The Campaign for the Culture is an initiative of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids focused on uniting, empowering, educating and engaging people of color and other targeted communities around critical healthcare and human rights issues connected to tobacco use, with the goal of inspiring young community members to avoid or quit tobacco use. This comprehensive initiative includes: a cultural conversations series, HBCU listening tour, virtual summit, dinner series and advocate profiles.
The campaign is focused on the following core pillars:
- Educating the public and building awareness in Black and other impacted communities about the harmful effects of tobacco use.
- Engaging the medical community and appealing to providers for support.
- Mobilizing NGOs, policy experts, community leaders and key stakeholders to activate ground-level support for policies and actions.
MOST RECENT EVENT
Beyond the Barbershop: An Open Conversation About Black Men's Health
June 15, 2023 • In-Person & Virtual
5:30–8:30 p.m. ET @ 600 F St NW, DC • Livestream: 6:30-8:00 p.m.
Due to heavy tobacco industry targeting – particularly with menthol cigarettes – Black Americans suffer disproportionate health burdens related to tobacco use. Smoking-related illnesses are the number one cause of death in the Black community. And lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death among Black men. Smoking is also a major cause of heart disease and stroke, the only conditions that kill more people in the Black community than lung cancer.
In this installment of our Campaign for the Culture conversation series, we brought together a panel of healthcare professionals, policy experts and community activists for an open, intersectional discussion about the unique mental and physical health concerns of Black men – and the role that tobacco plays.
PAST EVENTS
Creating Change from the Ground Up: How Black Women Are Leading the Way to Health Equity
March 8, 2023
Native Communities vs. Big Tobacco: How an Industry Commercializes, Exploits and Misrepresents Traditional Practices for Profits
November 2, 2022
When the Smoke Clears: Intersection of Nicotine Addiction and Mental Health
August 18, 2022
A Conversation With Faith Leaders: Standing Up and Speaking Out Against Big Tobacco
June 8, 2022
Get Your Advocacy in Shape
February 8, 2022
Answering the Burning Questions: What Parents, Students and Educators Need to Know About Vaping and Tobacco Use
August 18, 2021
For Our Future: African American/Black Youth Across America Speak Out About Health Disparities in Their Communities
April 28, 2021
A Conversation on Intergenerational Tobacco Use and Its Cultural Impact on Black Communities
February 24, 2021
The Take Down
The Take Down is a series of candid interviews about tobacco use and advocacy within communities most impacted by Big Tobacco’s tactics.
In this edition of the Take Down, Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids’ Olive Gongombe interviews Diamond Miller, Senior Manager of College Activism and Organizing at Truth Initiative. Diamond plays a pivotal part in empowering college students to promote tobacco-free lifestyles. She coordinates advocacy campaigns, develops educational resources and facilitates partnerships with colleges and universities nationwide, creating a network of passionate individuals united in the fight to stand up to the tobacco industry and stay tobacco-free.
In Conversation with Diamond Miller
In Conversation with Teresa Thomas-Boyd
In Conversation with Dr. Valerie Yerger
In Conversation with Ed Sanders and Kellie Hawkins
In Conversation with Shauvon Simmons-Wright
In Conversation with Earl Fowlkes, Jr.
In Conversation with Dr. Larider Ruffin
In Conversation with Laphonza Butler
In Conversation with Dr. Patricia Nez Henderson
In Conversation with Dr. Elena Rios
In Conversation with Bryce Moore
In Conversation with Lincoln Mondy
My Family’s Relationship With Tobacco
About This Issue
For decades, the tobacco industry has targeted Black Americans, especially youth, with marketing for menthol cigarettes and other tobacco products like flavored cigars.
The tobacco industry’s predatory marketing has had a devastating impact on Black health and lives. Tobacco use is the number one cause of preventable death among Black Americans, claiming 45,000 Black lives each year. Black Americans are disproportionately impacted by tobacco use and die at higher rates than other groups from tobacco-related diseases such as cancer, heart disease and stroke. Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer deaths in the Black community.
Now there is growing evidence that smoking and other tobacco use can increase risk for Covid-19, which has so disproportionately impacted Black Americans. There has never been a more important time to stop the tobacco industry from targeting Black Americans and other groups, prevent kids from using tobacco and help more tobacco users quit.
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