Prostate Cancer Awareness Month: American Cancer Society Reports New Cases Are Up 3% but Earlier Diagnosis Improves Patient Outcomes

This September, the American Cancer Society encourages men to talk with their doctor about their personal risk for prostate cancer and whether screening is right for them. The number of new cases continued to increase by 3% per year from 2014 to 2022, according to the American Cancer Society's Cancer Statistics 2026 report, with the steepest rise occurring in advanced-stage diagnoses.

The report estimates that in 2026, 333,830 new cases of prostate cancer will be diagnosed in the U.S. and 36,320 men will die from the disease.

The increase in prostate cancer diagnoses is largely due to more men being screened. This creates opportunities for early intervention and improved patient outcomes, although too many men are still not being screened early enough.

"We're seeing two things happen at once: more men are being diagnosed with prostate cancer, and a growing share of those cases are happening at a more advanced stage," said Dr. William Dahut, chief scientific officer at the American Cancer Society. "That tells us screening conversations are happening too late for too many men, particularly those at high risk for the disease."

There are well-established risk factors for prostate cancer that can be assessed for free using the online tool ACS CancerRisk360™. The chance of having prostate cancer rises rapidly after age 50, and the disease occurs more often in Black and Caribbean men. When it does develop in Black men, they tend to be younger. In fact, compared with White men, Black men are nearly 70% more likely to be diagnosed with prostate cancer and two times more likely to die from the disease.

When it comes to prostate cancer screening, one size does not fit all. The American Cancer Society recommends men at average risk for prostate cancer speak with their doctor at age 50 about whether screening is right for them. Men at high risk should have this discussion at age 45, including African American men and those with a family history of prostate cancer. Men at even higher risk should have the discussion at age 40, including those with multiple close relatives diagnosed at an early age. 

"Knowing your personal risk is the start of a conversation that can change your outcome," said Dr. Dahut. "That first conversation with a doctor should happen before symptoms appear, not after. The important message here is that regular screening can save lives and detect cancer early when treatment can often be successful."

About 1 in 8 men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer during their lifetime, but most men diagnosed do not die from the disease. In fact, more than 3.5 million men in the U.S. who have been diagnosed with prostate cancer are still alive today.

To find low-cost or free screening locations and support during treatment, call the American Cancer Society's 24/7 helpline at 1-800-227-2345 or visit cancer.org.

Additional ACS Resources:

• Prostate Cancer Hub
• Prostate Cancer Screening Recommendations
• 2026 Cancer Facts & Figures
• Patient Lodging Programs
• Road to Recovery® Free Rides Program
• Prostate Cancer Awareness Month Media Resource Page

The 2026 State of Black America report is now available

The 50th anniversary of the State of Black America report carries a question that this country has never fully answered:

Is the American Dream dead? They are not asking it to be provocative.

They are asking it because 250 years into this experiment, the question demands an honest answer.

Dive into the data, the analysis, and the voices of people who help answer this question here: State of Black America 

Grambling State Hits the Road: 125 Years, One Historic Multiversary, One National Tour

Grambling State University announced today that it will take its 125th anniversary on the road, opening a national tour this fall that brings the Grambling story directly to alumni, friends, partners, and communities across the country. The University calls 2026 its Multiversary, a rare convergence of three milestones in one year: 125 years of academic excellence, 100 years of Tiger Athletics, and 100 years of the World Famed Band.

Each tour stop brings alumni and supporters together for a screening of MARCH ON, a Storyboard Studios Production, that explores Grambling State's multigenerational legacy, followed by a moderated conversation with prominent members of the GramFam and a reception centered on fellowship and connection.

"This tour allows us to share Grambling's story with alumni, friends, and communities nationwide," said Dr. Martin Lemelle Jr., President of Grambling State University. "As we honor the University's illustrious legacy, we are also reaffirming the enduring power of HBCUs to shape generations of future leaders and drive meaningful change."

MARCH ON follows three featured Gramblinites across generations: Denise Young '77, alumna and former C suite executive at Apple; Dalvin Adams '15, alumnus and Los Angeles based commercial photographer and entrepreneur; and Rylee Beaudion '28, a third generation Gramblinite majoring in Elementary Education and Visual and Performing Arts. Set against the backdrop of Grambling State's historic campus, the 35 minute film follows their stories from performing arts spaces and academic labs to the Square and the University's Digital Library and Learning Commons, revealing how Grambling State has changed, evolved, and continued to shape the lives of those who call it home.

The tour opens with four stops this fall:

• 09.03.26 — Grambling, LA — 11:00 AM
• 09.14.26 — Washington, DC — 6:30 PM
• 09.17.26 — New York, NY — 6:30 PM
• 09.24.26 — Dallas, TX — 6:30 PM

Beginning in September and continuing through the conclusion of the Multiversary celebration, the tour will travel to additional cities across the country, reconnecting generations of the GramFam and extending the celebration of Grambling State University's legacy and impact well beyond campus.

