The Rev. Willie J. Johnson is on a mission to help educate black males about the dangers of prostate cancer.
Johnson, pastor of Samuel Chapel Missionary Baptist Church, is helping to get the word out on the second annual Prostate Cancer Health and Wellness Seminar, which will be held Saturday at Monument of Grace Church, 707 Brentwood Ave.
Registration and breakfast will take place from 9 to 10:30 a.m. The educational session will run from 10:30 a.m. until noon.
Speakers will include Charles Carter, a prostate cancer survivor, and Dr. Roderick Givens of the Caring River Cancer Center.
Johnson is part of the 19-member “Men in Black and Blue Fighting Prostate Cancer,” an outreach program that promotes preventive measures to head off the disease.
“We want to spread the message that help is on the way. In fact, it’s already here,” he said.
He said the seminar is particularly important for black men ages 40 and above.
“It’s a very prevalent disease. Fortunately, there are measures for it. It’s not a death sentence,” Johnson said.
Johnson said the seminar is open to everyone. “Bring somebody with you if you can.”
The seminar is intended to help men learn about the disease and then become advocates in the community, said Freddie White-Johnson, program director of the Mississippi Network for Cancer Control & Prevention and founder and president of the Fannie Lou Hamer Cancer Foundation.
Greenwood Leflore Hospital will be providing free blood pressure and weight checks as well as blood sugar monitoring. It is recommended that blood sugar monitoring be done prior to eating breakfast.
For more information on the seminar, call Sammy Foster at 515-5860 or Charles McCain Jr. at 453-4687.
Other sponsors of the seminar include the Mississippi Partnership for Comprehensive Cancer Control, Greenwood Leflore Hospital and Monument of Grace Church.
• Contact Bob Darden at 581-7239 or bedarden @gwcommonwealth.com.
