American Cancer Society Unveils New Initiative Centered On Black Women

The American Cancer Society revealed its new Black woman-focused "Shades of Strength" Breast Cancer Awareness Initiative, partnering with Fashion Fair and Black civic organizations in its programming.

The American Cancer Society (ACS) is focusing its effort on Black women to spark awareness through combining beauty and wellness. Its partnerships with Black-catered beauty brands such as Fashion Fair and Black civic organizations such as Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. aided in the establishment of Shades of Strength Breast Cancer Awareness Initiative.

According to ELLE, the initiative seeks to bridge the gap for Black women in order to gain accessibility to resources and knowledge regarding screenings, prevention, and early detection. The introduction of panels, webinars, and collaborations with multiple groups will help the target audience ensure that their health and beauty are never sacrificed due to inaccessibility. The multiyear engagement is all about making long-lasting change that will impact generations.

Fashion Fair’s CEO, Desiree Rogers, considers her company’s partnership a personal endeavor as well. “We’re not going to give up until we get some real results here,” expressed Rogers. “As a breast cancer survivor, being diagnosed at 39, I know firsthand about this struggle.”

Rogers continued, “I’d spent a lot of time counseling Black women that also had the disease, and as I learned about the stats from the American Cancer Society, I wondered if there was a way that Fashion Fair as ‘our community’s makeup company’ could support our women in this space.”

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Fashion Fair, the pioneering cosmetics company known for manufacturing diverse skin-tone products long before other brands invested in such inclusivity, is donating 10% of its profits for every lipstick purchase. Shades of Strength will provide the support and comfort needed to directly impact Black women, who are disproportionately diagnosed with more aggressive forms of breast cancer, with the ACS also noting that Black women face a 41% higher mortality rate as well. With those statistics in mind, Shades of Strength is doing the critical work to save the health and lives of this vulnerable demographic.

“This initiative gives us a unique opportunity to share information with our community in a different and unexpected way. Even though ACS has tons of resources, we could not get the information out to the Black community the way these other organizations can as trusted messengers in their own communities,” explained Tawana Thomas-Johnson, senior vice president and chief diversity officer of the American Cancer Society. “It’s like your aunties talking to you. We’re the aunties and you can trust us!”