In early 1997 my Mother, James I. Flowers aka Flowers shared with her daughters she had breast cancer. At that time, I did not know anything about "Breast Cancer." But the mere fact of hearing the word "cancer" not only confused me but sent a chill down my spine. What was she saying? Not my Mother! My Mother told us she had cancer. As I am the youngest of five, I did not understand, and how can she tell me, the baby of the bunch she had cancer. In my lack of understanding, I could not comprehend why God would "inflict" cancer on my "Mother." Oh boy, was this my fault!!
So I went back to my church that evening. I was confused, hurt, and worried. My Mother. Cancer? That evening my Pastor was preaching from Eccles 3 (to everything there is a season). My understanding of the message was that every activity has its proper and appointed time as ordained by God. You see, we can accept God's time table or be crushed by it. The God who ordains the routine events of our lives is a compassionate, gracious, faithful, and loving God. We must trust His will and rest in His ways. Birth and death, sowing and harvesting, weeping and laughing, mourning and dancing, speaking and keeping silent, and yes, even wars and peace are common occurrences in life. From before our birth to the moment of our death, God is accomplishing His divine purpose; although we may not always understand. Well, at that time, I did not understand the season that my family was about to go in.
Later that year, October 27, 1997, at the age of 54, my Mother won her battle. God called her home from the battlefield of sickness and suffering to a place of eternal rest.
Following the death of our mom was a tough time. Well, I wanted to do something about it. So the J.I. Flowers Breast Cancer Awareness Campaign was founded. It was initially designed to go into the forgotten places. The hood. The ghetto, as some will call it. The places where no one else wants to go. Where there are only statistics but no educational resources to change those statistics. These same statistics show white women lead in the diagnosis of breast cancer, but black women lead in the deaths. Although I love my Caucasian sisters, something has gone wrong. My Caucasian sisters have decided to do something about it. Why not my African American sisters?
Well, there is a sister that has decided to do something. To teach and preach, to motivate and inspire awareness to women of color about this silent killer, "Breast Cancer."
Now we have stepped out on faith and are reaching out to Survivors across the spectrum. Women have more than one issue. Together we can reach for our hope and be freed from our past. We are now The J.I. Flowers Awareness Campaign, Reaching for Hope to Receive our Wholeness.