October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. It is recognized internationally to spread awareness of the disease and to allocate funds that will go towards researching the cause of the disease, prevention, diagnosis, treatment and cure.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), although black women have lower rates of getting breast cancer, black women have higher rates of dying from the illness; breast cancer death rates are 40% higher for black women.
The CDC also published other alarming facts: breast cancer rates for black women under 60 years of age are higher. White women also have a chance of earlier diagnosis as compared to black women.
Black women are also more likely to get triple-negative breast cancer, “a kind of breast cancer that often is aggressive and comes back after treatment.”
Keep scrolling through the list to learn about seven popular black women who have battled breast cancer:
