#GSD #DIS: Her Story
Following a world-shaking experience surviving Stage 3A Triple Negative Breast Cancer, Ms. Fairley felt empowered to make a stand against breast cancer. From her experience, she found that many treatments for illnesses including breast cancer were not being studied and thought about with Black women in mind. As a result, she coined the term "Black Breast Cancer" to bring awareness to the fact that the disease that affects Black women is unique and should be studied as such.
To accomplish her goal of not only eradicating but also preventing the development of Black Breast Cancer, Ms. Fairley co-founded and currently serves as the CEO of Touch, The Black Breast Cancer Alliance.
Additionally, as noted on the website of Touch, The Black Breast Cancer Alliance, she founded and serves as a co-host for “The Doctor Is In,” a weekly live breast cancer advocacy web series on the BlackDoctor.org Facebook page that has a reach of over 3 million viewers. She is a founding member of #BlackDataMatters, in partnership with Citizen, The Center for Health Care Innovation, and Morehouse School of Medicine to encourage and elevate the importance of Black Women participating in clinical trial research. Most recently, in January 2022, she started the When We Tri(al) Movement to change and encourage the participation and consideration of Black women in clinical trials to improve the outcomes for Black women with breast cancer. Ms. Fairley also serves on the Board of Trustees for the Triple Negative Breast Cancer Foundation where she chairs the marketing committee. She is a board member for the Center for Healthcare Innovation, a non-profit research and educational institute making healthcare more equitable. She avidly works with pharmaceutical companies to provide the patient voice for breast cancer awareness, action, therapy/drug development, and advocacy.
Black women get Triple Negative breast cancer at three times the rate of white women
Black women have a 41% higher mortality rate than white women of breast cancer.
Black women have a 39% higher recurrence rate of breast cancer.
Black women under 30 get breast cancer at 4 times, the rate of white women
Black women under 35 get breast cancer at twice the rate and die at three times the rate of white women well before they would have their first mammogram at age 40.
"And so I'm like, 'What's up with this? Like what?' And then I went back and looked in history to see. 'Okay, so the drugs that we're all taking that are standard of care, were they tested on Black bodies?' And they were not."
Empowered to Empower
Whether chairing the BADA@50 reunion, starting her own non-profit, or leading projects that seek to keep Black women in mind she continues to keep in mind her two hashtags, #GSD [Get Shit Done] and #DIS [Do Iconic Shit].
One of the greatest practices that she has learned from her dad over the years is to never take no for an answer. She explained that no is never truly the answer, and if it is the follow-up question should always be "How?"
Ricki Fairley's relentless drive for progress is truly a notable one. From her various experiences of attending all-girls schools, learning from her dad, organizing on campus with powerful Black women, and spearheading a movement for Black Breast Cancer, there is much to be learned from someone like Ms. Fairley who epitomizes what it means to #GSD and #DIS.