[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 50 (Monday, April 15, 2013)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E455-E456]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       HONORING ELZORA MAE BROWN

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. BARBARA LEE

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                         Monday, April 15, 2013

  Ms. LEE of California. Mr. Speaker, I rise today with my colleague, 
Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton, to honor the extraordinary life of 
Elzora Mae Brown, a fourth-generation, three-time cancer survivor and 
life-long champion for breast cancer awareness and research among women 
of color. With her passing on March 3, 2013, we look to the outstanding 
quality of her life's work and the countless lives she touched and 
saved over the course of her career in advocacy.
  Born March 20, 1949 in Holdenville, Oklahoma, Elzora Mae Brown 
received a bachelor's degree in business administration from Oklahoma 
State University before moving to the Washington, D.C. area, where she 
would live for the next 30 years. Ms. Brown received a wealth of 
experience in public communication through her role assisting the 
lobbying office of the Ford Motor Company. In 1976, she secured an 
administrative assistant's post at the White House, which led to a 
quick ascent in communications positions, including becoming assistant 
director for public affairs at the Federal Communications Commission 
and public affairs director with the Broadcast Capital Fund.
  At the age of 32, Ms. Brown was diagnosed with breast cancer. As the 
youngest of eight children, she was prepared to face the same disease 
that had struck her great-grandmother, grandmother, mother, and three 
sisters. In most cases, swift action via mastectomy had saved her 
family members' lives. Only her late sister Belva Brissett lost a 12-
year battle with breast cancer in 1990. As Ms. Brown took actions to 
save her life, she decided to use her experience as a sounding board 
for other women. She eventually underwent two mastectomies and multiple 
treatments throughout a courageous and continued battle with bouts of 
breast and ovarian cancer over the years. Yet, she was able to channel 
the power of these challenges into a trailblazing advocacy campaign.
  In the 1980s, her minority and media-focused public relations 
position at the Broadcast Capital Fund allowed her to spearhead 
televised public service announcements about breast cancer that aimed 
to reach inner-city women. A short film about preventative care, ``Once 
a Year . . . For a Lifetime,'' which she helped to produce, featured 
celebrities such as Phylicia Rashad from ``The Cosby Show'' reading 
personal testimony from cancer patients--including the diaries of Belva 
Brissett.
  Ms. Brown noted that few, if any, mammogram summits and information 
forums at the time were targeted to African American, minority, and 
underserved women. She began speaking to local churches, clinics, and 
civic groups about the benefits of self-examination and mammograms, 
while dispelling false notions of breast cancer as a white women's 
issue. By 1989, Ms. Brown had organized the Breast Cancer Resource 
Committee, BCRC, with the mission of reducing the disproportionate 
breast cancer mortality rates among African American women by 50 
percent at the end of the century through education, prevention, and 
early detection. An offshoot of this initiative was named in honor of 
her late sister

[[Page E456]]

and co-founder: the Belva Brissett Advocacy Center.
  In 1991, Ms. Brown was appointed by President George H.W. Bush to the 
National Cancer Advisory Board. As the first African American woman to 
serve in this post, she was able to direct vital funding toward inner-
city cancer screenings and invite hundreds of leaders from the nation's 
black community to participate in education forums. She served on the 
President's Special Commission on Breast Cancer from 1992 to 1994, 
organizing the Cancer Awareness Program Services, CAPS. And in 1993, 
Ms. Brown proudly helped organize the Washington D.C.-based breast 
cancer survivor support group for African American women, ``Rise, 
Sister Rise.'' Among countless local and national accolades, Ms. Brown 
also co-authored the 2003 book, ``100 Questions and Answers About 
Breast Cancer.''
  Today, California's 13th Congressional District and the District of 
Columbia salute and honor an outstanding individual and a stalwart 
community leader, Ms. Elzora Mae Brown. Her invaluable service to our 
nation will be forever supported by the endless legacy of her work. We 
offer our sincerest condolences to her beloved family and to the many 
friends and associates whose lives she touched over the course of her 
incredible life. She will be deeply missed.

                          ____________________