play a powerful role in our culture and in social change because they connect our communities, inform and expand our perspective, and illuminate areas in need of change.

Our newest podcast episode, Storytelling: A Powerful Agent of Change, illuminates how this is possible and how you can join us in building power together. Take a listen to the podcast.

We’ve never shied away from the harsh truths about the causes of breast cancer or the injustices that many people living with and risk of the disease face. We also have never backed down from calling for the radical changes that are necessary to address the breast cancer crisis.

Your support, collaboration, and sharing of your personal stories have driven BCAction’s historic wins and outsized achievements. None of our work would be possible without the participation of activists like you who are unafraid to share how breast cancer has impacted your lives, and who continue to hold policymakers and corporations accountable through a collective action framework.

In this podcast episode, Storytelling: A Powerful Agent of Change, we speak with Dena Taylor, BCAction member and author of the book “I Don’t Want To Be Pink.” She shares her experience navigating a breast cancer diagnosis and her path to telling her story in book format. Also joining us is our very own Dr. Krystal Redman, Executive Director at BCAction, who speaks to the power of storytelling: how storytelling documents our histories, translates our lived experiences into real data, how storytelling can propel the breast cancer movement, and how to ethically engage in sharing personal narratives for political change.

Tune in to this dynamic episode and learn how YOU can share your story – as a person living with or at risk of breast cancer, as a caregiver, or as someone impacted by the disease (which is all of us). And if you’d like to get more engaged with our work by sharing your story toward the goal of political change, you can let us know and we’ll plug you in.

Listen to the podcast online or on Apple Podcasts, Google, Stitcher, or wherever you get your podcasts.

The post New podcast episode, tune in! appeared first on Breast Cancer Action.

By Heather Stone, Development and Communications Associate

Tickets for Drawing the Connections 2022 Community Gathering are now available!

Reserve your (virtual) seat TODAY and join us in this celebration of health justice and art-ivism on June 14th, at 4pm PT / 6pm CT / 7pm ET.

Drawing the Connections will be emcee’d by San Francisco-based comedian, Lisa Geduldig. Our featured guest artists are El Maldito (Oakland, CA), Cristy C. Road (Brooklyn, NY), Shelley Zentner (Lake Tahoe, CA), and Sonya Naumann (Venice, CA), who will share their art with us as featured speakers. And the event will spotlight our Executive Director Krystal Redman, who will illuminate the unique and crucial role Breast Cancer Action plays in the breast cancer landscape.

Learn more about our speakers and reserve your ticket for our virtual community gathering now!

Art has always played a central role in activism and culture change, and Drawing the Connections centers this partnership. Our art auction will feature a curated collection of art that focuses on themes of breast cancer, womxn’s rights, health justice, and other social justice causes.

As an organization rooted in social justice, tickets to this event are free. However, if you are able, we encourage you to become a sponsor or make a donation to help make this event accessible to as many people as possible while supporting our vital work to address and end breast cancer.

I hope you’ll join us for our 2nd annual and deeply impactful event. There’s something for everyone, so get your tickets today!

The post Now Available: Tickets for Drawing the Connections! appeared first on Breast Cancer Action.

By The Breast Cancer Action Team

We want to say a big thank you to everyone who’s donated in 2022 and to our Spring Fundraiser so far.

It’s with your ongoing support that we are able to do what we do best: work to address and end breast cancer through a health justice lens.

If you haven’t had a chance to donate yet, it’s not too late to support this important work.

We’ve got a lot planned for the next few months and we invite you to be a part of it!

• Our 2^nd Annual Drawing the Connections Virtual Community Gathering will take place on Tuesday, June 14. We’ll highlight the intersections between art, breast cancer, and social justice – and uplift art-ivism as a driver of social change. To get sneak peeks of the art as we begin to spotlight the pieces, follow us on Instagram!
• Look out for the release of our new strategic plan in which we envision the next five years. You can learn more about how we will show up in the health justice movement and in the world, what it means to prioritize centering those with the furthest relationships to power, and how we plan to operationalize our values internally and externally.
• And of course, keep an eye on your inbox for ways to take action on important legislation that impacts breast cancer, like the Safer Beauty Bill Package. This historic suite of four bills will make beauty and personal care products safer by banning toxic chemicals and making ingredient transparency the new industry standard. It will also reduce unsafe chemical exposures for all communities, especially women of color and salon workers, two vulnerable populations that are disproportionately exposed to toxic chemicals.

Your support allows us to advocate for large-scale, systemic changes like this one that will reduce our involuntary exposures to cancer-causing toxins.

Thank you for your ongoing support and activism!

The post Your support means so much appeared first on Breast Cancer Action.

By Jayla Burton, Program Manager

Companies continue to legally sell personal care products with chemicals that can cause cancer and other serious health harms.

Enough is enough. Cosmetic safety reform is long overdue.

Now is your chance to join us in calling on your representatives to support the Safer Beauty Bill Package to ensure beauty and personal care products are safer for everyone.

The body of evidence continues to grow: our ongoing daily exposures to toxic chemicals lurking in our products is wreaking havoc on public health. Comprehensive cosmetic safety reform is so desperately needed, because the U.S. law that governs the $100 billion beauty and personal care industry hasn’t been significantly updated in 83 years.

The Safer Beauty Bill Package is a set of four bills soon to be introduced that will make beauty and personal care products safer by: banning toxic chemicals, making ingredient transparency the new industry standard, and reducing unsafe chemical exposures for all communities, especially women of color and salon workers, two vulnerable populations that are disproportionately exposed to toxic chemicals.

The bills include:

• The Toxic-Free Beauty Act (HR 5537) which will ban 11 of the most toxic chemicals including mercury, formaldehyde, parabens, phthalates, phenylenediamines (hair dye chemicals), and all PFAS, also known as “forever chemicals.”
• The Cosmetic Safety for Communities of Color and Salon Workers (HR 5540) which will create stronger protections for those who are frequently exposed to toxic chemicals because of the products being marketed to them or used in their workplaces.
• Cosmetic Fragrance and Flavor Right to Know Act of 2021 (HR 5538) which will require disclosure of secret, unlabeled, and often toxic ingredients.
• Cosmetic Supply Chain Transparency Act (HR 5539) which will require upstream suppliers to disclose ingredients and provide safety data to cosmetic companies so they can make safer products.

Send an email to your Congressional representative urging them to support the Safer Beauty Bill Package now!

Everyone deserves access to personal care products that are free from cancer-causing chemicals, regardless of where you live, work, or shop. This historic suite of four federal bills will close gaps in cosmetic safety that impact all of us, especially women of color, salon workers, girls, and other vulnerable populations.

This action is sponsored by our trusted friends and partners at Breast Cancer Prevention Partners, Black Women for Wellness, The California Healthy Nail Salon Collaborative, and We ACT for Environmental Justice. 

The post Personal care products shouldn’t cause health harms appeared first on Breast Cancer Action.

By Krystal Redman, Executive Director

Empty awareness is not going to solve the breast cancer crisis.

We need systemic interventions to disrupt the inequities that directly influence the health, safety, and lives of our communities.

And we need your support.

We’re prioritizing ACTION over awareness by:

• Urging CalGEM, California’s regulatory agency, to ban all new permits for oil and gas wells that are not 3,200 feet away from areas where we live, work, and play.
• Working to pass the No PFAS in Cosmetics Act which will shift the responsibility from consumers to the cosmetics industry to stop the use of intentionally added PFAS in makeup and personal care products.
• Developing a workshop with our partners at the Silent Spring Institute to inform policymakers about federal agencies’ flawed practices for evaluating chemical effects on the breast.

AND we’re developing a new educational piece that connects the dots between extreme weather conditions caused by fossil fuel production and the disproportionate increases in breast cancer risk for frontline communities. This fact sheet highlights the impacts of the environmental crisis on breast cancer and adds to the mounting evidence that makes it clear: we must phase out fossil fuels immediately.

Your donation allows us to produce important pieces like this one that focuses on strategies to significantly reduce our involuntary exposures to cancer-causing toxins.

Each year, nearly 300,000 people are diagnosed with invasive breast cancer in the U.S. More than half of those have no known risk factors, and family history accounts for only around 10 percent. This risk is most acutely carried by communities with the furthest relationship to power and economic resources.

But, together, we can do something about it.

