Target has become the newest hotspot for the Covid Vaccine and sadly we don’t get the heart bandages shown in the commercials. Little do people know, a woman named Henrietta Lacks is the whole reason we even have access to the vaccine! To any AP ELA student, this name is extremely familiar, and to GK librarians checking out our books, all the same.
Henrietta Lacks was a young Black tobacco farmer and a mother of 5. Unfortunately, she was diagnosed with cervical cancer, and visited a White doctor who cared for poor African Americans in 1951. To “treat” her cancer, she was put under Radium treatments. Radiation at the time was one of the only ways to treat cancer, just as dangerous as it sounds. During this, Dr. George Gey, a virus researcher, was testing on different cells and tissues. Most seemed to die…until Lacks’, which seemed to stay alive and even multiply. With this new discovery, the world began to test with her undying cells to explore new vaccines and ideas. Henrietta’s children, even after her death, had no idea this was going on. The family was kept in the dark for years. HeLa cells were creating groundbreaking discoveries in the medical field, and yet the Lacks family had earned none of the money made. HeLa cells were taken with zero permission, and barely any recognition until today. The world fails to educate the exact people who benefit from Henrietta’s cells, her name needs to be as famous as Rosa Parks and MLK Jr. Henrietta Lacks has created the medical field, a Black woman's unconsented contribution to society has saved lives.
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