Who is our community partner, conversation facilitator and interviewer? Here’s a note from her, as a way of introducing herself to you.
Hello all! My name is LaShaune P. Johnson, PhD.
I am honored to be selected to be the urban griot who has been selected to collect and help tell the story of Black family lived experience on the cancer continuum!
I know you don’t know me–yet–so I owe you a little information about who I am, and how I became a protector of stories.
I was born in the ashes of “Black Wall Street” in Tulsa, in a family of musicians, self-trained mechanics, artists, itinerant preachers, and resourceful women whose loved ones were always fed. My family is like your family–it hasn’t escaped the touch of cancer, incarceration, substance use disorder, and financial distress. While my childhood memories were full of loud family gatherings, music, and dancing, our strong bonds could not shield us from severe chronic illness and premature death. As a high school senior, I was diagnosed with lymphoma, then at age 30, with early stage breast cancer, and once again with breast cancer, during the pandemic. While I have been covered by Grace and survived my bouts with cancer and other issues, too many of my family were not that lucky. Like you, I get winded when I say the names of all of my dearly departed, and for those who cling to hope that their healing will soon come.
That is why I have dedicated much of my teaching and research career to understanding and confronting the causes of health disparities within Black communities. I have a PhD in Sociology and teach students and health professionals about your–and my–living experience. I am the founder/owner of Estella Lucia Evaluation, LLC, and a Clinical Professor of Community Health at the University of Houston’s Fertitta Family College of Medicine.
As important as my intellectual work is, my most important audience/collaborator is our community. And, because no surgery can ever remove my artistic inheritance, I use storytelling and poetry to shine a light on our stories, and the wisdom that our elders have taught us.
My intellectual, advocacy work and personal experience led me to my role with Cancer Legal Care, and immediately jumped at the chance to help co-lead the process of helping Cancer Legal Care to be better able to support the members of our communities.
