BET Networks Announces Breast Cancer Awareness Month Activities

By: Sep. 30, 2014
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The statistics are undeniable, African American women are disproportionately affected by breast cancer. Under age 45, African American women have the highest incidences of breast cancer and African American women of all ages are more often diagnosed with highly aggressive forms of breast cancer and are more likely to die from breast cancer than any other race.

BET Networks is dedicated to closing the racial disparities of breast cancer and ensuring African American women are included in the conversation during the month of October. The "BET Goes Pink" initiative is a national, multi-platform call-to-action campaign dedicated to raising awareness, encouraging early detection and educating our audience on the most commonly diagnosed cancer in African American women.

"BET Goes Pink was born out of the need to ensure black women's voices and their unique stories were part of the breast cancer awareness month dialogue," said Sonya Lockett, VP Public Affairs, BET Networks. "Since the campaign's inception over four years ago, we have partnered with the Susan G. Komen's Circle of Promise, American Cancer Society, Sister's Network and Planned Parenthood to educate and empower our audience on facts around breast cancer. Although we make a concerted effort in October, breast cancer prevention and education is part of our larger year-round commitment to women's health."

"BET Goes Pink" engages our audience though targeted public service announcements, community events and free online resources. This year's "BET Goes Pink" activations include:

We Are The Face

Hear real-life African American breast cancer survivors and the people who love them talk about their journey. The series of vignettes will discuss the disease in a candid, honest way and videos will appear on-air and online throughout the month of October.

  • Shondia - a mother of two who makes the gut-wrenching decision to have a double mastectomy after a surprise diagnosis and a frank conversation with her husband.
  • Bershan - an actress turned activist and two-time breast cancer survivor
  • Giselle Yvette Whitfield - a survivor who benefited from early detection and chose partial breast irradiation
  • Rana - a consultant who tried alternative treatment and struggled with enormous medical bills
  • Nicole - battled stage 3a breast cancer and now blogs about her experience

Breast Party Ever

In partnership with Planned Parenthood, BET presents the second annual Breast Party Ever a series of events across the country that brings women together to celebrate breast health education and lifesaving health services. The Breast Party Ever will bring together women, community leaders, medical providers, and entertainers to educate women - particularly those between 20 and 40 years old who may not consider themselves at risk - with important information about breast health awareness. The events will take place in Chicago, IL; Durham, NC; and Miami, FL throughout the month.

BET Goes Pink Online

BET Goes Pink's online portal - BET.com/BETGoesPink features articles, video vignettes and resources to ensure our audience is armed with the information needed to stay informed and healthy. Follow @BET on Twitter and Instagram for updates and health news. Use the hashtag #BETGOESPINK to join the conversation with patients, survivors, friends and family.

About BET Networks

BET Networks, a subsidiary of Viacom Inc. (VIA, VIAB), is the nation's leading provider of quality entertainment, music, news and public affairs television programming for the African-American audience. The primary BET channel reaches more than 90 million households and can be seen in the United States, Canada, the Caribbean, the United Kingdom and sub-Saharan Africa. BET is the dominant African-American consumer brand with a diverse group of business extensions: BET.com, a leading Internet destination for Black entertainment, music, culture, and news; CENTRIC, a 24-hour entertainment network targeting the 25- to 54-year-old African-American audience; BET Digital Networks - BET Gospel and BET Hip Hop, attractive alternatives for cutting-edge entertainment tastes; BET Home Entertainment, a collection of BET-branded offerings for the home environment including DVDs and video-on-demand; BET Event Productions, a full-scale event management and production company with festivals and live events spanning the globe; BET Mobile, which provides ringtones, games and video content for wireless devices; and BET International, which operates BET in the United Kingdom and oversees the extension of BET network programming for global distribution.



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