The Blue Jacket Fashion Show Raises Prostate Cancer Awareness
Shining a megawatt light on the importance of prostate cancer screening—particularly to the Black community—is the mission of the annual Blue Jacket Fashion Show. Founded by fashion designer Frederick Anderson and marketer Laura Miller and now in its seventh year, the event took place at Moonlight Studios in Tribeca. Notable New Yorkers walked the runway in support of prostate awareness.
Though all American men face the possibility of this deadly disease, Black men are more than twice as likely to die from prostate cancer than others. The priority is to encourage men to stay healthy, get annual check-ups, and prostate-specific antigen (PSA) testing. For the first time as part of this event, community members, event participants, and guests were screened for prostate cancer with a quick and easy prostate-specific antigen test sponsored by Carver Federal Savings Bank and provided by Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City. Morning screenings were held outside of the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture and then again at Moonlight Studios ahead of the show.
“Far too many men in communities of color are not getting this necessary cancer screening that saves lives,” said President and CEO of Carver Federal Savings Bank Michael T. Pugh. “Indeed, bringing these critical resources to Upper Manhattan residents will stimulate greater healthcare equity in the Greater Harlem area.”
You or someone you care about should be getting screened annually. It takes a village to inspire action.