–> Yes! I want to support these crucial efforts to
stop cancer BEFORE it starts! <–

Thank you for your support, commitment, and activism.

The post Last chance to support our spring fundraiser appeared first on Breast Cancer Action.

By Lopa Pal, Development Manager, and Heather Stone, Development and Communications Associate

Now, more than ever, the breast cancer industry needs a strong, independent watchdog to make sure that the needs of people living with and at risk of breast cancer are being met.

Breast Cancer Action continues to be that watchdog, and we will keep doing so until all communities can thrive because they are healthy, liberated, and free from the breast cancer crisis.

And we need your support.

Right now, BCAction is mobilizing our community of grassroots activists to hold our leaders accountable by:

• Urging them to pass the Future Generations Protection Act, the most comprehensive anti-oil and gas bill ever put forth, which will ban fracking across the country, ban new fossil fuel plants, and put an end to oil and gas exports.
• Encouraging the finalization and passage of the Scientific Integrity Act, which will protect federal science by taking political interference and lobbying out of leadership decision-making, allowing scientists to speak openly with the public about their work.
• Pushing for the passage of the Lymphedema Treatment Act, which will change Medicare law to cover doctor prescribed compression supplies and other devices.

We are also training a new generation of activists through our Internship program. This opportunity is for students and others who are dedicating themselves to grassroots activism and who will play invaluable roles in creating our flagship Think Before You Pink® campaign, as well as other campaigns throughout the year. They are a necessary part of our watchdog work and we are committed to paying them for their labor.

Your support will help us to provide our interns with stipends that will allow them to fully immerse themselves in this challenging but thought-provoking work.

And as always, your support uplifts Breast Cancer Action’s watchdog, education, advocacy, and activist work to address and end breast cancer through a health justice lens. THANK YOU for your part in this work.

The post We hold our leaders accountable appeared first on Breast Cancer Action.

By Jayla Burton, Program Manager, and Zoë Christopher, Operations Manager and Program Officer

Donating to BCAction supports real people living with and at risk of breast cancer.

Whether they’re looking for information about screening and diagnosis, or they’re investigating and comparing treatments when they or a loved one has just been diagnosed, we are here for them. Often, resources out there come with their own agenda and don’t speak to the needs of all communities, including those living deep within the margins. But we do.

That’s what sets us apart.

We recently redesigned and updated our website, making it easier for everyone to find trustworthy and accurate content, analysis, and resources like:

• Podcasts that address the root causes of the vast disparities in screening and diagnosis, as well as the steps movement leaders are taking to achieve equitable care for all;
• Downloadable toolkits and factsheets that provide information about everything from the connection between fossil fuels and breast cancer, to what to do if you’ve been newly diagnosed, to the 4 questions to ask before you walk for breast cancer;
• And a searchable resource library that puts all of the information at your fingertips like never before.

Of course, if you need to talk to a real person, you can call or email us with your questions and you’ll receive well-researched and compassionate responses.

All of this takes time, staff, and resources to maintain. That’s why your support is so important and appreciated.

–> Yes, I support patient-centered resources and the
democratization of information on breast cancer! <–

From the bottom of our hearts, thank you for your support.

The post Your contributions support real people living with and at risk of breast cancer appeared first on Breast Cancer Action.

By Jayla Burton, Program Manager

What does scientific integrity mean for breast cancer? A LOT.

All people deserve access to evidence-based, patient-centered information so they can fully engage in their healthcare and make informed decisions. We need this same evidence-based information in order to create good policy that will protect people living with and at risk of breast cancer.

Take action and ask your representatives to support the Scientific Integrity Act to strengthen federal science today.

Here’s a play-by-play explanation of how federal agencies directly impact breast cancer policy:

Food and Drug Administration (FDA): The FDA is responsible for approving breast cancer therapies and devices. During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, political incentives were used to speed up the accelerated approval process, a process BCAction is already critical of, impacting the process for determining the safety of other drugs and devices, including those used for breast cancer. The leaders of the agency have been known to favor industry profit over the people they are supposed to protect. This can lead to decisions being made based on pressure from big pharma and lobby groups, as opposed to the evidence-based information that would show that a therapy is more effective, less toxic, and/or more affordable than what’s currently on the market.

The post The importance of restoring scientific integrity appeared first on Breast Cancer Action.

By Krystal Redman, Executive Director

When I was interviewed by Good Housekeeping Magazine, which has an estimated online reach of over 39 million, we at Breast Cancer Actoin saw it as an exceptional opportunity to normalize conversations about the problems of pinkwashing, and to make pinkwashing a household concept across the nation.

You can support this work by making a donation today and reading more below.

The above quote is from the Good Housekeeping piece published in their February (not October!) issue that demonstrates how the dangers of pinkwashing occur year-round.

But luckily, so does our work.

That’s why I’m asking you to donate to Breast Cancer Action this spring.

Like pinkwashing extending beyond October, this spotlight on our work was also an invaluable opportunity to express what we — and other breast cancer activists — already know: barriers to equitable healthcare persist no matter what month it is. It is Breast Cancer Action’s duty to continually disrupt the systems that perpetuate the breast cancer crisis.

BCAction has challenged the breast cancer industry for over thirty years. We understand that true health justice can only be achieved by confronting and dismantling white supremacy, racism, capitalism, patriarchy, heterosexism/heteronormativity, and ableism — structures that directly affect and impair one’s ability to access equitable coverage, care, and treatment.

Your donation this spring provides us with the resources we need to confront these systems and enact structural solutions that will address the root causes of the disease and produce broad public health benefits.

Throughout the year, we are:

• Working to achieve structural and systemic solutions that will address the root causes of the disease and produce broad public health benefits.
• Centering the stories of those with the furthest relationship to power, ensuring that no community bears a disproportionate burden of this disease.
• Ensuring that our small but mighty team has the resources they need to help you, our powerful community of activists, make meaningful change by holding the powerful accountable for perpetuating the breast cancer crisis.

This work is valuable and it’s year-round. Thank you in advance for your support.

The post Pinkwashing does not end in October appeared first on Breast Cancer Action.

By The Breast Cancer Action Team

There’s still time to submit a piece for our Drawing the Connections Art Auction and Fundraising Gala.

We have received submissions in a variety of mediums – ceramics, photography, limited edition prints, collages, paintings and drawings – from Breast Cancer Action’s talented community of artists and activists.

The deadline to submit is March 31^st! Even if you aren’t 100% certain about what you want to submit, go ahead and fill in the form and we’ll follow up with you.

Drawing the Connections highlights the intersections between art, breast cancer, and social justice, and uplifts how art drives social change. Our virtual auction and gala features a curated collection of art that focuses on themes of breast cancer, womxn’s rights, health justice, and other social justice causes. This celebration of activism and creativity raises crucial funds for our work.

Last year, with your support, we exceeded our $15,000 fundraising goal. And we can do it again this year!

BCAction is not your average breast cancer organization, and for three decades we have taken on this disease by addressing the root causes of health inequalities. Support our work today by submitting a piece of art or forwarding this email to an artist you admire. The deadline to submit a piece of art is next week, Thursday, March 31, 2022.

Thank you for your creativity and collaboration in the work to address and end breast cancer.

The post There’s still time appeared first on Breast Cancer Action.

By Jayla Burton, Program Manager

Breast cancer has become a political issue.

One of the many ways it must be addressed is by ensuring that decisions made by federal agencies are based on scientific evidence free of partisan influence.

Take action and urge Congress to pass the Scientific Integrity Act, H.R.849, an important step toward ensuring decisions are not made on the whims of ideologues or by powerful lobby groups.

When the Biden-Harris administration first took office, you joined us in calling for them to prioritize the breast cancer crisis. We depend on high-quality federal scientific research and the hard work of federal scientists to protect our health and environment. The Scientific Integrity Act will safeguard the rights of scientists working at federal agencies by:

• Prohibiting political appointees from tampering with or suppressing scientific findings.
• Giving scientists autonomy and final review, without agency interference, over how their research is disseminated, and permit them to talk directly with the public about their work.
• Strengthening the rights of scientific whistleblowers.

This bill will keep agency leaders from disregarding the science and will implement key protections that prohibit political interference. The bill would ensure more transparency and accountability from federal agencies such as the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). As more and more evidence links environmental risk factors to health harms, including breast cancer, science and evidence-based information must be at the forefront of policy-making decisions that prevent these exposures.