Tickets and full details for each tour stop, including how to participate in the Multiversary celebration, are available at gram.edu/marchon.

California Legislature Passes Law to Make California the First State to Require Corporations to Disclose Slavery Profits

California is on the brink of becoming the first state in the nation to require corporations to declare under oath whether they or their predecessors profited from slavery.

With its passage in the full Senate, the California State Legislature adopted AB 2599, The Truth in Disclosure Act, authored by Assemblymember Isaac Bryan and a top priority for the California Legislative Black Caucus. The bill will now be sent to Governor Gavin Newsom for his signature.

The bill requires corporations doing business in California with annual revenue of $100 million in gross receipts or more to submit sworn affidavits — subject to perjury penalties — disclosing whether they or predecessor entities engaged in or profited from slavery-era transactions, with all filings posted to a publicly searchable state database.

The measure builds on California's existing disclosure framework. California has led the country on climate, supply chain, and pay transparency, and expands existing corporate disclosure laws requiring corporations doing business in California to engage in ethical business practices. No other state has yet required corporations to account for their historical role in the slave economy. The bill's public database would give journalists, researchers, and reparations advocates a tool to trace historical profits to present-day corporate wealth.

The Alliance for Reparations, Reconciliation, and Truth (ARRT) strongly urges Gov. Newsom to sign the bill.

California State Assemblymember Isaac Bryan:
"For too long, corporations have been allowed to benefit from the economic engine of slavery while avoiding any public accounting of that history," said. "AB 2599 is a moral imperative and changes that. Californians deserve to know which companies built their wealth on the backs of enslaved people — and they deserve that truth under oath."

Kaci Y. Patterson, Founder and Chief Architect of Social Good Solutions/Black Equity Collective: "Reparative justice is a key tenet of the Black Equity Collective's Policy & Advocacy work, and AB 2599 is essential to that commitment. Truth must precede repair. By confronting the historical record and strengthening transparency and accountability, California can understand the past, take responsibility in the present, and build a more equitable future. We thank Assemblymember Isaac Bryan for his leadership in authoring this important legislation. BEC proudly supports AB 2599 and urges Governor Gavin Newsom to sign the Truth in Disclosure Act into law. Truth is where repair begins, and accountability is how we move forward."

James Woodson, Chief Executive Officer of the California Black Power Network:
"Corporations have long profited from slavery while Black Californians have borne the public cost. AB 2599 ensures this history is officially recorded under oath and made accessible to all. The harm has been documented since 2023 in a report that's over 1,000 pages long. What corporations have profited from that harm has never been documented, and AB 2599 would change that. We urge Governor Newsom to sign this bill and reveal the truth openly."

Lisa Holder, President of the Equal Justice Society:
"The United Nation's formal acknowledgement this past March of the transatlantic slave trade as the gravest crime against humanity set a moral and reparative baseline for the world. AB 2599 grounds that international imperative into concrete state policy by compelling companies operating in California, the world's fourth-largest economy, to account for historical ties under oath. Moreover it supplies the necessary paper trail, documenting predecessor entities, collateralized human property, and institutional wealth accumulation, that scholars and policymakers need to translate broad reparative goals into actionable policy."

Pastor Michael McBride, Executive Director of Live Free USA:
"Since ARRT's inception, faith and congregational leaders across California have organized, prayed, and pushed for this day, because reparations work is moral work, and there is no neutral ground when it comes to truth. The prophet Amos declared, 'let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.' AB 2599 is part of that flow: it forces a reckoning with history that can no longer be dammed up by silence. Live Free USA has stood with ARRT from the beginning, and we will keep standing until repair is real and materialized to its fullest extent."

Teresa L. Gonzalez, State Director of Live Free California:
"As a detribalized Indigenous woman, I stand in solidarity with Black communities fighting for healing, justice, and liberation, because our histories, presents and futures are bound together. Live Free California centers systems-impacted Black leadership in this work, and we know that true repair cannot stop at disclosure. It must mean ending incarceration and every system of oppression built on the same profits AB 2599 exposes. This bill shines a light not only on who profited from slavery historically, but on who continues to profit from harm today, and that light is long overdue."

Dr. Cheryl Grills, former member of the California Reparations Task Force, and Professor Emerita (Psychology) at Loyola Marymount University and Founder of their Psychology Applied Research Center: "The harms from enslavement and their cross-generational legacies were multifaceted. No doubt, the repair must be equally multifaceted, layered, and capable of promoting systemic and institutional remedies. This is necessary if we are to strike a blow to structural racism, the offspring of African enslavement. The Truth in Disclosure Act, AB 2599, represents a significant step in that direction by compelling the transparency needed to address those foundational harms."

Donald K. Tamaki, former member of the California Reparations Task Force: "Two chapters of the California Reparations Task Force report document in painstaking detail how corporations built enormous fortunes extracted from the free labor of enslaved people and how that wealth compounded for generations while Black families were locked out. The Truth in Disclosure Act follows the recommendations of the task force report by compelling corporations to publicly declare under oath how their fortunes were extracted from the stolen labor of enslaved people. This public transparency is a critical first step toward full accountability and implementing the Task Force's broader recommendations."

