You know the Queens of Comedy – now meet the Queens of Keeping It Real.
“The Tom Joyner Morning Show’s” own Sybil Wilkes has joined forces with “The Steve Harvey Morning Show’s” Carla Ferrell, Dede McGuire of “The Doug Banks Show” and Ebony Steele of “The Ricky Smiley Morning Show” in a campaign to help increase breast cancer awareness among black women, led by the Susan G. Komen For the Cure’s Circle of Promise.
Komen officials hope uniting with these prominent black radio hostesses helps in their efforts to encourage African-American women to get preventative cancer screening and convey the true facts about breast cancer risks.
The Circle of Promise community was founded in 2009 to address the wide disparity of cancer screening and treatment among black women. It hopes to recruit over 150,000 new ambassadors by March of next year.
Although African-American women are diagnosed with breast cancer less than women of other backgrounds, their rate of death from breast cancer is 39 percent higher. One of the biggest problems is that black women often seek treatment late or not at all, contributing to their higher rate of mortality. Over 6,000 African-American women will die of breast cancer this year.
“Each of us has a personal connection to this disease – my mother died of it – and so we are determined to do what we can to encourage African-American women to watch out for themselves and each other to reduce deaths from breast cancer,” Wilkes said. “There’s power in all of these voices joining together to save lives.”
Wilkes and her fellow radio hosts will be joined by rapper and actress MC Lyte, host of the radio show “Café Mocha,” broadcaster Angelique Perrin and comedian Loni Love. They will appear in special TV and broadcast spots encouraging black women to get involved and to be aware of their risks.
“These influential broadcasters reach 20 million women and men every day,” said Katrina McGhee, executive vice president and chief marketing officer of Komen for the Cure. “They’re passionate. They’ve been personally affected by this disease. They’re knowledgeable, so they can cut through the myths that still persist about breast cancer, give women the right information about their risk and encourage early detection.”
For more information on how to become an ambassador, please visit www.circleorpromise.org.
