Our community of fearless breast cancer activists sent over 1,000 letters to Susan G. Komen in October.
Thank you for joining us in collective action on our 2021 Think Before You Pink® campaign, Stop Banking on Breast Cancer.
This campaign deepened our anti-fossil fuel work and drew new connections between financial institutions, the fossil fuel industry, and breast cancer—illuminating the intersections between environmental justice, racial justice, and health justice.
Following the money of the Pink Ribbon Banking Program and exposing the path from profit to the environmental racism of toxic fossil fuel exposures is a win in and of itself, and by raising our voices together to this extent, there is no way Komen can ignore this truth-telling campaign.
Our campaign also garnered strong attention from the media.
Upon the launch of our campaign, Common Dreams spotlighted the campaign in “Anti-'Pinkwashing' Campaign Sets Sight on Komen Partnership with Fossil Fuel-Backer Bank of America.”
Radio host Callie Crossley of GBH news gave an overview of the campaign, pinkwashing, and link between environmental exposures and breast cancer risk in “As Breast Cancer Awareness Month Draws to a Close, Think Before You Pink.”
Spectrum News 1 Ohio did a video feature on Stop Banking on Breast Cancer that included Komen’s predictably evasive response in “Turning Breast Cancer Awareness Month into an Action Movement.”
Together, these media pieces reached over 900,000 people. And because you commented, liked, and shared our social media posts across Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, and participated in our month-long social media storm, Susan G. Komen® was tagged in posts that reached tens of thousands of people.
If Susan G. Komen® takes action and dissolves the pink ribbon banking program, it will be because of our collective action. If they ignore a campaign of this size with this wide-spread of a message, then we know where their priorities lie—and it’s not with people at risk of breast cancer, people living with breast cancer, their advocates, caretakers, and loved ones.
Our work to challenge pink ribbon marketing culture doesn’t end on October 31. Our Think Before You Pink® campaigns have always provided an inlet into deeper work on the issues on which we are thought-leaders. The environmental exposures, pinkwashing, and profiteering that we call out each year are folded into the core work of our three programmatic priorities: 1) issues of breast cancer screening, treatment, and diagnosis, 2) the root causes of breast cancer, and 3) pink ribbon marketing culture.
This means we will not let up. We will continue to hold mega-nonprofit Susan G. Komen® and the fossil fuel industry accountable as we work towards a world where our loves and our communities are not threatened by this disease.
Thank you for your continued partnership in this vision.
In Solidarity,
Krystal Redman (KR/they/she)
Executive Director