As Dr. Diana Zuckerman, President of the National Center for Health Research, recently wrote regarding the COVID-19 pandemic: “We learned a tragic lesson in 2020 about the importance of scientific integrity, and how lives can be lost when science is manipulated, ignored, politicized or misinterpreted.” Weak regulations put us all at risk for developing diseases such as breast cancer.

Science must guide policy decisions — not the other way around. Take action and protect scientific integrity.

The post Scientific integrity and breast cancer appeared first on Breast Cancer Action.

By Heather Stone, Development & Communications Associate

We have already received several stunning works of art from Breast Cancer Action’s talented community of artists and activists.

Now we need your contribution!

We hope you’ll join us this year by submitting a piece for our Drawing the Connections Art Auction and Fundraising Gala.

Drawing the Connections highlights the intersections between art, breast cancer, and social justice. This celebration of activism and creativity raises crucial funds for our work. Last year, with your support, we exceeded our $15,000 fundraising goal.

We know that the Breast Cancer Action community is filled with incredible artists and activists and we want to add your work to Drawing the Connection’s curated collection. We encourage submissions from artists who feel aligned with our values and are interested in addressing issues of breast cancer, womxn’s rights, health justice, and other social justice causes. We welcome art that explores those themes, however, it is not required to stick to those themes or express them in a literal way.

BCAction is not your average breast cancer organization, and for three decades we have taken on this disease by addressing the root causes of health inequalities. Support our work today by submitting a piece of art or forwarding this email to an artist you admire. The deadline to submit a piece of art is Thursday, March 31, 2022.

Thank you for your creativity and collaboration in the work to address and end breast cancer.

The post Art is Activism appeared first on Breast Cancer Action.

By Heather Stone, Development and Communications Associate

I am elated to announce that our art auction and fundraiser, Drawing the Connections, will be happening in June!

Drawing the Connections highlights the intersections between art, breast cancer, and social justice. Last year, this celebration of activism and creativity raised crucial funds for our work and engaged our community of activists in moving and inspiring ways. With your support, we exceeded our $15,000 goal.

We hope you’ll join us again this year by submitting a piece for the auction!

We know that the Breast Cancer Action community is filled with incredible artists and activists. We encourage submissions from artists who feel aligned with our values and are interested in addressing issues of breast cancer, womxn’s rights, health justice, and other social justice causes. We welcome art that explores those themes, however it is not required for you to stick to those themes or express them in a literal way. If you feel inspired to submit a piece, please do!

Additionally, if you know of an artist that you feel would be a great fit, please forward this email to them or add them to the submission form and we will follow up with them.

This fundraiser will reflect our core values. BCAction is not your average breast cancer organization, and for three decades we have taken on this disease by addressing the root causes of health inequalities.

The deadline to submit a piece of art is Thursday, March 31, 2022. Please don’t hesitate to reach out to me if you have questions about this fundraiser or our submission guidelines.

The post The 2nd annual Drawing the Connections is underway! appeared first on Breast Cancer Action.

By Krystal Redman, Executive Director

We’re giving you a sneak peek into our strategic planning process with the unveiling of our illustrated graphic notes!

We’re bold, unapologetic truthtellers, and our fearless approach and radical questions shine through in this series of 7 images that illustrate how BCAction’s board and staff moved through our internal strategic planning process.

Breast Cancer Action’s strategic planning graphic notes were produced by the very talented Taslim van Hattum.

With these bright, dynamic, and hand-drawn images you’ll gain insight into the vision for our work going forward, how our new mission statement is taking shape, and of course, the values guiding this work, including health justice, transparency and accountability, collective action, and anti-racism.

Our graphic notes give you a bit of insight into the questions we have asked ourselves about how we envision our radical work: Where have we been? Who are we now? Who do we show up for? Where are we going? And what will it take to get there?

In this sneak peek we’re displaying not only these critical questions we’re asking of ourselves and the breast cancer movement at large, but also the systemic and social ecological factors we’re grappling with in defining our unique role as breast cancer activists and the industry watchdogs.

We hope you see your values reflected in our illustrated notes, just as you may see yourself in our work to address and end breast cancer.

As a member of our community of breast cancer activists, we thank you for your part in helping our values and visions come together.

The post Here’s a sneak peek of our strategic planning process! appeared first on Breast Cancer Action.

By Zoë Christopher, Program Officer & Operations Manager

This is an opportunity to take bold action to protect public health and our planet.

To stop breast cancer before it starts, we must end our dependence on fossil fuels. The industry increases our exposure to chemicals that are linked to breast cancer risk.

Join us in action to call on our representatives to support the Future Generations Protection Act.

Our organization has been committed to ending the breast cancer crisis. In addition to supporting people diagnosed with the disease, this means working to stop cancer-causing toxins from entering our bodies and our environment in the first place.

We know that practices such as fracking (the process of pumping a mixture of water and chemicals, including known carcinogens and endocrine disruptors, deep below the earth’s surface using extreme pressure to break up rock formations and release oil or natural gas) threatens our health by contaminating our water supply and soil. This is especially impactful for communities on the frontlines who are often communities of color and/or low-income.

Despite the mountains of evidence on the ways fossil fuel practices create irreversible damage to our planet and to our health, Big Oil & Gas continues to relentlessly push for more fossil fuel expansion. More fossil fuel infrastructure means more air pollution, more cancer, and amplified injustices.

The Future Generations Protection Act will implement a ban on fracking across the country, a ban on new fossil fuel plants, and an end to oil and gas exports.

Take action now and tell your representatives to support this important bill.

The burden of developing safe alternatives belongs on the shoulders of the oil and gas industry, not on the backs of people who are living with and at risk of breast cancer.

The post Take action to stop fossil fuel dependence appeared first on Breast Cancer Action.

By Tibby Reas Hinderlie, Communications Manager, and Krystal Redman, Executive Director

How do we honor Black history and experiences beyond February?

At Breast Cancer Action, we’re reflecting on the life of Henrietta Lacks, racism in medicine, and disparities in breast cancer. We’re considering how anti-racism must be present in all of our internal processes and external stances, as we look ahead of the release our 2022 Strategic Plan, which will be deeply rooted in our health justice work.

Read our piece, “Honoring Our History Means Acknowledging Our History,” by myself (Tibby Reas Hinderlie (she/her)) and Executive Director Dr. Krystal Redman (they/she), where we connect how our reflections in the current moment provide a framework for our work beyond the month of February.

We are honoring Black history and experiences through a multitude of strategies: spotlighting BIPOC stories, providing critical analysis on the systemic underpinnings of racism woven throughout our institutions, and reflecting on our own work and our often-overlapping roles within systems. We know that paying homage to Black History Month must be part of ongoing, intentional, anti-racist work.

BCAction goes beyond merely recognizing Black History Month as just a moment in time, and would like to honor our history by acknowledging it. We will examine how we, as an organization, actively decenter problematic, harmful, and oppressive practices, and we will re-envision how we work to address and end breast cancer using a health justice lens.

“Honoring Our History Means Acknowledging Our History” starts small with the story of Henrietta Lacks. Lacks was a Black woman who died of advanced stage cervical cancer at the young age of 31. While being treated, her cells were taken without her knowledge or consent. Now known as the “immortal HeLa cell line,” her cells have been used in much of modern medicine for research and drug development.

Throughout this reflection is the belief that our stories are powerful. They can provide insight into how we might approach systemic problems and create disruptive solutions toward the goal of living healthy and liberated lives.

Read the piece and start to look forward with us, as we turn toward the launch of our Strategic Plan’s graphic preview, which will be released later this week.

We know that in order to do this collective work, we have to first examine our own values and structures, and we look forward to sharing our upcoming plans with you. In our 2022 Strategic Plan we have created a blueprint for how we will show up in the movement and in the world, with the commitment to anti-racism as a foundational methodology that must be ever-present in all that we do to truly address and end breast cancer.

We hope you’ll join us in honoring Black history and experiences today and beyond the month of February.

The post How do we honor Black history and experiences BEYOND February? appeared first on Breast Cancer Action.

By Jayla Burton, Program Manager

Take action with us today and tell Congress that ALL people living with breast cancer deserve access to comprehensive treatment options, including lymphedema compression supplies.

Within five years of treatment for breast cancer, it is estimated that two of every five women will develop lymphedema, a condition that causes incredibly painful swelling in the arms or legs due to the blocked flow of fluids.

