October is universally recognized as National Breast Cancer Awareness Month which is an annual campaign to acknowledge and increase awareness of the disease and encourage many to get examined. This year in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, Alcorn State University’s Miss Senior, Jenny Joiner, teamed with all HBCU Miss Seniors to present “The Pink Lip Challenge”. The “Pink Lip Challenge” was held October 19, 2016 in the foyer of the Dr. Clinton Bristow Jr. Dining facility and via the popular social media outlet Instagram. The primary goal of “The Pink Lip Challenge” was to paint Instagram timelines pink to raise awareness for Breast Cancer which is the second most common kind of cancer in women.
To participate in “The Pink Lip Challenge” students were simply required to take a picture of themselves in their favorite pink lipstick or lip-gloss, post it to Instagram and use the hashtags #PinkLipChallenge, #HBCUsGoPink, #ASUSupport, or #ASUStrikesBreastCancer. Participants also had the option to sign the “The Pink Lip Challenge” bulletin board with kind words of encouragement for those currently fighting the disease or in memory of their friends or family members who lost their fight against Breast Cancer.
Kayla Bowman, a Sophomore Nursing major from Chicago, IL is confident that raising awareness for Breast Cancer is an essential key to finding a cure. “Breast Cancer Awareness events such as “The Pink Lip Challenge” brings Breast Cancer fighters, survivors, researchers and communities together. I firmly believe that where there is unity, there is power,” said Bowman.
For more information about Breast Cancer, please visit ww5.komen.org.