The Bishop and the Butterfly: Murder, Politics, and the End of the Jazz Age

    Black Ribbon Campaign in Honor (?) of the Komen Foundation

    By erica20 on Wed, 02/01/2012 - 9:03pm |

    I am thinking of doing a FB status update to start this off. I think it might have broad appeal. Thoughts?

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    Please update your status and/or wear a black ribbon if you agree....

    Dear Komen Foundation,

    Breast cancer doesn't care about a woman's religious or political beliefs, and neither should you. Hopping into the political arena by pulling money for cancer screening from Planned Parenthood goes way beyond your mission. Plus, it sends a message that it doesn't matter to you if SOME women get breast cancer or not. That is just low.

    This is not what my friends and I had in mind when we ran in your races, donated to your organization, and bought that overpriced pink merchandise. We did it so that all women, everywhere, could fight cancer. That's what the pink ribbon symbolized. In this polarized world, it's not easy to find ideas that everybody can agree on, but this should be one of them.

    If you ask a hundred women, you'll probably get a thousand opinions about whether and how to end a pregnancy--it's a difficult issue for most of us. (You’ll notice we don’t typically share those opinions while we’re out there running to raise funds to eliminate breast cancer. There’s a reason for that.) These opinions are not what's important here. What is important is that we believe the fight against breast cancer should be for every woman, no matter who she is.

    Since you don't seem to agree, we are pulling our support for you.

    I guess it goes without saying that the next "Race for the Cure" is a non-starter for us. But in addition, we're going to be decorating our pink clothing and merchandise with BLACK ribbons until you fire whoever came up with this idea and reinstate the cancer screening that you pulled from Planned Parenthood. Consider the black ribbon a symbol of the black eye you just gave to the fight against breast cancer by turning the pink ribbon into a political football.

    Signed,

    Women who believe we should all fight breast cancer for everyone.

    P.S. You can forget that lame story about the Congressional Investigation of Planned Parenthood. We know you re-wrote your rules then waited for somebody to push an investigation, so that you could pretend to regret pulling the funding. A lot of us are Moms, and we recognize baloney. This one is right up there with "I was just holding the drugs for a friend who is trying to quit."  This dumb excuse makes what you did even worse. You’re grounded.

    Comments

    The only issue I have is the pink ribbon is now the symbol for all breast cancer research and awareness, not limited to this foundation.  We must be very careful (IMO) not to damage other entities that continue to honor their role in this area.

    How about a black and white ribbon to support Planned Parenthood? While my goal is to ding those of the SGK responsible, but even more to show and tout support PP.   

    Thanks for all your efforts.  Appreciated.


    by Aunt Sam on Wed, 02/01/2012 - 9:18pm

    I thought about that too--but then again, I kinda figger that painting with the broad brush gives people and organizations a chance to come out and say that they're apolitical, and stand with women too. Which would be good--I think "I stand with women" is stronger than "I stand with Planned Parenthood" and probably more accurately represents the feelings that most women have about breast cancer, even those who might have mixed feelings about abortion.

    The important thing here is that Komen chose to make the fight against breast cancer about Planned Parenthood--it's not like Planned Parenthood picked the fight by saying "We're only doing abortions and what happens to somebody's breasts is their problem." Komen was the group that said "We're for a cure for breast cancer--unless it's for women who get their health care from Planned Parenthood; they can die and go to hell."

    Does that resolve your concern? I guess I think that in the long run, the best way to support PP is to support women's health.


    by erica20 on Wed, 02/01/2012 - 9:37pm

    I've learned the hard way that most do not do the research and obtain the facts about an issue.  And I've been guilty myself of assuming I understand what something represents and/or is only to realize my error too late.

    I believe if the goal is to damn the SGK foundation, it's important to note the  pink ribbon does not represent them, but something much greater and more important.  Too often, the broad brush blurs the lines and obliterates the real picture.

    Figuring out what the goal is, i.e. damn them and show support for PP/Women's rights to healthcare, then the tricky part is coming up with the best way to accomplish this goal. 

    Just my opinion.


    by Aunt Sam on Wed, 02/01/2012 - 10:39pm

    Sounds good to me.  Planned Parenthood is a constant target from the right wing, like the NEA and PBS, except more is at stake with the services offered by PP.  It is rather sickening that people are willing to politicize women's health, or anyone's health for that matter.  This is enough to bicker about that they can leave this alone.


    by Elusive Trope on Wed, 02/01/2012 - 10:26pm

    I will make this short because my phone is hot. You all need to Google "The Marketing of Breast Cancer" by Mary Ann Swissler. It is an old Alternet article from 2002 that looks behind the pink curtain. It will shed some light on the Koman foundation and it's founder Nancy Brinker. There is also a current post on Alternet about this subject and updates the older article. The foundation has very deep ties in the GOP. The way they use their funds to help defeat health care bills will shock you. Also take a look at guidstar.com It is a non profit rating site for people to check out organization before they donate. The foundation is taking a beating there.

    by trkingmomoe on Thu, 02/02/2012 - 4:19am

    O would some power the giftie gie us to see ourselves as others see us...

                                              Bobby Burns

    Mac covered this well and I like your take as well.

    Does this organization have any idea how badly this makes it look?


    by Richard Day on Thu, 02/02/2012 - 7:43am

    The answer is no. Nancy Brinker, the founder and CEO of the foundation, is part of the 1%. She started this foundation in 1982 with the belief that conservative compassion from a private charity could help find a cure for breast cancer. She has social ties with Houston high society. In the 1990's she was a fund raiser for Bush. Helped elect him as Texsas Governor and later to the Whitehouse. He rewarded her an appointment to Hungary's embassy. Most of the money raised comes from corporate sponsors, like big pharma, chemical industry and food companies. The foundation has been able to market itself because of all the active women donors and the foundation's political inside. That is a very large list of potential customers to sell products to with pink ribbons on. The foundation leans right and uses a large chunk of corporation donations to lobby against health care and research bills that don't fit into the GOP narrative. You won't hear the foundation talking about the health risks to women from the environment. That is because of some of the corporate sponsors. The information on this foundation has been out there for along time but only a few has paid attention to it. The foundation rolled out a big marketing program in October. NFL had players in pink and consumer products that women buys in pink or ribboned in pink hit the stores for Xmass. This was during the awakening of the 99%. Those that knew of the background of the foundation had to be reminded of the foundation's CEO political activity and election coming up. The foundation made their announcement the afternoon of Florida's primary that they were dropping funding to PP while MSM was focused on the voting returns. Those who were suspicious of the foundation did notice and started a firestorm. Women who supported both organizations were surprised and shocked. It is yet to see how many women will stop supporting the foundation. Komen is trying to do damage control now and telling the public that plan parenthood only offers screening and sends patients to other care providers. The spin on this is that this is not a good fit or focus for the foundation's grants. They want to focus on full service providers. Will they be able to put out the fire? Not with the 99% who are fed up. I was never involved or invested in the Komen foundation. Just spent a few extra pennies to buy a General Mills products with pink ribbons on it once in a while.

    by trkingmomoe on Thu, 02/02/2012 - 8:11pm

    I also think this firestorm is a good thing. It sheds light on how the ladies running there fannies off for a charity was only a commodity to the corporate free market world of the ultra rich. The head of Plan Pereanthood is the daughter of the late Texas Governor Linda Richards. That might be why the foundation gave a small grant to PP in the first place. They were both part of the same Houston society. One a Democrat and one Republican.

    by trkingmomoe on Thu, 02/02/2012 - 8:30pm