POWER TO THE PEOPLE: SUSAN G. KOMEN REVERSES DECISION!

ALRIGHT THEN….i have rarely felt so fired up as i have the moment i heard that the susan g. komen breast cancer charity had made some politically-motivated back-room board deal/manipulation to pull funding from planned parenthood.  and then listened to them spin spin spin during the vertigo-inspiring fall-out.  but most people, it turns out, have an understanding about compassion and fairness and what it might mean to be a poor woman with no means to have a mammogram or treatment for any diagnosis…both of which are constantly supplied by planned parenthood.  now – realizing that they were on the verge of destruction as any kind of charity with the power to garner contributions – they have reversed their decision and will continue funding planned parenthood.  i sometimes curse social media but right now i bow down to the power of facebook, wordpress, blogs in general and twitter.  people wouldn’t put up with the headline and social media allowed them to say what they felt – that they were offended in the most immediate way. 

sadly, during all of this i learned more than a few things about komen which make me remain queasy about the organization.  first of all – that right-wing witch – karen handel – has to leave.  immediately.  second, i learned that komen is like many uber-large charities – they start feeding off themselves and need to give more to research and less to glittery parties and such.  some of their corporate partnerships are exceptionally suspect – can you cure cancer and take money from a company whose product probably contributes to cancer at the same time??  and nancy brinker should have someone counsel her that when she is talking to the general public about how komen administers to every woman – she might look a little less uptight upper east side exceptionally rich – it rings pretty false over video. 

http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/komen-revises-funding-policy/2012/02/03/gIQAVRa3mQ_story.html 

i’ll probably send my donation dollars to SHARE and DR. SUSAN LOVE ARMY OF WOMEN – SHARE does amazing reach-out to women diagnosed with breast and ovarian cancer (they were so kind to me – and it made a difference) and ARMY OF WOMEN – has been funded by Avon (‘meh’ as my teenager would say) but they are commited to research and finding a cure. 

SHARE:  http://www.sharecancersupport.org/ 

DR. SUSAN LOVE’S ARMY OF WOMEN:  http://www.armyofwomen.org/ 

i don’t need to be branded pink – i just need integrity and commitment.  and a cure for breast cancer. 

BOYCOTT SUSAN G. KOMEN – AND PASS THIS FORWARD –

Susan G. Komen foundation has decided to cut funding to Planned Parenthood – having been influenced by political right-wing moolah.  Screw them.  Don’t give them a penny and let them know.  I encourage you to unsubscribe their emails and post to your Facebook or social network site and email them also to tell them that they have done the unconscionable thing…bowed to political pressure about what a woman chooses to do with her very own body.   The very definition of wrong.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203920204577195652290909774.html?mod=googlenews_wsj 

Here’s what I have written with email addresses below also.  Should you have another Komen email address, share here.  I ENCOURAGE EVERY WOMAN AND EVERY MAN TO SHARE AND LIKE THIS POST AND WRITE YOUR OWN EMAIL TO THEM. 

I will no longer give donations to this organization which has been influenced by right-wing anti-choice anti-woman’s rights politicians. I cannot believe you got it so very wrong. This used to be an amazing foundation but big money has obviously attracted big influence and not the right kind.

I am taking you off of my mailing list and encouraging any person with a dime to donate to breast cancer research to give it to another organization. It is horrible that this organization can betray women so terribly and judge them for making choices that are theirs alone to make. Planned Parenthood respects those choices. What’s next? Will Komen only research mastectomies or only research whatever is in the interest of the biggest check donation they get? It’s an abomination that this organization has chosen such a slimey path. You will never get another penny of my money and, I hope, no one else’s either. 

er – Breast Cancer survivor –

komen@komenoc.org; lwolter@komenoc.org; tthompson@komenoc.org; smckeough@komenoc.org; ekelly@komenoc.org; teams@komenoc.org; jhill@komenoc.org; info@komennyc.org

get a life

 

i swore i was going to be more positive here – well, maybe you didn’t realize but it’s what i told myself.  but the other night fell into the category of ‘no good deed goes unpunished’.  and by punished, i mean my psyche and spirit plummeting into an intangible anger that sent me grumbling through a full 24 hours.  i’m not a nice person when i’m grumbling.   [understatement]

a friend of mine – we were disconnected for a bunch of years and this past year we picked up again and found our friendship still there – having survived now past her (i think) 1+ year of being diagnosed with breast cancer, decided to boldly walk the susan g. komen 3 day 60 mile walk for the cure.  by herself with no buddy.  she’s a real indomitable woman – and has faced her diagnosis and moving on with her life … she’s back at work full time and taking on the world with style and fashion and the most amazing spirit and humor – had dealt with her diagnosis and treatment in a very private fashion.  telling very few people.  now, she was fully out of the ‘i had cancer’ closet … proudly announcing the walk on facebook and raising funds.  

i thought about it.  there are two b.c. groups i really respect:  susan g. komen and share.   both do great work.  here i am 4+ years past and i thought:  i wonder if i can do this?  maybe i should do this.  in my wildest dreams i don’t think i can walk 60 miles in 3 days but heard that some people get through 3/4 of it and then a ride to the ‘camp’.  oh yeah, and there are tents.  when i mentioned the whole thing to my husband, he fell into cataclysmic bouts of laughter and managed to sputter:  ‘tents?  you in a tent???”  ok, leave that rather humorous visual aside.  maybe this was the moment to commit to pushing myself to some other level and to join this group effort.  a big 3 day 60 mile fuck you to cancer and an acknowledgement that i was part of the cure and not just a victim.  but it also comes down to the fact that i am not a joiner nor a group person.  hell, i live in nyc for a reason.  i don’t fit in.  no one here fits in.  so we all fit in.  and, perhaps not last but not least, i hate pink.  i hate seas of pink.  i recognize that chic black is not the color of choice for a breast cancer charity organization but it’s a mutant pepto bismal ocean to my senses. 

i put a toe in.  sent an email.  got a call from a ‘recruiter’ in california and sat down that evening to talk.  it started out innocuously enough.  i was given all the details…it’s not enough to walk, it’s also about raising the funds.  (ok).  how it all works.  the walk, the cities available (i would choose san francisco as a chance to visit one of my dearest friends), the tents, the sunscreen, the knowing people/teams and knowing no one.  and then.  i think she was so happy to talk to me – i was a blank slate and, frankly, cracking a few pretty funny jokes, that suddenly it all poured out.  her story and her experiences in the walks she participated in.  fine.  everyone has their story.  and i presume that recruiters are specialists in stories of putting forth effort.  but then i heard it once, then twice and by the time i said something there were no less than five statements about ‘this woman whose mother had DIED at 52.”  “her sister just DIED at 47.”  “my friend who walked because his wife just DIED 3 months before last years’ walk.’ 

i get it.  but it took me 4+ years to even get to this point and within 45 minutes i was falling into an emotional rabbit hole of the potentials of death and dying and i wanted to get back on the nyc subway and ride in happy anonymity.  (have i mentioned that talking about death and dying has been an issue for me since i was a young girl? feh.)

right after i was diagnosed i was having trouble with someone i felt was a friend but seemed to need all the air in the room even tho i was the one about to enter treatment.  a friend of my husband’s nailed it when he said:  oh yeah, there’s always someone who wants a starring role in your illness.’ 

i have to do a lot of thinking about this.  but that recruiter and i are not going out for a beer afterward.  i have my boundaries.