Annual Sistah Strut Kicks Off Breast Cancer Awareness Month in Birmingham

By Sym Posey The Birmingham News Birmingham’s Legion Field was a sea of pink this weekend as elected officials, civic leaders, breast cancer survivors, families and supporters gathered for the annual Brenda’s Brown Bosom Buddies (BBBB) Sistah Strut which brings awareness to the disease, while also helping raise funds to continue providing resources. To kick off Breast Cancer Awareness Month hundreds showed up to promote early detection of breast cancer especially in minority, low-income and underserved communities. “This is a movement. It’s not about the organization. It’s about how people feel about helping each other,” said Brenda Phillips-Hong, founder and Executive Director of BBBB, and a breast cancer survivor. According to the Breast Cancer Prevention Partners (BCPP), African American women face both disproportionate exposure to breast carcinogens and the highest risk of serious health impacts from the disease. A U.S. woman’s lifetime risk of breast cancer is 1 in 8. African American women have a 40 percent breast cancer mortality rate – the highest of any U.S. racial or ethnic group. Women of color often face significant disparities in breast cancer outcomes which include diagnosis at later stages when treatment is often more complex and less effective and aggressive types...