Generally, I rebel against pink. (The color, not the awesome musician.) Too many years of my mother trying to make me girly, I guess. But I willingly, even proudly, wear pink to honor survivors — and non-survivors — of breast cancer.
During October, which is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, we see pink everywhere. NFL players wear it (and those who won’t should be ashamed). People add it to their online avatars. It becomes the background of television show stages, the subject of talk shows – even a common theme in the comics pages.
And seriously, that’s great. Anything that raises awareness of a disease that can be managed with early detection is awesome. But sometimes I think we tend to forget that behind all of this pink is an army of courageous men and women who have been diagnosed with breast cancer. Individuals who fight like hell to survive — and feel like hell in the process. Some win, some don’t.
Breast cancer takes the life of one woman every 69 seconds — that’s 465,000 per year. But as awareness rises, those numbers fall. And that is the goal behind a live event centered around the docudrama 1 a Minute, which will be simulcast in 525 theaters around the country on Oct. 6 at 8 p.m. ET/ 7 p.m. CT/ 6 p.m. MT and 8 p.m. PT (tape delay).
The event, 1 a Minute LIVE, which supports Susan G. Komen for the Cure, begins with a live panel discussion about breast cancer survival and treatment advances broadcast from Los Angeles. Confirmed panelists include Olivia Newton-John, Melissa Etheridge, Namatra Singh Gujral, Barbara Mori, William Baldwinand Deepak Chopra.
Then the film airs, telling the story of Indo-American actress Gural’s journey through her diagnosis and treatment for breast cancer, interspersed with personal observations by famous survivors like Etheridge, Newton-John, Jaclyn Smith and Diahann Carroll. Kelly McGillis narrates.
Here’s the trailer.
The event will repeat in India on Oct. 29 and in other parts of the world on World Cancer Day, Feb. 4, 2011.
To find a local showing, visit the Fathom Events website. And let us know if you plan to attend 1 a Minute LIVE this week.
What are you doing to help raise breast cancer awareness this month?
