In the Company of My Sisters

Book excerpt: Dance as though no one is watching you Love as though you have never been hurt Sing as though no one can hear you Live as though heaven is here on earth - Anonymous For millions of women, the words "You have breast cancer" are a harsh reality. For Black women, those words hit especially hard as the mortality rate for Black women is staggering. It's a battle Karen Eubanks Jackson knows all too well. A FOUR-time breast cancer survivor, Jackson has used her triumphs, tragedies and lessons learned to inspire others. Now, she’s sharing it all in this evocative new book, In the Company of My Sisters. First diagnosed in 1993, Jackson knew little about the disease, despite the fact that she’d had a relative die from breast cancer. It was, after all, a silent shame the family kept. Determined to educate herself, Jackson devoured herself in research. And when she couldn’t find information or support specifically for Black women, she set out to fill that void, creating Sisters Network Inc., the only national survivorship-run organization designed to increase local and national attention to the devastating impact that breast cancer has in the Black community. In the Company of My Sisters is Jackson’s story. Her truth in battling the disease for 27 years. How she survived. How she succeeded and built a national sisterhood of Black breast cancer survivors. How she hopes to continue inspiring and educating others along the way. The book is filled with personal experiences and observations from Jackson as well as other survivors, this book will give insight into what shaped Jackson into a woman able to beat breast cancer – again and again and again. And with all the valuable information Jackson has accumulated over the years, the book will also serve as a one-stop resource for all your breast cancer questions. For those battling breast cancer, those walking the journey with survivors, and those who just want to educate themselves, In the Company of My Sisters will inspire you by the beauty and strength of the human spirit and why Jackson has made it her life’s mission change the course of the narrative surrounding the disease and help Black women take action to beat breast cancer.