After surviving cancer twice, Reona Berry helps Black women navigate breast cancer

When Reona Berry noticed a discoloration under her arm and across her breast in 1989, she assumed it was a reaction to deodorant. The rash didn’t itch or hurt, so she ignored it.

Months later, she discovered a painful lump.

By the time she sought medical attention in January 1990, the cancer had spread to her lymph nodes.

Now, 36 years later, Berry is still sharing the lesson she learned the hard way: Don’t wait.

The two-time breast cancer survivor has spent more than three decades helping Black women across Minnesota understand the importance of early detection, treatment and support through the African American Breast Cancer Alliance, or AABCA, a Minneapolis-based nonprofit she helped establish in 1990.

“I didn’t realize that this rash that was starting was a symptom,” Berry said. “Everybody thinks of breast cancer as being a lump.”

The organization’s mission was highlighted July 25 during its inaugural Colors of Cancer Health & Wellness Expo, which brought together more than 50 community members for education, cancer prevention resources, survivorship support and wellness activities.

The event comes as Black women continue to face disproportionately poor breast cancer outcomes in Minnesota and across the country.

According to the Minnesota Department of Health’s Minnesota Cancer Reporting System, breast cancer mortality is 27% higher among Black women in Minnesota than among white women. The disparity is even greater among young women, with Black women under age 55 twice as likely to die from breast cancer as their white counterparts.

For Berry, those statistics represent real people and real families.

After her diagnosis at age 38, she attended a breast cancer support group at the YWCA, where she met other Black women facing similar experiences. Many felt isolated in traditional support groups, where they were often the only Black person in the room and struggled to relate to older participants or discuss culturally specific concerns.

Those conversations revealed a larger problem: Black women were living with breast cancer, but many were suffering in silence.

Cancer was often treated as a family secret, Berry said, leaving many women unaware that mothers, grandmothers, sisters and aunts had battled the disease before them.

In response, Berry and eight other women founded AABCA to create a culturally responsive support network for Black women affected by breast cancer.

“There was no Black women’s support group for us,” Berry said.

The organization has since spent decades providing education, outreach and support while encouraging women to prioritize their own health.

Berry said many Black women delay medical care because they are focused on caring for children, spouses, relatives and communities. Fear, financial pressure and competing responsibilities can push health concerns to the bottom of the list.

AABCA’s message, she said, is simple: Women must care for themselves if they hope to care for others.

Trust also remains a challenge.

Berry said some women have shared stories about feeling dismissed or unwelcome during medical visits, experiences that can discourage them from returning for follow-up care. Historical injustices, including the Tuskegee syphilis study, continue to shape perceptions of the health care system in some Black communities.

Building trust, she said, requires creating spaces where people feel heard, respected and safe. That philosophy helped shape the Colors of Cancer Health & Wellness Expo.

The event was conceived earlier this year as a way to reconnect communities following the isolation of the COVID-19 pandemic. Before COVID-19, AABCA regularly held in-person meetings and helped women navigate appointments and treatment. When those services moved online, the organization adapted by launching virtual support groups that now attract participants from across the country.

The expo expanded that outreach effort by bringing together researchers, health care professionals, survivors and community members under one roof.

Hosted at the University of Minnesota’s Cancer and Cardiovascular Research Building, the event featured information on cancer research, men’s health, survivorship, wellness activities and free mammogram opportunities.

Berry said the turnout reinforced what she has observed throughout her years of advocacy: People are looking for information, connection and support.

Some attendees were cancer survivors. Others were caregivers. Many were simply seeking answers.

One woman told organizers she was 52 years old and had never received a mammogram before attending the event.

For Berry, moments like that highlight why organizations such as AABCA remain necessary.

While advances in screening, treatment and research have improved survival rates, she believes education and community support remain critical tools in reducing disparities.

More women are surviving breast cancer today because of earlier detection and better treatment options, she said. New therapies continue to emerge, offering hope to patients who may have had fewer options in previous decades.

Berry knows that hope firsthand.

After remaining cancer-free for nearly three decades, she was diagnosed again in 2019 after discovering multiple lumps in her other breast. She underwent a mastectomy, reconstruction surgery and five years of hormone therapy, which concluded recently.

She does not describe herself as cancer-free. Instead, she considers herself in remission and committed to helping others navigate the same journey.

Survivorship, she said, means something she never expected after her first diagnosis.

“Cancer, in a way, gave me life to help be one of the messengers,” Berry said.

And after more than three decades of advocacy, that message remains unchanged: Learn your family history, pay attention to symptoms and seek medical care without delay.

Alaysia Lane is a contributing writer for the Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder. She welcomes reader responses at aal7008@nyu.edu.