We believe everyone deserves access to essential medical supplies.

Patients need compression supplies to control and manage swelling—but Medicare and some private insurance companies don’t cover the costs of these supplies. This causes even more harm and leaves patients who can’t afford them to suffer from this debilitating condition.

A recent study found that Black women are more likely to develop lymphedema than white women after breast cancer treatment, meaning Black women are more directly impacted by the barriers to these necessary garments. This is an issue of health justice and we’re asking you to take action with us now.

The Lymphedema Treatment Act will make meaningful change. This important piece of legislation will change Medicare law to cover doctor-prescribed compression supplies. Not only will it expand access to essential medical supplies for those in need but it will also set a precedent for Medicaid and other insurers to do the same.

Getting this bill passed will be a step toward health justice for all breast cancer patients. It’s our goal to help pass this important legislation before the second year of Congress ends at the end of 2022 and we need your help.

Take action and join us on calling on members of Congress to pass the Lymphedema Treatment Act this year!

The post Take action for health justice appeared first on Breast Cancer Action.

By Lopa Pal, Development Manager

Every year, Breast Cancer Action receives hundreds of donations in memory of people we have lost, and in honor of the bold activists who work to address and end this disease.

Thank you to everyone who made a donation in memory or in honor of a loved one. These gifts don’t just sustain us financially, they fuel the fire of our activism. We are honored to acknowledge the tributes made throughout 2021, and we hope this inspires your continued activism as well.

At the end of 2021 we lost our dear friend and former board member, Julie Morgan. Julie was a true champion of Breast Cancer Action who was willing to jump in and help any time a board or staff member called. I still smile when I think about the rowdiness and joy that she brought to our annual Action Speaks Louder Than Pink: Food for Thought fundraising dinner by filling multiple tables with her community. It was so very clear how much they loved her. Though Julie did all she could to prepare us, we weren’t ready for her to go. This moving tribute to Julie’s activism was written by our Program Officer, Zoë Christopher.

The philanthropic community, and the LGBTQIA community in particular, also lost one of our most noteworthy leaders last Summer. James Hormel was a dedicated supporter of Breast Cancer Action, who challenged us to think strategically and logically about our financial health. At BCAction, we are grateful for the support and advice he provided us over the years, and we want to recognize the profound impact he had on LGBTQIA rights. The Advocate published a powerful tribute to Jim, including accolades from people like House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Human Rights Campaign President Alphonso David, National Center for Lesbian Rights Executive Director Imani Rupert-Gordon, and many more.

Our grief over these losses, and our rage about the persistence of breast cancer, drive our mission forward. We envision a world without the maddening and often-preventable losses caused by breast cancer, and a world where our communities are healthy and thriving. We will continue to do our part by doing what we do best: advocating for environmental protections to stop the disease before it starts, holding the Breast Cancer Industry accountable through our watchdog work, and being a trusted resource by providing information and analysis free to anyone who wants it.

Thank you for your support and for your part in this work.

The post In memory and honor of… appeared first on Breast Cancer Action.

By Krystal Redman, Executive Director

After two weeks of rest and rejuvenation, we returned to the overwhelming generosity you demonstrated at the end of 2021.

Thanks to you and Breast Cancer Action supporters nationwide, our year-end fundraising campaign raised just over $134,000, ensuring that we can lean into the work that lies ahead with our trademark tenacity.

2022 has already presented us with challenges to public health and our shared vision of health justice. But at BCAction, we’ll always do our part to build a world where all communities are healthy and thriving by working to stop breast cancer.

As we’ve shared with you over the last few weeks, we see 2022 as a year of organizational growth and deeper alignment to our core values. We look forward to defining our anti-racist commitments and reinvigorating our social justice roots with our strategic plan process in an effort towards achieving health justice. At the same time, we will continue to be the independent watchdog for the breast cancer movement, offer our unique brand of patient-centered, evidence-based information about breast cancer diagnosis and treatment, and advocate for environmental protections to stop the disease before it starts.

If you made your donation online you should have received a donation receipt via email. If you sent us a check, rest assured that we are prioritizing processing and acknowledging your gift within the next week. In the meantime, if you have any questions about your year-end gift, please don’t hesitate to contact our Development Manager, Lopa Pal at lpal@bcaction.org.

Thank you for your continued support and commitment to a world without breast cancer.

The post So many thanks! appeared first on Breast Cancer Action.

By Krystal Redman, Executive Director

Thank you to everyone who made a year-end donation to Breast Cancer Action!

If you haven’t yet, don’t worry, there are still a few hours left to support our uncompromising activism.

We aren’t in the pocket of the breast cancer industry because we don’t take money from corporations that profit from or contribute to breast cancer. The vast majority of our funding comes from individual members and supporters like you.

Your year-end gift will make all the difference to our work.

I hope each and every one of you has a happy and peaceful New Year.

The post There are a few hours left to make your 2021 year-end gift appeared first on Breast Cancer Action.

By Krystal Redman, Executive Director

Today wraps up my first year as Executive Director of BCAction and I am hoping you will support this powerhouse of a team with a year-end donation.

To say that I am proud of what we have accomplished this past year would be an understatement. In a mere 12 months, the Breast Cancer Action team and our members took on major organizations (Komen and Bank of America), helped make huge progress in anti-fossil fuel work in California (3,200 ft setbacks for all new oil and gas wells), and advocated for health justice in new and deeply significant ways.

The work we did this year sets the stage for us to push even harder to take on the breast cancer crisis and breast cancer disparities in 2022.

Please join us with your year-end gift.

With your support, in 2022, we will:

• Use our unique ability to bring together evidence-based scientific expertise and the lived experience of people with breast cancer to ensure that community voices are incorporated into breast cancer research by engaging impacted communities, stakeholders, and mobilizing our broad network of community organizations.
• Offer compassionate, evidence-based information about breast cancer through our free Information and Resource Service—to anyone who needs it.
• Provide one-of-a-kind content and analysis on the latest news about breast cancer issues through our podcasts, webinars, media analysis, thought-leadership, and partnerships.
• Build on this year’s Think Before You Pink® campaign and the new and strengthened partnerships we’ve developed with environmental organizations to reshape policies and practices so that they protect people from toxic environmental exposures, which disproportionately affect people of color and people with the furthest relationships to power and resources.

We can do this work because we aren’t in the pocket of the breast cancer industry. We don’t take money from corporations that profit from or contribute to breast cancer. The vast majority of our funding comes from individual members and supporters like YOU.

Your year-end gift will make a meaningful difference in the lives of those living with and at risk of breast cancer.

The post You made our year appeared first on Breast Cancer Action.

The Breast Cancer Action Team

What does it mean to be the breast cancer industry watchdog in 2021?

This year, when it became clear the Food and Drug Administration Acting Commissioner Janet Woodcock was a potential nominee for the permanent role of the head of the FDA, our team sprang into action. Because we understand how the inner workings of this agency affect the daily lives of people living with breast cancer, we insist that the FDA Commissioner MUST prioritize public health over industry interest and be committed to ensuring a balance between approval speed and drug safety and efficacy. We mobilized our community of activists to urge the Biden administration make a better choice

The Biden administration didn’t move forward with her nomination, thanks to fearless advocates like our members, who aren’t afraid to demand accountability from those involved in the politics of breast cancer.

Make a year-end donation today to ensure our watchdog work continues to be just as powerful in 2022.

We are unabashed in our demands. In 2021 we also mobilized around these rapid response issues:

• Breast Cancer Action released a welcome card to the administration laying out our top priorities by which the administration can truly address and end breast cancer: address systemic racism; increase transparency and accountability at the FDA and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA); focus on primary prevention; ensure better breast cancer treatments that are more effective and less toxic; and enact universal healthcare.
• Despite the Supreme Court ruling in our favor to strike down Myriad Genetics’ patents on the human breast cancer genes in 2013, when North Carolina Senator Thom Tillis introduced new legislation to challenge this ruling, we joined the Patient Stakeholder Group and delivered a letter to the Senator stating our concerns and opposition.
• We continue to galvanize breast cancer activists throughout the year on legislation and regulatory agency practices that impact people living with and at risk of breast cancer.

This watchdog role is indispensable to the breast cancer industry, and we won’t stop in 2022.

Please support this work today and ensure that we’re able to fearlessly tell truth to power going forward in the new year.

The post What being a watchdog means to us appeared first on Breast Cancer Action.

