resources they need.
Reverend Anthony Evans, President of the National Black Church Initiative, states “This is a revolutionary step as we chronicle the often untold or silenced experiences of the sickle cell disease and the sickle cell warriors of survivors and supporters. Sickle Cell News will offer a venue to share those experiences as well as those critical resources involving medical, administrative, and related areas necessary toward the livelihood of those impacted by the sickle cell disease.”
The launch of Sickle Cell News whose byline, “Giving Voice to Sickle Cell Survivors and Supporters,” is revolutionary for three reasons. First, Sickle Cell News serves to educate the American public all over the country about the importance of sickle cell disease and its impact on African American and other ethnic groups. Secondly, Sickle Cell News highlights the contributions of our sickle cell community as they fight to be respected and to shake off the stigma that has surrounded sickle cell for years. Thirdly, Sickle Cell News demonstrates how churches have provided and utilized important foundational resources to inform constituencies about the sickle cell disease. Now that the sickle cell community supports along with the Black Church are joining forces, our capacity to address the sickle cell disease is even more expanded.
In addition to our expanded capacity, our collective efforts, too, focus on passing national legislation. To ensure that Centers of Excellence to care for the sickle cell community, the Sickle Cell Act is being considered in Congress in 2023. Thus, our need to both expand and enhance our focus on the sickle cell disease throughout the country is critical.
However, Reverend Evans was joined by other prominent leaders in acknowledging the importance of having a publication such as the Sickle Cell News is available to the public.
Reverend William E. Flippin, Jr., Senior Pastor of Greater Piney Grove Baptist Church in Atlanta, Georgia, states:
“Most African Americans have heard or known some that have suffered from sickle cell anemia. Until it affects us personally, we can just dismiss it as something that is rare. About 100,000 people in the United States are affected. People of African descent make up 90% of the population with sickle cell. We have heard that when a sickle cell crisis occurs, it is extremely painful. Tragically, those with sickle cell disease die about 20 to 30 years earlier than those who do not.
Recently, I attended a seminar and had a wakeup call from this information session sponsored by The National Black Church Initiative in Atlanta. It was so disturbing to hear the stories of people suffering from this inherited condition. It was even more difficult to learn that many are treated rudely during a crisis and seeking emergency medical help. They can be accused of being drug addicts or just pretending that the pain is severe.
After hearing this information, I shared with my church that we must get involved in this fight! I also called and apologized to one of my members that has suffered with sickle cell all his life. Unfortunately, we had always placed him on our sick list and probably half prayed with even fewer visits.
We must do better and speak up for those individuals and families affected. GET IN THE FIGHT!”
Tabatha McGee, Executive Director of the Sickle Cell Foundation of Georgia, agreed.
“This publication is welcome news to the sickle cell community and appreciated tremendously. It will not only educate the public about the disease, but it will also help end the stigma that sickle cell carries to this day, especially when one experiences a crisis. Keep in mind, pain is not something that can be seen.
We have been in the fight for the past 51 years after physicians were discovering an increasing number of babies dying due to a disease that few people knew about nor researched years prior. Our mission, and that of the National Black Church Initiative, is to END THE SICKLE CELL CYCLE through education and information.”
Indeed, Reverend Anthony Evans, along with the support of other advocates, is pleased to announce that NBCI will be one of the first to provide comprehensive and culturally-competent information, resources, and treatment through Sickle Cell News. Sickle Cell News will be
released quarterly as an important venue to document and share the experiences of the sickle cell community across the Atlanta metropolitan area.
Please join with us in this critical effort of Sickle Cell News! More information about sickle cell can be found at https://sicklecellga.org/
Sickle Cell News was made possible with the support of Global Blood Therapeutics (GBT), a subsidiary of Pfizer.
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