Racial disparities in healthcare include the fact that Black women are one and a half times more likely to die of cervical cancer than white women and it doesn’t stop there. In comparison to other female demographics, Black women also have higher rates of hypertension, diabetes, stroke and lupus. Healthcare and access to it is often a key contributing factor.
One courageous survivor, @TamikaFelder, decided to fight back! Felder is a women’s health advocate, educator, mobilizer, author, and the Chief Visionary at Cervivor ( @IAmCervivor) a nonprofit dedicated to cervical cancer advocacy and support.
At the age of 25, Tamika was diagnosed with cervical cancer and underwent surgery, chemotherapy and radiation. She lost her uterus, her cervix, and as a result, her fertility. Tamika opted to use her experience and her loud, powerful and humorous voice to educate other women about ways to prevent cervical cancer. By telling her story, Tamika inspired other women to start speaking about HPV and cervical cancer, which led to a network of survivors supporting each other and educating each other.
From this network, Cervivor was born. It is the nonprofit organization which she created after beating cervical cancer in her twenties. She says many women impacted by the disease don’t want to share their stories because of the way medical providers often stigmatize HPV, which is a sexually transmitted infection.
“While there are great physicians who understand that it shouldn’t be an issue, there are still doctors who are very off-putting when they’re talking to their patients. And so, a patient says ‘Wait, hold up. That’s not something that would happen to me, I don’t need this.'”
So, Felder explains, elevating stories of cervical cancer is deeply important. “You know, we talk about breast cancer. So, we have to talk about below-the-belt cancers like cervical cancer, too. We have to show the faces of people who have cervical cancer.”
Salute to this queen for taking a stand for Black women’s health! For more information about Tamika Felder, Cervivor and following her movement, visit WWW.TamikaFelder.Com #BWLM💕
