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.