By The Breast Cancer Action Team

Every time you’ve donated, taken action, or liked and shared a post you’ve played a role in achieving health justice for everyone at risk of and living with breast cancer.

As we wrap up this year, just two days before the end of 2021, we want to express our deepest gratitude for all of your support. And we want to let you know exactly how 2022 promises to be a year of growth for BCAction.

In 2022, we will be even more intentional about starting with ourselves, analyzing our processes, our culture, and our priorities, and bringing a heightened social justice and anti-racist lens to the breast cancer movement.

But we can only do this with your support. Please join us with a year-end donation.

We know that in order to do this work, we have to first examine our own organizational values and structures. That’s why, during the first half of 2022, we will be re-envisioning our strategic plan to create a blueprint for how we will show up in the movement and the world, prioritizing centering those with the furthest relationships to power, and operationalizing these values internally and externally.

Some of the important questions we will be asking ourselves are:

How can we get real about being intersectional? How do we best center those who reside deep within the margins and who have the furthest relationships to power? How do we ensure that we are looking at the whole person: their experiences, the interconnecting systems that influence their lives, and their ability to thrive? How do we balance our tireless work to dismantle barriers to equitable healthcare while prioritizing sustainability and self-care?

These are questions that are central to our work as a health justice organization. And we have never shied away from hard truths, not when we are holding the breast cancer industry accountable, and not when we are examining our own work.

We will share the final plan with you when it is ready. In the meantime, we invite you to join us with a year-end donation.

The post To change the world, we need to start with ourselves appeared first on Breast Cancer Action.

By Krystal Redman, Executive Director

Our small but mighty team strives to counterbalance the hyped-up headlines and corporate influence in breast cancer reporting so that you can make the best decisions for your health.

Our history illustrates our path to our present-day role as breast cancer truth-tellers: BCAction was formed in 1990, when a group of women living with breast cancer encountered unresponsive government agencies and private organizations that provided inadequate, superficial information—not the evidence-based data they were looking for. They got angry and turned that anger into action by forming Breast Cancer Action.

Since then, BCAction has provided important, evidence-based information and resources from experienced, compassionate staff while also making information about breast cancer accessible and free of charge to anyone who needs it.

Thank you for your steadfast support. I hope you’ll make a year-end donation today so that we can continue to provide crucial information and resources in 2022.

With your support, we will:

• Continue to produce one-of-a-kind and timely content about issues of breast cancer screening, treatment and diagnosis by posting our unique, independent analysis on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
• Make our, toolkits, fact sheets, webinars, and other resources more accessible through our Resource Library, one of the new features of our redesigned, more powerful, and better values-aligned website.
• Produce episodes throughout the year of our hard-hitting, unmatched podcasts, exposing the truth about the breast cancer industry, as well as giving people the tools they can use to make a difference.
• Research and distribute our upcoming toolkit, focused on the most up-to-date and industry-exposing connections between breast cancer and climate change.

We are unique in the breast cancer landscape.

We are radical and compassionate; activists at heart with an independent, rapid-response watchdog perspective.

And we can only do this with your support. Please make your fully tax-deductible year-end donation today.

The post We deserve to know the truth appeared first on Breast Cancer Action.

By Jayla Burton, Program Manager

Breast cancer is a complex group of diseases that occur in a complex world. 

And at Breast Cancer Action, we never shy away from asking critical questions about how issues of screening, treatment, and diagnosis impact people living with and at risk of the disease.

Last week we attended the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium (SABCS), the largest breast cancer conference in the world, where clinicians and researchers gather to share the latest updates on drugs, treatments, and standards of care. BCAction is in attendance every year to speak up and provide our unique, patient-centered perspective on the latest findings.

Breast Cancer Action’s independent analysis is evidence-based and social justice-focused. We see past the hype and call for more effective, less toxic treatments that truly make a difference in the lives of people who need them. We push past reliance on pharmaceutical interventions and profit-driven prevention strategies to reveal the ways in which inequities, barriers to healthcare, and environmental exposures produced by larger systems drive the breast cancer crisis AND disparities in diagnosis, treatment, and mortality.

Our staff who attended the symposium, myself and Executive Director Dr. Krystal Redman (KR) provided rapid-response updates on social media, and published eight blogs detailing a comprehensive summary of our biggest takeaways.

Check out all of our SABCS 2021 pieces here, and get caught up with the latest updates:  

• SABCS 2021 Foreward 
• We Must Address The True Risk of Breast Cancer 
• Screening Disruption Due To COVID-19 
• Pembrolizumab approved – but does it pass our critical questions? 
• Preventing Breast Cancer Starts at the Top 
• Addressing COVID-19 and Breast Cancer in Black Communities Requires Trust Building 
• Are You Really Ready To Build Trust? 
• Fertility after Breast Cancer: Ovarian Reserve and Assisted Reproductive Technology

Our independence sets us apart. 

Because we’ll never accept funds from any entity that profits from or contributes to breast cancer, we can bring you our FREE patient-centered, evidence-based, expert analysis through our blogs, toolkits, and fact sheets, and our Information and Resource services. People like you support our work because you can get rely on us for a unique take you can’t get anywhere else.

The post An overview of #SABCS2021 appeared first on Breast Cancer Action.

By Tibby Reas Hinderlie, Communications Manager

An Annual Report is about more than just outcomes.

It’s about culture change. It’s about how we include communities most impacted by breast cancer. And it’s about how your support translates into real change in the daily lives of people living with and at risk of breast cancer.

As a grassroots organization, none of our work would be possible without you.

See what we’ve accomplished together in BCAction’s 2020-2021 Annual Report.

In our 2020-2021 Annual Report you’ll be introduced to our unmatched work throughout the year with a letter from our Executive Director, Krystal Redman (KR):

“New is the theme for Breast Cancer Action at this moment – this year we incorporated new staff, new platforms, new virtual spaces, and started our strategic plan process that will guide our programmatic priorities and strengthen our mission, vision, and values for the next five years.”

You’ll see pictures from our light board action directed at California Governor Gavin Newsom, review our hard-hitting political cartoons from our Think Before You Pink® campaign directed at the Trump administration, see the panels and pieces in which BCAction staff were cited as thought leaders, and read about how we operationalized our anti-racist values in the section “demanding health justice.”

Unwavering throughout BCAction’s growth and ongoing advocacy work is our unmatched commitment to speaking truth to power. Thanks to your support, we don’t have to ever compromise our commitment to addressing and ending breast cancer, or to our unique role of doing so by centering health justice.

Read more about our work in 2020 and 2021, and THANK YOU for making this work possible.

The post BCAction’s Annual Report: YOU make our work possible appeared first on Breast Cancer Action.

By Krystal Redman, Executive Director

Did you know that Black women are 42% more likely to die from breast cancer than white women?

Or, that although Latinas have a lower incidence rate, they are 20% more likely to die than white women diagnosed at a similar age and stage? How about the fact that breast cancer patients of lower income have five-year relative survival rates that are 9% lower than patients of higher-income?

These are sobering statistics. We know that we cannot address the issues at the core of this disease without addressing disparities in incidence rates, treatment outcomes, and mortality.  That’s why, together, our board and staff are committed to deepening our social justice lens and our intentionality around how anti-racism is health justice. 

In 2022 we will be taking concrete action to radically shift the systems that result in these gross disparities. I hope you’ll join us with a year-end gift today.

Here are some of the projects we’ll be working on in the upcoming year:

• In May 2021, the board and staff started our strategic planning process to envision the next five years. This process, which will continue into the new year, includes creating a blueprint for how we will show up in the movement and the world, prioritizing centering those with the furthest relationships to power, and operationalizing these values internally and externally.
• Our work to end our reliance on fossil fuels sits squarely at the intersection of environmental, economic, and health justice. As a result of our work with the Last Chance Alliance, CalGEM, the department that oversees oil operations in California, issued a draft rule banning new permits for oil and gas wells within 3,200 feet of these areas where we live, work, and play. Big news, but our work continues! In the coming year we will continue our partnership with the Last Chance Alliance to ensure that this draft rule becomes law in the state of California, setting a precedence for national change.
• As we announced earlier in the year, BCAction was chosen by the California Breast Cancer Research Program (CBCRP) to be the convener for a major multi-organizational research project that aims to understand multi-generational breast cancer risk factors for immigrant communities in the U.S. and California. We began work in October to ensure that community voices are incorporated into the research process by engaging impacted immigrant communities, stakeholders, and mobilizing our broad network of community organizations.

