October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and at DaisyMe Foundation we want to talk about something that doesn't get said loudly enough: breast cancer does not affect every woman the same way.

According to the American Cancer Society, Black women are 40% more likely to die from breast cancer than white women — even though we are diagnosed slightly less often. For Black women diagnosed before age 50, the death rate is two-to-one compared to white women.

Black women also have the lowest five-year survival rate of any racial or ethnic group for nearly every type and stage of breast cancer. At stage III, survival is 64% for Black women versus 77% for white women. At stage IV, it is 20% versus 31%.

These aren't just numbers. They are mothers, sisters, aunties, and friends.

The gap isn't about biology alone. Black women are more likely to be diagnosed at later stages, when cancer is harder to treat, and more likely to face aggressive forms of the disease. But the deeper drivers are ones we can name plainly: slower follow-up after an abnormal mammogram, less access to timely high-quality treatment, screening rates that have stalled, and too few of us represented in the research that shapes care.

And there is history here, too. In 1951, Henrietta Lacks' cells were taken and used without her knowledge or consent at Johns Hopkins. The Tuskegee study let Black men go untreated for decades. These are not distant stories — they live in the earned distrust many of our neighbors still feel walking into a clinic. Acknowledging that history is part of closing the gap.

There is real momentum. The American Cancer Society's VOICES of Black Women study is following more than 100,000 Black women over 30 years to understand how medical history, lifestyle, and experiences of racism shape cancer risk — research that centers us instead of leaving us out.

And on an everyday level, the simplest tools remain the most powerful: knowing your risk, getting screened on schedule (the ACS recommends women have the option to start annual mammograms at 40 and continue through 54), and never letting an abnormal result sit without follow-up.

This is exactly why DaisyMe Foundation exists — to make sure no one has to navigate a confusing health system alone:

• Get free support. Our health navigation is always free. If you or someone you love needs help finding a mammogram, understanding results, or getting to the right next appointment, reach out at daisyme.org.
• Share this post. Awareness starts with a conversation. Send this to the women in your life.
• Donate. Every gift at daisyme.org/donate helps us keep navigation free for families in DFW and across Texas.
• Volunteer or partner. Health fairs, workshops, and community outreach need hands and hearts.

Breast cancer awareness isn't just a pink ribbon in October. For our community, it's a year-round commitment to showing up for each other — and to making sure every woman gets the care she deserves.

Sources: American Cancer Society (via NPR Illinois, Feb 2026; ASCO Post); ACS CAN NBCCEDP FY27 factsheet (May 2026); American Cancer Society VOICES of Black Women study.