Overview

Thursday, May 20, 2021 5:00pm PST/8:00 pm EST

Each year, powerful, critical-thinking community members gather for the Billie Gardner Loulan Benefit to honor those family and friends affected by breast cancer.

This event was founded in 2004 by then Board Member JoAnn Loulan in memory of her mother who died of breast cancer. JoAnn herself has had breast cancer twice and is a powerful breast cancer activist. This event is traditionally and in-person lunch or dinner, but to do our part in stopping coronavirus, we’ve pivoted to a virtual format. Nevertheless, the basic goals of the event remain the same: 1) To raise crucial funds for Breast Cancer Action’s work and 2) To educate and engage guests about important social justice issues that are intrinsically connected to breast cancer.

This year’s program included:

Rooted in their political lineage of grassroots organizing and activism toward Black and queer liberation and health equity in the heart of LA–BCAction’s new Executive Director Dr. Krystal Redman DrPH (KR/They/She) centers their work in health justice, the liberation of folx who reside deep within the margins, and in reproductive justice. Dr. Redman is a self-published author, and a frequent speaker throughout sexual and reproductive justice and health justice movement(s), as well as in the public health sector. They bring over 16 years of experience in leading health promotion and disease prevention initiatives, as well as organizing towards equitable access, care and treatment within community-based and centered programs.

Krystal was in conversation with Oluwadamilola “Lola” Fayanju, M.D., Dr. Fayanju is an Associate Professor of Surgery and Population Health Sciences in the Duke University School of Medicine, Associate Director for Disparities & Value in Healthcare with Duke Forge, and Director of the Durham VA Breast Clinic. Effective July 1, she will be the inaugural Helen O. Dickens Presidential Associate Professor of Surgery in the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania and the Chief of Breast Surgery for the University of Pennsylvania Health System. She is an academic breast surgical oncologist whose research focuses on health disparities, aggressive breast cancer variants, and improving value in oncology. In 2019, she was recognized by the National Academy of Medicine as an Emerging Leader in Health and Medicine Scholar.

Marcella Nunez-Smith MD, MHS, Yale University School of Medicine and Biden/Harris COVID-19 Task Force member on cancer disparities and COVID-19 provided us with some context about the challenges in cancer disparities as it relates to COVID-19, and what the Biden-Harris administration is doing to address these challenges.

Finally, we closed our time together with Adam Fujita internationally known graffiti artist and host and creator of the My Life In Letters, a podcast where he speaks with prominent graffiti artists from around the globe about their experiences within graffiti culture. Adam painted in real time while accompanied by his equally accomplished sibling, singer Jeni Fujita.