The African American Women’s Speakers Bureau, a vital volunteer organization, continues to inform people in Pittsburgh and the surrounding region about breast cancer and how it is found moderately in higher numbers among White women than African-American women. However, statistics show that African-American women are more likely to die of breast cancer.
AAWSB, comprised of breast and cervical cancer survivors, honored breast cancer survivors at their 15th annual prayer brunch at the Monroeville Convention Center last month.
Among the 400 people who attended the brunch was 99-year-old Amy Perkins, diagnosed with breast cancer 14 years ago.
The Bridgeville native wasn’t rattled when she first got the diagnosis explaining, “There’s nothing I can do—just pray it would be caught in time—that was all.”
When asked whether she has a strict regimen, the retired physical therapist bragged that she regularly does light exercise and “eats just about everything.”
She is a special inspiration for her daughter, Gail Taylor, who celebrated at the brunch her last week of treatment for breast cancer.
Taylor was candid about what she and her mother discussed when she first found out about this cancer that begins in the tissues of the breast. Taylor said, “She (her mother) said she’s been through it. I told her it’s different (for me). I got so emotional and so upset about it. She was able to handle it in a different way.”
The keynote speaker at the event was Cheryl Ruffin, pastor of St. Paul AME Church.
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