At Breast Cancer Action, we know that the same social determinants that increase an individual’s likelihood of experiencing racial injustice are the same forces that likely contribute to disparities in the development and mortality of breast cancer. In 2022, we will continue to work to create a world where our lives and communities are not threatened by breast cancer, healthcare disparities, or racism.

I hope you’ll join us in that effort with your year-end gift today.

The post Anti-racism work is health justice appeared first on Breast Cancer Action.

By Krystal Redman, Executive Director

Right now is an exciting, emergent moment for Breast Cancer Action.

This year, after honoring our 30th Anniversary in 2020, we began navigating our first full year as a virtual organization, made our way through another pandemic year, leaned into our national work, launched new online platforms, and created new events.

The transition into 2022 brims with potential for growth and even deeper alignment with our core values on the path to progress and systemic change.

I hope you’ll join us during this formative time by making your year-end donation today.

In 2021:

• We embarked on a strategic planning process to envision the next five years. This process includes creating a blueprint for how we will show up in the movement and the world, prioritizing centering those with the furthest relationships to power, and operationalizing these values internally and externally.
• We helped make huge progress on anti-fossil fuel work in California. Through our partnerships within the Last Chance Alliance, we demanded concrete action from Governor Newsom toward ending fracking and other dangerous drilling practices. Last month, CalGEM, the department that oversees oil operations in California, issued a draft rule banning new permits for oil and gas wells within 3,200 feet of the areas where we live, work, and play. Big news, but our work continues!
• We launched our 2021 Think Before You Pink® campaign, Stop Banking on Breast Cancer, which called out Susan G. Komen® and demanded that they phase out their Pink Ribbon Banking Program, created in partnership with Bank of America.
• We continued our ongoing rapid response work. We mobilized our members to oppose Dr. Janet Woodcock’s nomination as head of the Food and Drug Administration; we condemned white supremacy and stood in solidarity with the Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) community in a letter published in March, and we delivered a letter to North Carolina Senator Tom Tillis stating our concerns about Congress’ plan to, yet again, allow companies to patent human genes. This plan would dismantle our historic Supreme Court win against Myriad Genetics in 2013.

BCAction has always approached breast cancer as a public health crisis and a social justice issue. In 2021, we took bold, purposeful steps toward building on our legacy of: uplifting issues of access to equitable care and information, calling out the hypocrisy of pink ribbon marketing culture, and addressing the root causes of breast cancer.

2022 will be no different, but we need your help to get there! 

Please join us by making your year-end donation today.

The post How Can We Grow Together? appeared first on Breast Cancer Action.

By Jayla Burton, Program Manager

There are over 2 million Californians living next to toxic oil and gas drilling in their neighborhoods.

This is 2 million Californians exposed to harmful chemicals that may increase breast cancer risk.

Join us today and leave a public comment to protect communities in California from the harmful impacts of fossil fuels.

Along with our partners in the Last Chance Alliance coalition, we have three simple demands for California Governor Gavin Newsom: stop approving new fossil fuel projects, cease current oil extraction, and roll out a health and safety buffer zone between fossil fuel projects and where people live work and play.

Newsom instructed the California Geologic Energy Management Division (CalGEM) to establish rules to protect public health from impacts of oil and gas extraction. And finally, as a result of our tireless activism and a new scientific assessment — which has shown that a 3,200 foot buffer zone (also known as setback) is the bare minimum needed to protect people from worst health outcomes including increased risk of breast cancer — CalGEM has issued draft rule to do so.

Now, we need your help to get his draft rule across the finish line so that the oil and gas industry has clear boundaries as to where they can and cannot drill.

Now is the time to join in the action alongside our environmental justice leaders and demand:

1. CalGEM implement 3,200 foot setbacks for new wells
2. The agency ensures setbacks apply to existing wells
3. A ban on all new permits within the setback, until the final rule is in effect

A majority of the residents on the frontlines of oil and gas drilling are from low-income or Black, Indigenous, and Latinx communities. A minimum setback of 3,200 feet that encompasses both new and existing oil and gas sites will protect frontline communities, the same communities that policymakers have allowed oil companies to sacrifice in the name of profit for a hundred years. Join us in taking a stand against this environmental injustice and calling for our health be put before the fossil fuel industry’s interests.

Take action today to hold CalGEM and the Newsom Administration accountable and move these rules forward!

Public comments from California residents will be prioritized, but comments are accepted from people across the country. Even if you don’t live in California – please voice your opinion. As with many environmental policies, implementation often starts in California and emboldens other states to take action.

The post Act Now: Stop fossil fuel exposures appeared first on Breast Cancer Action.

By Tibby Reas Hinderlie, Communications Manager

Breast Cancer Action will be bringing our independent, watchdog perspective to the largest annual breast cancer conference in the world.

Every December, the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium (SABCS) brings together both researchers and clinical practitioners to present and discuss the latest research and practices.

BCAction attends this conference each year on behalf of people living with and at risk of breast cancer to see past the hype and provide a critical, patient-centered take.

Although this conference is traditionally held in person, this year will be done in the hybrid model, both in person and virtually starting Tuesday, December 7, through Friday, December 10. And throughout the four days of SABCS, we will attend sessions, workshops, and debates, and deliver our critical analysis to ensure the important questions are uplifted in a space where medical jargon, unfamiliar acronyms, and big pharma profit can too often take center stage.

We are looking forward to attending a variety of different sessions that cover subjects such as: shifts in standards of care in the face of COVID-19, risk scores, assessment, and reduction, and equity of racial and ethnic groups in clinical trials, and so much more.

Whether you are attending SABCS or just want to stay in the know, be sure to follow us on Twitter (@BCAction) so you don’t miss our rapid response take on the issues. And keep a look out throughout the week and after the conference for blogs from our Executive Director, Dr. Krystal Redman and Program Manager, Jayla Burton analyzing what was presented. You can review our past writings on SABCS here.

Are you attending SABCS this year? Let us know so we can keep in contact and have the chance to “visit” even in the virtual space.

The post We’re bringing the science to you appeared first on Breast Cancer Action.

By Krystal Redman, Executive Director

Thank you to everyone who donated to our #GivingTuesday campaign yesterday!

155 people donated more than $25K in just one day, providing vital funding for our work to address and end the breast cancer epidemic. We are grateful to each and every one of you.

And, we just found out that Lesbians for Good is extending the match! If you weren’t able to donate yesterday, there’s still time to double your gift and get us closer to our $35,000 goal!

Breast Cancer Action is a lean organization with an outsized impact. For over 30 years our power has come from the commitment and support of our members. We raise the vast majority of our funding from individuals like YOU—and you can trust we’ll never take money from corporations or organizations that profit from or contribute to breast cancer. That means we’ll always put your health first.

So double your donation today, to help fund our uncompromising independence and rapid response watchdogging.  

And, as always, thank you for your support.

The post BCAction appreciates you – today and every day appeared first on Breast Cancer Action.

By Krystal Redman, Executive Director

There are just a few hours left to meet our ambitious $35k match goal on #GivingTuesday.

We’re grateful to everyone who’s donated and to Lesbians for Good for providing the generous match.

There’s still time to donate toward our work to address and end the breast cancer epidemic!

We’re hoping to raise an additional $9,000 before the end of the night to fund our uncompromising health justice work.

In 1990, our founders were angry about unresponsive government agencies and private organizations providing inadequate, superficial information on breast cancer—not the evidence-based data they were looking for. They turned that anger into action by forming Breast Cancer Action. Today, Breast Cancer Action remains an independent, rapid response watchdog, and our work is just as tenacious.

And our independence – our refusal to accept funds from any corporation that profits from or contributes to cancer – means that we can continue to tell truth to power and to hold our leaders accountable, no matter who they are.

Chip in now to fund our vital activism and your donation will be doubled.

Thank you for your continued support and for all that you do to address and end breast cancer.

The post It’s the final countdown to meet our match appeared first on Breast Cancer Action.

By The Breast Cancer Action Team

We have until the end of the day to meet our $35,000 match from Lesbians for Good.

We’ve done it before and, with your help, we can do it again!

Donate for #GivingTuesday now and DOUBLE your donation.

