Profiles of Hope: How cancer survivor, Wilhelmina Obatola Grant brings awareness to breast cancer through art

Wilhelmina Obatola Grant is a resident of Harlem, mixed-media assemblage artist, and breast cancer survivor. She uses objects she finds to create art and uses it to bring awareness to breast cancer and violence against women.

In part three of her story she talks about her support system, how surviving cancer has affected her life and what women like her should learn from her experience.

Q: When you were diagnosed with breast cancer what was your support system like? Were there family and friends you could go to for help in dealing with cancer?

A: Getting a cancer diagnosis back in the mid-1990s was quite different than it is today. This disease gets a lot of press coverage now and people are not so afraid to talk about it. We have the Internet now; it's on television, every five minutes you see something about someone having some type of a cancer. It's not so taboo anymore.

But when I was diagnosed people didn't know how to react to it or what to say. My friends and family tried the best they could to be supportive, but they really didn't know how. Back then they were still whispering about cancer or calling it the "C" word or the "problem"-you mean breast cancer? SAY IT!

I had a very good friend who I thought I could talk to about having breast cancer, say to me "Oh, I can't imagine not having you around." I was stunned and after that I didn't want to talk to anyone else about it. I eventually turned to the women in my martial arts group to have someone be my voice. That person told people when the surgery was, what type of surgery I was having, etc. I think this was a great strategy as people were upsetting me just as I was getting ready for the surgery. I needed to save my energy and focus on what was ahead.

Q: How has surviving breast cancer affected your life?

A: Surviving cancer has helped me get to the next level of my work in supporting women. I was already in that mode while working with my martial arts groups. We put our energy into rallies and political action to help women and children help themselves deal with issues of domestic violence. I was already doing that kind of work in the community. This was a natural progression for me to be telling women what I knew about health.

Q: What advice can you give other women, particularly African-American women, who think they aren't at risk for breast cancer?

A: I would say to start talking to members of your family. Find out your family history [1]. I think what has happened in the African American community is that women hide family health history. They may feel ashamed or embarrassed so there is no sharing of information. Women live and die without telling their family members who may be at risk because of family history.

Q: Where can the Harlem community go to see your art?

A: My new display for Women's History Month is called Clock Strikes Thirteen. It's about Black women like Fannie Lou Hamer, Hattie McDaniel, Audre Lorde, Minnie Riperton and others who died from breast cancer. The exhibit opens on March 11, 2024 at:

The Countee Cullen Branch of the New York Public Library

104 W. 136th Street between Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Blvd and Malcolm X Blvd.

New York, NY 10030.

Q: What do you want other people to learn from your experience with breast cancer?

A: Information is your best friend. Find out everything you can about your cancer diagnosis. Find out your family history, risks and symptoms of breast cancer before being diagnosed. That way you know what's going on. If you happen to get breast cancer, then find out the type of cancer. You should also learn from other people about how they got through it, and what they think you should do. We don't have to live in a bubble, and go through this alone anymore. I think that's the biggest tragedy of all is to go through this alone.

Read more about Wilhelmina Obatola Grant by clicking the links below:

Profiles of Hope are health testimonials with Harlem community leaders and members written by HHPC and reviewed by our Health Advisory Board.

Profiles of Hope: How cancer survivor, Wilhelmina Obatola Grant brings awareness to breast cancer through art–Part 2