Marcia Skervin challenges the way we see breast cancer awareness.
The American Cancer Society and Imperial Chemical Industries joined forces in October 1985 to bring awareness to breast cancer. Their primary objectives were to help individuals detect the disease early, encourage regular mammograms, and support research. The pink ribbon we know today became the symbol of this fight.
October is upon us in 2025, and with a quick scroll on any social media platform, schools, businesses, and institutions will have already had an awareness poster on their platforms. Students are more than likely dressed in their pink and under a certain hashtag #Pinktober, and #Pink Day, individuals will be smiling and waving to the camera. If you scroll just a little further, you will stumble across people who have never heard the word mammogram and would have no idea that phases of chemotherapy have side effects as drastic as memory loss. People pick up the pamphlets with resources and information and place them right back. If you ask them to name another cancer, most have to stop and think, and others are more excited to have a day they don’t have to wear a uniform.
This is the issue. While Breast Cancer is the most publicly recognised cancer in the world, the overall message of the month has become lost over the years. It is for this reason that Marcia Moriah Skervin fights under the message: “Cancer isn’t pink.”
In the year 2017, Marcia was in the middle of a custody battle, mothering three children and dealing with the dynamics of her home when she was diagnosed with breast cancer. This wasn’t the first time she had interacted with the disease. She had been quite familiar with the experience as she watched her mother, father, and brother fall to what she called “The C word” in her novel Broken Wings.
At first, she had questioned why all of this had happened to her. What had she done that warranted such a life-altering, scary experience?
Purpose.
She describes the experience as a light that highlighted her life’s purpose. Someone had to tell that story. Some needed this testimony, and as she quotes, “There is no testimony without a test.” In an interview last Thursday, Marcia reflected that, whether or not one is religious, there’s no denying that the moment you walk out of a doctor’s office after hearing the word cancer, your faith is shaken.
She had to speak out about her own experience. As she reminds us in her novel, Marcus Garvey’s words, “Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.” As she debated whether or not she should share her story, her friend reminded her, “The one thing we all have in common is sickness.” She couldn’t be silent anymore.
Cancer is a mental and spiritual illness just as much as it is a physical one. A big part of getting over the bridge to healing is mentally getting over the thoughts of hopelessness and the turmoil of who you once were. It takes a toll on your mind, spirit, body, and pocket.
In a radio segment, Marcia shared an experience she had with a mammogram in 2017. She went to the hospital in Kingston, waiting to use the only breast ultrasound machine in the hospital, and was told it wasn’t working. When she asked where else she could go, she, ill and weak, was sent to Montego Bay. It’s a worrying reality that one of the deadliest diseases doesn’t have enough support in our country.
People have lost their jobs to this disease. All factors point to every reason why one would be most discouraged at this point in their lives, yet it doesn’t have to be that way.
Outside of October, the ribbons don’t return. The pink fades, and the banners come down. The “Pink Day” photos are buried beneath new posts, and life moves on. But for those living with the disease, the fight continues every single day.
It seems, as Marcia humorously quotes, “they seem to be obsessed with the titties.” Not only is it tone deaf to the experiences of those who’ve gone through it, but it also undermines the fact that men, too, can have breast cancer. They don’t believe it is a possibility, and when they are diagnosed, they feel ashamed.
So how can those of us who have never watched someone’s spirit fade under this illness truly show support? How can we engage with this month in a more meaningful way?
Marcia asks us to show compassion. Many survivors don’t want to talk about their experiences. Many don’t want to relive the discomfort and the body dysmorphia, and the hair loss. Many want to move on with their lives. Many don’t want to see people smiling with a pink poster behind them on a month they only remember because their calendar reminds them. Many want to feel heard.
When asked what colour Breast Cancer should be, Marcia answered, “Green, because it costs a lot of money.”
When the pink ribbons fade and the hashtags slow down, let us remember that cancer doesn’t end with a month — nor does the fight for dignity, awareness, and care. For Marcia and many others, ‘Cancer isn’t pink’ is not just a slogan; it’s a reminder that empathy, action, and faith must last beyond October.
To those who have lived and experienced it, hold on to hope. Marcia found her faith through her diagnosis and used it to rebuild her home. Today, she is a philanthropist, HR consultant, one of Jamaica’s youngest Justices of the Peace, a business coach, speaker, author, and, most importantly, child of God. She is more than the “C word.”
She reminds patients not to remain stagnant and not to dismiss their emotions. Every feeling is valid.
Marcia’s Broken Wings Foundation assists more than 30 individuals with rent, groceries, and medical tests, much of it funded from her own pocket. You can find her on any platform for support. She offers a journal with motivational nuggets filled with some of her own quotes
Our hearts go out to all those who have lost loved ones to Cancer. Feel free to share your stories below.
Resources
Broken Wings (2019) is a short biography by Marcia Moriah Skervin chronicling her journey through breast cancer. She shares raw, unfiltered reflections on the highs and lows of her diagnosis.
