June 12, 2020

The last two weeks have been full of listening, learning, and reflecting on how we can do better to support uplifting Black voices and protecting Black lives. Thousands of people have hit the streets to protect Black lives, and we fully support this revolution. 

Black Lives Matter.

Period.

Every voice in this fight against the oppression of Black people is needed. Injustice has no lane, this fight is all of ours. 

Our goal as an organization is accessible breast health, and prevention, for all. We know breast cancer impacts Black people disproportionately and that the health care system is also rooted in white supremacy and systemic racism.

Recently, you may have asked yourself how you can turn the anti-racism talk into the anti-racism walk, and we have been asking ourselves the very same question.

We don’t have a concrete answer yet. But we do have a commitment to being actively anti-racist in our work and in the breast cancer space from here on out. 

We’re only a team of three full-time employees, and although small, as a white-led NGO we know we are part of the problem, and we’re committed to being better at making the breast cancer space more inclusive in the immediate and long-term future. 

This is where we are at so far with that commitment:

We pledge to educate ourselves with anti-racism resources ongoing and take action on the influence white supremacy has had on our organizational culture and communications. 

We pledge to partner with more Black breast cancer organizations, both educationally and financially, as resources for others, and to also highlight their work where we can. 

We pledge to reevaluate company partnerships to ensure that we do not work with and will not work with any discriminatory companies in the future. 

We are committed to continuing this work and are not stopping here. We hope you’ll join us in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement. This movement reflects our values, and these values are concrete. We are ready to learn from the white supremacy in us and take imperfect action to move to a more just system and society. 

This is just the beginning and it is our pledge to you that we are not just here to be an ally, but that we will work to be a co-conspirator on the road to racial justice and equity. 

In solidarity,

The Keep A Breast Team