Breast Cancer Action is unique because we bring together evidence-based scientific expertise and the lived experience of people with breast cancer – who are the subject matter experts – to drive forward the systemic change needed to address and end this health crisis.

Here’s how we’ll do that in 2022:

• Back in June, BCAction was chosen by the California Breast Cancer Research Program (CBCRP) to be the convener for a major research project that aims to understand multi-generational breast cancer risk factors for immigrant communities in the U.S. and California. We began this work in October to ensure that community voices are incorporated into the research process by engaging impacted immigrant communities, stakeholders, and mobilizing our broad network of community organizations.
• And, in another project funded by the CBCRP, BCAction is partnering with the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) to explore their Industry Documents Library and uncover evidence that shows industries’ knowledge about the links between environmental exposures and breast cancer.

For over 30 years we’ve been the watchdog for the breast cancer movement, holding the breast cancer industry accountable. Through projects like these, we will deepen our work as a watchdog by: ensuring that all voices are included in the work to address and end breast cancer, and calling out disinformation tactics from corporations and industries whose products and practices harm our health. Your support is crucial to this new and exciting work.

Again, every dollar you donate today WILL BE DOUBLED, so don’t delay.

The post Lesbians for Good supports our radical work appeared first on Breast Cancer Action.

By Krystal Redman, Executive Director

For #GivingTuesday, every dollar you donate to Breast Cancer Action today will be DOUBLED, thanks to the generosity of Lesbians for Good.

But there’s more! We’ve just added a new tool to our donation page that can link you right to your company’s matching gift portal!

Donate for #GivingTuesday now, knowing that your gift will be doubled up to $35,000. Then check the box that says, “See if your employer will match your donation.” Your donation will be matched not once, but twice!

This #GivingTuesday, your gift can have even more of an impact toward achieving health justice for all people at risk of and living with breast cancer.

The post After a weekend of corporate profiteering, use your voice to do some good appeared first on Breast Cancer Action.

By Krystal Redman, Executive Director

Every dollar you donate to BCAction on #GivingTuesday will be DOUBLED thanks to Lesbians for Good, who will match every gift, dollar-for-dollar, up to $35,000!

That means you can help us raise $70,000 in needed funds today.

Donate for #GivingTuesday now and DOUBLE your donation.

Breast Cancer Action’s power comes from the commitment and support of our members. We raise the vast majority of our funding from individuals like YOU, so we never take corporate money from companies or organizations that profit from or contribute to cancer.

Donate today and double your impact!

With your support, in 2022 we will work to:

• Provide one-of-a-kind content and analysis on the latest news about breast cancer issues through our podcasts, webinars, media analysis, thought-leadership, and partnerships.
• Offer compassionate, evidence-based information about breast cancer through our Information and Resource Service—free to anyone who needs it.
• Mobilize our members to reshape policies and practices that will protect people from toxic environmental exposures, which disproportionately affect people of color and people with the furthest relationships to power and resources.
• And, we have so much more planned for 2022!

Your gift today will help us kick-off the new year and will support our unmatched work toward a world where our lives and communities are not threatened by breast cancer.

The post What makes us stand out on #GivingTuesday? appeared first on Breast Cancer Action.

By Krystal Redman, Executive Director

#GivingTuesday is tomorrow!

And every dollar you donate tomorrow will be doubled thanks to Lesbians for Good’s generous $35,000 match.

This is my first #GivingTuesday at BCAction, and from what I’ve heard, you’re the ones to beat when it comes to rising to a challenge.

Each year, Breast Cancer Action’s grassroots supporters step up on this day of giving to make sure we have the resources we need to continue our work to achieve health justice for people at risk of and living with breast cancer.

Donate on #GivingTuesday and know that your donation will be put to good use – to build a world where our lives and communities are not threatened by breast cancer.

Don’t want to wait? Donate now using this link and your gift will be doubled!

The post I heard y’all know how to rise to a challenge appeared first on Breast Cancer Action.

By Lopa Pal, Development Manager

Once again, our friends at Lesbians for Good will match all gifts up to $35,000 on #GivingTuesday—November 30!

Giving Tuesday is a global day of giving that rings in the holiday season.

This means that with your help, we can raise $70,000 in one day!

Your support on this day will allow us to ramp up our rapid response work, launch new campaigns, and produce and distribute materials to push us closer to a world where lives and communities aren’t threated by breast cancer.

Get ready to donate on Giving Tuesday, when your donation will be doubled. In the meantime, learn more about our latest work on our newly redesigned website!

If you’d like to make a #GivingTuesday pledge today and know that your gift will be matched, contact me at lpal@bcaction.org with the amount you are pledging. I’ll follow up with the link to give on the big day (November 30^th) or with instructions on how to mail your donation.

Thanks to the commitment of supporters like you, we never take corporate funding from any company that profits from or contributes to breast cancer. Your support will ensure we will always hold the powerful accountable, no matter who they are.

The post Ready, set, #GivingTuesday appeared first on Breast Cancer Action.

By Krystal Redman, Executive Director

A woman’s risk of breast cancer, as well as the risk for her children and future generations, increases when emigrating from a country of low breast cancer incidence to the United States.

Learning more about why this happens will help address gaps in research that need to be explored to better understand why living in the United States increases the risk of breast cancer. We are honored to announce that we’ve been selected as the convener for a collaborative research project funded by the California Breast Cancer Research Program (CBCRP) to understand multi-generational breast cancer risk factors for immigrant communities living in California.

The aim of this project, titled California Initiative to Prevent Breast Cancer in Immigrants (CIPBCI), is to understand how complex factors, with a focus on systems-level variables and social determinants of health, influence breast cancer risk across multiple generations of immigrant women. Further, the initiative aims to address how these factors are interrelated, mediated, or influenced by each other and change over time the longer someone lives in the United States and California.

In this central role as the convener, our organization will connect researchers to the lived experiences of people at risk of or living with breast cancer and facilitate a process that ensures collaboration and community engagement. Specifically, we will be collaborating with three different research teams that are looking to dive into risk factors unique to different immigrant populations, including Latina and Asian women and immigrant women in different occupations. And, we hope that our role in this project will elevate the importance of expanding further research that centers BIPOC, Afro-Caribbean, African, and Black immigrant communities as well.

We are interested in the impact of the social and built environment, the stressors that come with immigration, and related policy and enforcement factors, because it is a core belief of our organization that the responsibility of developing breast cancer must be shifted away from the individual, and to the corporations, policies, and systems that more directly impact breast cancer incidence and mortality rates.

This project deepens our commitment to exploring the unique challenges and priorities of communities of color, to ensure that fewer people develop or die from breast cancer and that no community bears a disproportionate burden of this disease. We are excited to play a pivotal role in this novel research endeavor, and to share what we’ve learned as the research develops.

With the launch of this research, Breast Cancer Action is now taking part in two important research projects made possible by the California Breast Cancer Research Program (CBCRP). We were also selected by the CBCRP to participate in a research project that will uncover industry knowledge about the links between environmental exposures and breast cancer.

Thank you for your partnership in envisioning a world without breast cancer, and your support that makes this work possible.

The post Have you heard about our next project? appeared first on Breast Cancer Action.

By Tibby Reas Hinderlie, Communications Manager

Stop Banking on Breast Cancer continues to have a hard-hitting impact. Our letter on the campaign was published this weekend by the independent, social justice outlet Truthout.

In an opinion piece by our Executive Director Dr. Krystal Redman (KR/they/she), the controversy behind Susan G. Komen’s Pink Ribbon Banking Program is unabashedly called out, and KR fearlessly names how environmental racism is inherent to the fossil fuel industry.

Read “Pink Ribbon Banking Claims to Fight Cancer But Boosts Carcinogenic Fossil Fuels” now.

Here’s a snapshot into what KR outlines in the piece:

“Just as this banking program has snuck under the radar and escaped the scrutiny faced by many other pink ribbon marketing partnerships, so too has Komen’s near-refusal to acknowledge the environmental causes of breast cancer.”

Why might Susan G. Komen downplay the science on the environmental exposures linked to breast cancer? KR’s op-ed makes it abundantly clear:

“One obvious reason for this omission is that many of the corporations responsible for toxic environmental exposures are some of Susan G. Komen’s biggest co-conspirators. In the case of the Pink Ribbon Banking Program, the large donation pledged by Bank of America, a major fossil fuel funder, results in a conflict of interest whereby Komen cannot acknowledge or act on the link between fossil fuel exposures and breast cancer.” 

