Why This Book Was Necessary

The Silent Struggle

Black women are surviving cancer. But too often, we are surviving it quietly.

We are diagnosed later. According to the American Cancer Society, Black women are 41% more likely to die from breast cancer than white women, despite lower incidence rates. We face disparities in care. We carry families, ministries, businesses, and responsibilities while navigating chemotherapy, radiation, surgery, and the emotional weight of uncertainty. When treatment ends, the applause fades, but the journey does not.

The Fight to Be Heard

Too often, we must become our own fiercest advocates in examination rooms where our pain is questioned. Research from the University of Virginia found that many medical students and residents hold false beliefs about biological differences between Black and white people, leading to the systematic undertreatment of Black patients' pain. A study published in the Journal of Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities documented that Black women report "not being taken seriously" in medical settings, with their symptoms dismissed or minimized.

When we say we hurt, we hurt. When we know something is wrong with our bodies, something is wrong. Yet we must fight to be heard, to be believed, to receive the care we deserve.

Beyond Treatment

Survivorship is complex.

It includes living with lymphedema. It includes fear of recurrence. It includes hormonal shifts, fatigue, financial strain, body changes, and the emotional aftermath of trauma stored in the body. For many Black women, it also includes navigating medical systems that have historically overlooked or misunderstood us.

Yet our stories are rarely centered.

Why Representation Matters

Cancer narratives often highlight statistics or generalized experiences. This anthology exists to document lived realities. Black Women Surviving Survivorship was created to preserve the voices of thirteen women who endured diagnosis, treatment, and the ongoing work of healing. These are not polished stories designed for comfort. They are testimonies of resilience, faith, advocacy, sisterhood, and survival.

This book is necessary because representation matters in medicine, in publishing, and in healing.

When Black women see other Black women surviving, rebuilding, and speaking openly about the physical and emotional realities of life after cancer, isolation decreases. Shame decreases. Silence decreases.

More Than Statistics

We are not anomalies. We are not statistics without faces. We are women with stories, families, scars, faith, and futures.

This anthology documents what happens beyond the bell. It honors the full spectrum of survivorship. It creates a written record that says clearly: Black women are here. Black women are surviving. Black women are leading conversations about their own health.

These stories teach us how to advocate for ourselves. They show us how to demand the care we deserve. They remind us that our pain is real, our concerns are valid, and our voices must be heard.

Black Women Surviving Survivorship is more than a book. It is a collective declaration that our lives, our healing, and our voices matter.

Join us in breaking the silence. Read our stories. Share our truth. Change the narrative.

Representation Matters

When Black women see themselves reflected in survivorship stories, healing shifts from isolation to solidarity.

Treatment may end, but the journey continues. Lymphedema, fatigue, emotional recovery, and rebuilding life after cancer are part of the story.

Documenting these journeys ensures future generations of Black women have access to truth, guidance, and lived wisdom.

Survivorship Is Ongoing

Our Voices Create Legacy

Neicy Johnson

Black Women Surviving Survivorship is proudly created in partnership with Taking Our Lives Back of Michigan (TOLB), a nonprofit organization founded in 2019 to support women and families affected by cancer throughout the Metro Detroit area.

Taking Our Lives Back of Michigan provides direct financial assistance to women undergoing active chemotherapy or radiation treatment, helping cover essential living expenses such as rent, mortgage payments, utilities, food, and medical bills. The organization also provides chemo tote bags, gift boxes, and holiday support for families navigating cancer during some of their most vulnerable moments.

This partnership is deeply personal. Tara Tucker participated in the Women Taking Our Lives Back of Michigan Cancer Calendar in January 2018 during her own cancer journey. What began as shared survival has grown into shared purpose.

All online Amazon proceeds from Black Women Surviving Survivorship will be donated directly to Taking Our Lives Back of Michigan. Every purchase helps support women currently in active treatment and facing financial strain due to loss of income.

This collaboration reflects the full cancer journey. TOLB sustains women during treatment. This anthology honors women beyond treatment. Together, we are strengthening the village around Black women navigating diagnosis, treatment, and survivorship.

This is more than a book. It is a contribution to women still fighting.

Tara Tucker

A Meaningful Collaboration

Get in Touch

Questions or thoughts? Reach out to us anytime.

Phone

(586) 840-8696

Email

coachtara@tuckerpublishinghouse.com