Topic: Can you name Famous Black Women who've had BC?

I remembered Diahann Carrol, then i looked up a list on wikipedia of famous breast cancer people.  Here are just a few of the African Americans: 

Diahann Carroll, actress

Ruby Dee, actress

Doris Coley, one of the Shirelles

Faith Fancher, tv journalist 

Syvilla Fort, dancer and choreographer

Hattie McDaniel, actress (Gone With The Wind)

Minnie Riperton, singer 

The website is:   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_notable_breast_cancer_patients_according_to_survival_status

(sorry but i guess you have to cut and paste this link)

(more from the website i posted earlier)

Edward W. Brooke III - the first African American to be elected by popular vote to the US Senate when he was elected as a Republican from Massachusetts in 1966.  dx'd with breast cancer in 2002 and, since then, has assumed a national role in raising awareness of the disease among men.

Edna Campbell -  professional basketball star

Judy Eason McIntyre - politician, Oklahoma State Senator

Richard Roundtree - actor  (double mastectomy and chemo)

Shirley Graham DuBois - author, playwright, composer, activist, wife of  W. E. DuBois

Bea Gaddy - Baltimore City Council member and advocate for the poor

Alvaleta Guess - film actor and Broadway performer

Fannie Lou Hamer - anti-segregation activist

Shirley Horn - jazz singer

June Jordan - professor of African-American studies, poet and author of 28 books

Dorothy Perry Thompson - professor and poet

Geraldine Warrick-Crisman - television executive and former assistant New Jersey state treasurer

Syreeta Wright - singer/songwriter and ex-wife of Stevie Wonder 

Hi Stephanie,

All I could find for Alvaleta Guess was this poster from B'way musical "Swinging on a Star" -- she is second from the right:

http://www.tullman.com/star/reviews.html

And I too couldn't find anything for Geraldine Crisman...

Blanche Calloway, pianist and bandleader (1902-1978)

http://www.nfo.net/usa/c1.html#BC

http://www.nfo.net/usa/bcallowa.jpg

Etta Jones, jazz singer

http://wc09.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=Bl2jb7i7jg72r

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C0DE1DC1731F936A35756C0A9649C8B63&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=all

Hi Stephanie,

The link under Nikki Giovanni's name in my post above is to an interview on the Tavis Smiley show -- the intro says she's "a breast cancer survivor" -- but now I think that must be a mistake.  She and Tavis Smiley don't say anything about it in the interview -- and since you mentioned lung cancer, I re-Googled "Nikki Giovanni" "lung cancer" and that is correct.

About Lorraine Hansberry -- my googling actually found others asking the same question.  She died 3 months after diagnosis, and there is mention of breast, lung, pancreatic, liver, duodenal cancer.  And this was in 1965 -- so maybe it's impossible to say for certain which was the primary and which were the metastases...

Stephanie,

Don't forget about Hoda Kotb; she's an NBC journalist who was diagnosed recently.

This is a really interesting thread.  Thanks Stephanie for starting it. 

I hadn't thought about Edward Brooke in years and was interested in knowing that he had breast cancer and is still alive.  Also was interested in learning about Lorraine Hansberry, Ruby Dee and Hattie McDaniel.

bump