Art as a Tool: Painting Freedom
Wednesday, October 15th 6 – 8 pm
1340 Boylston Street, Boston, MA 02215
Art as a Tool: Painting Freedom is a community paint party where creativity becomes a tool for justice and healing. Guided by the theme “Our Tools Will Free Us,” we’ll transform blank canvases into visions of equity, resilience, and hope, celebrating art as a pathway to awareness, connection, and change. No prior art experience is needed, just bring your spirit of creativity and community. Through brushstrokes and color, we will explore what freedom, resilience, and solidarity look like when painted collectively. Each canvas represents personal expression and becomes a part of a shared vision of justice.
Audre Lorde Cancer Awareness Brunch
Saturday, October 18th 12 – 3 pm
1340 Boylston Street, Boston, MA 02215
The Audre Lorde Cancer Awareness Brunch is an annual gathering honoring the resilience, advocacy, and community care of those impacted by cancer, especially in communities of color and the LGBTQ+ community. This year’s Brunch theme is, “Our Tools Will Free Us”. The theme reminds us that tools like community, justice, and innovation can dismantle barriers to care and are essential in advancing cancer awareness and equity. This theme calls us to come together in action, care, and hope, echoing Audre Lorde’s powerful reminder that “the master’s tools will never dismantle the master’s house.” Her words challenge us to create and use our own tools, grounded in shared experience to bring about lasting and genuine change. The Brunch is a place for survivors, those navigating life with cancer, caregivers, allies, and advocates to join in healing, solidarity, and action toward racial and social justice
In 1999, Denise Bentley, a former Fenway Health employee, founded the event in honor of her late wife Lorraine “Faye” Fayette Johnson. She created a space to honor two warrior women who battled breast cancer: her wife and Audre Lorde, a self-described “Black, lesbian, mother, warrior, poet” who dedicated her life to addressing the injustices of racism, sexism, and homophobia. Denise recognized that cancer uniquely affects women of color and the LGBTQ+ community and established a venue to discuss these health disparities, build community, and celebrate life.
Community resources are vital to helping break down barriers to care for the LGBTQ+ community and women of color. Although breast cancer rates have decreased in Boston since 2007, these groups continue to be disproportionately affected. Check out the information below for local resources and education on health disparities.
Fenway Health
In this resource guide, you will find information on cancer disparities for women of color and LGBTQ women, health education on cancer screenings and preventive health measures, and local resources for cancer survivors of color. We hope this guide will foster sisterhood, strength, and holistic health in your life.
Audre Lorde, a self-described “black, lesbian, mother, warrior, poet” who battled cancer for 14 years, considered speaking up — whether about women’s health or identity — to be an act of survival. Take a moment to hear about healing and survival from the women of color whose lives have been impacted by cancer.