This must-read piece shows that fossil fuels are destroying our lands, poisoning our water, causing climate catastrophe, and increasing our risk for breast cancer. Yet Komen props up this very industry – that can cause the disease the organization claims it to wants to end – through their participation in the pink ribbon banking partnership.

We’ve never been one to play nice with pinkwashers. Read the piece and join us in action demanding Susan G. Komen stop banking on breast cancer now!

Thank you for your support of the work to stop breast cancer before it starts.

The post We’re in Truthout appeared first on Breast Cancer Action.

By Jayla Burton, Program Manager

We didn’t want you to miss the truth-telling panel from our event, Radical Disruption & Compassionate Resistance, so we’re bringing it to you in a podcast.

We’ve received feedback that the collaboration of our four expert panelists from this event elucidated never-before-explored connections between breast cancer, fossil fuels, financial institutions, and environmental racism. You don’t want to miss it.

Take a listen to our newest podcast episode, Radical Disruption Meets Stop Banking on Breast Cancer.

At Radical Disruption & Compassionate Resistance this past October, we hosted a powerful panel of experts that brought to life the Stop Banking on Breast Cancer campaign, and demonstrated why we must take action to stop the Pink Ribbon Banking Program ⁠— and the cancer-causing fossil industry overall. The panelists went beyond the analytical, and touched on personal stories and challenges that have driven their commitment to this work, which brought home the importance of this bold campaign.

It was truly inspiring to share the stage with these fellow breast cancer activists.

The panel featured myself, Breast Cancer Action’s Executive Director Dr. Krystal Redman, nationally-known biologist, author, and former cancer patient Dr. Sandra Steingraber, and BCAction Board Member CoCo Villaluz, who serves as the Health Equity Manager for the American Indian Cancer Foundation.

Words from this event galvanized those in attendance to join us in collective action, and together we sent letters to Susan G. Komen® urging them to dismantle the Pink Ribbon Banking Program, a partnership with top fossil fuel funder Bank of America. Even though October is over, we hope that these highlights from our panel move you to take action. It’s not too late to email Komen and demand they stop banking on breast cancer and divest from pinkwashing. And if you weren’t able to make it to this year’s event, we look forward to you joining us in the future.

Listen to the podcast online or on Apple Podcasts, Google, Stitcher, or wherever you get your podcasts.

The post Check out Radical Disruption Meets Stop Banking on Breast Cancer appeared first on Breast Cancer Action.

By Krystal Redman, Executive Director

Our community of fearless breast cancer activists sent over 1,000 letters to Susan G. Komen in October. 

Thank you for joining us in collective action on our 2021 Think Before You Pink® campaign, Stop Banking on Breast Cancer.

This campaign deepened our anti-fossil fuel work and drew new connections between financial institutions, the fossil fuel industry, and breast cancer—illuminating the intersections between environmental justice, racial justice, and health justice.

Following the money of the Pink Ribbon Banking Program and exposing the path from profit to the environmental racism of toxic fossil fuel exposures is a win in and of itself, and by raising our voices together to this extent, there is no way Komen can ignore this truth-telling campaign.

Our campaign also garnered strong attention from the media.

• Upon the launch of our campaign, Common Dreams spotlighted the campaign in “Anti-‘Pinkwashing’ Campaign Sets Sight on Komen Partnership with Fossil Fuel-Backer Bank of America.” 
• Radio host Callie Crossley of GBH news gave an overview of the campaign, pinkwashing, and link between environmental exposures and breast cancer risk in “As Breast Cancer Awareness Month Draws to a Close, Think Before You Pink.” 
• Spectrum News 1 Ohio did a video feature on Stop Banking on Breast Cancer that included Komen’s predictably evasive response in “Turning Breast Cancer Awareness Month into an Action Movement.” 

Together, these media pieces reached over 900,000 people. And because you commented, liked, and shared our social media posts across Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, and participated in our month-long social media storm, Susan G. Komen® was tagged in posts that reached tens of thousands of people.

If Susan G. Komen® takes action and dissolves the pink ribbon banking program, it will be because of our collective action. If they ignore a campaign of this size with this wide-spread of a message, then we know where their priorities lie—and it’s not with people at risk of breast cancer, people living with breast cancer, their advocates, caretakers, and loved ones.

Our work to challenge pink ribbon marketing culture doesn’t end on October 31. Our Think Before You Pink® campaigns have always provided an inlet into deeper work on the issues on which we are thought-leaders. The environmental exposures, pinkwashing, and profiteering that we call out each year are folded into the core work of our three programmatic priorities: 1) issues of breast cancer screening, treatment, and diagnosis, 2) the root causes of breast cancer, and 3) pink ribbon marketing culture.

This means we will not let up. We will continue to hold mega-nonprofit Susan G. Komen® and the fossil fuel industry accountable as we work towards a world where our loves and our communities are not threatened by this disease.

Thank you for your continued partnership in this vision. And if you would still like to take action, it’s not too late to do so! Use our easy advocacy tool and and your voice now.

The post You were a part of something big appeared first on Breast Cancer Action.

By The Breast Cancer Action Team

In the last week of Pinktober, we wanted to be sure you saw the most important action of our Think Before You Pink® campaign, and we are calling on you to take action today. Join us and email Susan G. Komen® directly. Ask the organization to stop banking on breast cancer and divest from pinkwashing now. More details below.

This year’s Think Before You Pink® campaign, Stop Banking on Breast Cancer, calls out Susan G. Komen® and their Pink Ribbon Banking Program, in partnership with Bank of America. The affiliated pink ribbon banking cards are a blatant example of pinkwashing.

We are asking you to join us in our boldest, most unapologetic action of the campaign: email Susan G. Komen® directly and urge the mega-nonprofit to phase out the Pink Ribbon Banking Program with Bank of America, a primary funder of the fossil fuel industry, the industry that is fueling the climate and breast cancer crises.

The Pink Ribbon Banking Program creates a perfect profit cycle: the bank uses the goodwill of a pink ribbon promotion, a breast cancer organization, and your purchases to increase their profits. These funds are then invested in the fossil fuel industry, which drives the breast cancer and climate crises.

We are far too familiar with the impacts of the fossil fuel industry. Fossil fuel infrastructure exposes us to harmful chemicals such as benzene, polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), dioxins, and PFAS, all along the continuum. These chemicals can increase breast cancer risk. And communities on the frontlines, often low-income or people of color, always bear the heaviest toxic burden.

This is urgent and we need you to act now! Use our easy tool to tell Komen that fossil fuel funders have no place in pink ribbon promotions.

Breast cancer is a public health crisis and a social justice issue. To address this disease that impacts so many people, all breast cancer organizations must get to the causes at the core of the problem, not partner with organizations that are perpetuating harm. Komen cannot claim its mission to be eradicating breast cancer while maintaining such close ties to an industry that fuels this health crisis.

It’s time to demand the immediate end of the Pink Ribbon Banking Program with Bank of America. Taking action is easy with our online tool. Join us and tell Komen why they must phase this program out, stop banking on breast cancer, and divest from pinkwashing.

The post We need activists like you to take action appeared first on Breast Cancer Action.

By The Breast Cancer Action Team

As you know, in this year’s Think Before You Pink® campaign we’re calling out the Pink Ribbon Banking Program, a partnership between Susan G. Komen® and Bank of America.

We’re going back to the basics of pinkwashing to expose a program that slaps pink ribbons on bank cards, a blatant assault on the goodwill of the breast cancer community. Susan G. Komen® lets Bank of America get away with using this tactic to increase its profits and then fund the fossil fuel industry, the same industry that increases our risk of breast cancer by exposing us to environmental toxins throughout the fossil fuel continuum.

Here are ALL the ways you can take action to put a stop to this pink ribbon partnership now!

1. The most important action: Send an email to Susan G. Komen®

Use our easy advocacy tool to join us in our boldest, most unapologetic action yet: Email Susan G. Komen® directly and urge them to phase out the Pink Ribbon Banking Program with Bank of America. All you need to do is add your name and hit send; we’ve pre-written the email draft for you.

Join us in letting Komen know “If you truly want to be where the end of breast cancer begins, you need to stop facilitating the harms proliferated by the fossil fuel industry through this pinkwashed partnership. It’s time to phase out the Pink Ribbon Banking Program with Bank of America.”