I am honored to invite Alfred Lacks Carter, Henrietta Lacks’ grandson, to share his thoughts on this important bill and how he and his entire family are working to preserve his grandmother’s life and legacy and ensure Henrietta Lacks’ contributions to humanity are never forgotten.

Today’s blog is one of a series of posts highlighting how ACS CAN is examining, prioritizing and pursuing policy interventions that ensure everyone has an equal opportunity to prevent, find, treat and survive cancer. Achieving health equity in communities nationwide is a cornerstone of our mission.

We will remain steadfast in our advocacy nationwide to ensure individuals that have been and continue to be marginalized are able to access health care without fear of discrimination, bias or stigma.

To achieve our goal of eliminating cancer, we need to actively address health disparities in the public policies for which we advocate.

Over the last four years, ACS and ACS CAN have worked with Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Inc. (DST) to address cancer disparities among African American women. While most of this work has been regionally-focused in the past, we have expanded this partnership with DST into a national one.

The American Cancer Society and ACS CAN jointly entered into a new partnership with the National Black Justice Coalition (NBJC). Through this collaboration, ACS CAN, the American Cancer Society and NBJC will raise awareness about cancer issues in the Black LGBT community through educational initiatives and advocacy efforts.