JANS – September is increasingly being known as the month that kicks off prostate cancer awareness in addition to the start of the football season. National Prostate Awareness Month highlights the benefits of early detection for a disease that is crippling the African American community. YOU ARE NOT ALONE! A prostate cancer support self-help group is urging Mississippians to get tested. 

A press conference was held September 1, 2023, at the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum to encourage African American men to get tested to detect or prevent prostate cancer. 

Organized by State Senator John Horhn and Greater Mt. Calvary Baptist Church, spearheaded by Jerry C. Knight, speakers included Robert Smith, MD; urologist Lionel Fraser; and cancer survivors Senator Hillman Frazier, Rep. Bo Brown, and Lloyd Ellis and Rev. Stanley Wright who stated, “Just because you feel fine, still get your annual check up because there may be something going on inside your body that you are not aware of.” Pastor John Cameron of Greater Mt. Calvary was also in attendance.

With early detection, prostate cancer, which claims the lives of 30,000 men in the U.S. annually and 300,000 men globally, can be cured.

The American Cancer Society reported that one in eight men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2023. Statistics show African American men are fifty percent more likely to be diagnosed with the disease.

Upcoming prostate awareness events in Jackson are Sept. 16, 10:00 A.M. – 2:00 P.M., Day at the Park and memorial balloon release at LeFleur’s Bluff State Park (Lakeland Dr. Entrance) and Sept. 24, Prostate Awareness Sunday at local churches. Members are asked to wear blue to show support for the effort. For more information, contact Jerry C. Knight at 601-260-0516.