Dr. Opal Lee, known as the “Grandmother of Juneteenth,” announced her support for a landmark study focused on cancer amongst Black women.
Announced earlier this week through NBC5, Lee publicly backed the American Cancer Society’s Voices of Black Women study. She will officially join as an ambassador for the study to amplify its mission and inspire other women to join the study’s cause.
The American Cancer Society plans to include 100,000 Black women in this observational study. As of now, only about 6,000 participants are taking part in the Voices of Black Women study. Launched in May 2024, the study is long-term, observing women aged 20 to 60 years old. As part of the study, the women provide information about health habits, familial history, stressors and other environmental factors that might affect their health.
By administering surveys, researchers can use the data to identify conditions that affect Black women, develop strategies to help Black women reduce their risk of disease, and provide advocacy groups with additional research to support their cause. The Voices of Black Women study specifically focuses on different types of cancers.
Lee, who survived breast cancer herself, is drawing attention to the study to help others detect potential health issues early on.
“You need to be aware to take care of it so that you can pass it on to your children and their children, otherwise we’re going to die out, we’re gonna die out,” said Lee via NBC5. “And there’s so much that needs to be taught before we do. And we have to be healthy to be able to do it.”
Black women in the U.S. are afflicted with higher fatality rates once diagnosed with certain types of cancers. According to the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention, Black women are more likely to pass away from cervical cancer.
In 2025, out of 13,360 women diagnosed with cervical cancer, approximately 2,180 were expected to be Black women. Of these 2,180 women, 610 were expected to pass away.
Overall, Black women are 19% more likely to get diagnosed with cervical cancer. Once diagnosed, they are approximately 65% more likely to pass away from it compared to white women.
The rates are similar amongst Black women diagnosed with breast cancer. Per the latest information released by the American Cancer Society in 2022, although Black women have a 4% lower incidence rate when compared to white women, they have a 40% higher rate of breast cancer deaths. This is often due to the fact that Black women are linked with a disproportionate rate of more aggressive breast cancers, including triple-negative breast cancer and inflammatory breast cancer.
“The disproportionate amount of Black women dying from these cancers is really something that should be a public health priority,” said the co-lead author of the Voices of Black Women Study, Dr. Lauren McCullough, per NBC5. “A lot of our public health interventions, a lot of our medications, our treatments, our guidelines are often based on the majority without thinking about the nuances of the minority. And so I really look at Voices within the spectrum of the American Cancer Society studies as just trying to rebalance the scales.”