Should Governor Newsom sign AB 2599, it would represent the 15th reparations bill passed since the 2023 issuance of the California Reparations Task Force report and yet another step forward in the continued momentum of implementing those recommendations.

In 2025, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed into law SB 437 (Weber-Pierson), requiring the California State University to explore options to determine how to confirm an individual's status as a descendant, and SB 518 (Weber‑Pierson), creating the Bureau for Descendants of American Slavery, housed within the Civil Rights Department.

In 2024, Gov. Newsom signed several reparations bills, including AB 3089, a formal apology by the State of California for its role in perpetuating slavery and its ongoing legacy of systemic racism.

This historic journey started with Gov. Newsom's signing of AB 3121 into law on Sept. 30, 2020, to create the first-in-the-nation California Reparations Task Force. After two years of research and 30 public hearings, the task force in 2023 delivered a 1,100-page book of truth that documents past and continuing harm of anti-Black discrimination in every facet of American life and across every sector of California civil society, outlining 115 comprehensive policies for repairing the harm.

About the Alliance for Reparations, Reconciliation, and Truth (ARRT): The Alliance for Reparations, Reconciliation, and Truth (ARRT) is a multiracial, multisector coalition advancing truth-telling, accountability, and public education related to the enduring impacts of slavery and systemic harm in California. Learn more at alliancefor.org.

PEOPLE’S ORGANIZATION FOR PROGRESS WILL GO TO THE MARCH ON WASHINGTON

The People’s Organization For Progress (POP) is sponsoring a bus trip to the protest that will take place in Washington, D.C., the nation’s capital, on Friday, August 28, 2026. 

The theme of the protest is “March On Washington: Defend The Vote.” It is being called by the Rev Al Sharpton and his National Action Network, Martin Luther King III, and other civil rights organizations. 

“We endorse the march and we are sending a bus to the protest in Washington because we believe the right to vote is under attack and in grave peril today,” stated Lawrence Hamm, Chairman, People’s Organization For Progress. 

“Democracy in the United States is in great danger because it is being undermined by the racist and fascist Trump administration, backed up by the right-wing dominated Congress, and supported by the ultra-conservative super majority on the Supreme Court,” Hamm said. 

The POP sponsored bus is one of hundreds of busses from New Jersey, New York, and around the nation that will be journeying to Washington for the March. It will be leaving from Newark at 4:3Oam Friday morning. 

The march is being held on the 63rd anniversary of the 1963 Great March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom where the Dr Martin Luther King Jr gave his famous “I Have A Dream” speech. 

That march was held on August 28th, the date in 1955 on which 14 year-old Emmett Till was murdered by white racists in Money, Mississippi. 

This was just three months before the arrest of Rosa Parks and the start of the Montgomery Bus boycott which gave rise to the Civil Rights Movement. 

More than 250,000 people attended the March On Washington that year. The following year the 1964 Civil Rights Act was passed, and the next year the 1965 Voting Rights Act was passed. 

“We must march because those rights, including the right to vote, which were fought for and paid for with lives, and blood, and sacrifices of many kinds in our lifetime are being taken away before our very eyes,” he said. 

“Because of the Supreme Court decision in the Louisiana v Callais case we may end up losing as many as nineteen African American representatives due to racist gerrymandering. 

“And now the Trump administration is attempting to restrict and stop mail-in voting in an attempt to steal the midterm congressional elections. The People’s Organization For Progress is absolutely opposed to any attempt by President Trump to interfere with, impede or stop mail-in voting,” he said. 

While some POP members and supporters will be going to the march in Washington DC others will be rallying here at home for voting rights that same day. 

A “Community Rally,” observing the 63rd anniversary of March On Washington will be held on Friday, August 28th, 5:30pm at the Somerset Municipal Complex, 475 Demott Lane, Somerset, New Jersey.

A key organizer of this event is author, activist, and educator Bill Davis, a member of the People’s Organization For Progress, and a leader of the group’s Central Jersey branch. 

“We are having this rally to demand the abolition of ICE, economic justice, improved Black employment, an end to police brutality,  end racist gerrymandering and redistricting, an end to the war with Iran, and reparations for African Americans whose ancestors were enslaved,” Davis stated. 

The event is endorsed by Peoples Organization for Progress, March Forward, NAACP New Brunswick & Edison Branches, NJ Black Women, and MT Zion AME Church.

Finally, POP will continue the fight for voting rights after the events of August 28th. 

The group will hold a forum entitled “The Attack On Voting Rights And The War On Black People,” Thursday, September 11, 2026, 7:00pm at New Hope Baptist Church of East Orange, 144 Norman Street in East Orange, New Jersey. 

For more information on the POP bus trip to the March On Washington or the voting rights forum in East Orange call (973)801-0001. For additional information on the rally in Somerset contact Bill Davis at 732-647-8212.