the olive branch of hope: empowering black women through their breast cancer journey
5 minute read
the olive branch of hope hosts community workshops to educate and empower black women to access care for breast cancer. the organization has been awarded funds through the novartis health equity initiative.
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for patricia russell, hearing her doctor tell her she was going to get through breast cancer made all the difference.
“even though i had the worst kind of breast cancer, i also had the words of my doctor saying i was going to come out of this,” she says, taking his words to heart and repeating them aloud.
“what is powerful is when you’re speaking belief and your clinician is speaking belief and you’re working together. clinicians have more power than they think. it’s not just in their tools, but what they say.”
words have power to help heal
words of joy, resilience and hope have shaped patricia’s life in so many ways. she’s a gospel singer whose family came from england to ontario, where she married and had children. most importantly, she found her purpose after her diagnosis of triple-negative breast cancer in 2003. she joined the olive branch of hope (toboh), an organization dedicated to empowering black individuals throughout their cancer journey, and a recipient of novartis canada’s health equity initiative award for 2025.
“breast cancer advocacy is very important to me because of what i’ve been through, because of my mother,” she says. her mom was diagnosed with breast cancer a year earlier. “i have a daughter. i have nieces. i have a lot of women in my life, so it’s part of my life mission to support them, to pass on knowledge.” her messages surrounding breast cancer are shared with women everywhere through her becoming resilient podcast, her music and writing: “resilience is a muscle that you exercise, and it gets stretched through every challenge we face.”
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how did it all start?
one morning, she got dressed and found something that she hadn’t noticed last week or the day before—a lump in her breast.
“i kind of bypassed it. my husband said, ‘no, you better check this thing out.’ and lo and behold, i was diagnosed at the age of 38 with breast cancer,” says patricia, 60, who lives in alliston, ontario (a peaceful rural community where she can wave at the cows).
back then, nobody was really talking about breast cancer, she says, which was especially true among her caribbean african community. “what happens at home stays at home. so, we kept it very quiet. i told my siblings, and we navigated through that.”
although she has a close relationship with her mom, she couldn’t tell her about the diagnosis because her mom was halfway through her own breast cancer treatment. “i needed her to win. i needed her to come through,” she says, with emotion rising in her voice. and then a wide smile: “i’m so glad that i followed my gut and i told my siblings, don’t say anything to her because when we told her, she fell in our arms and she wept. and i just looked at her, and i said, ‘mom, guess what? i’m coming through. you’ve come through. i’m coming through.’”
again, patricia knows that words are powerful. she uses them to convey her strength and conviction.
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decide ‘how do you want to play this game?’
when she saw her oncologist, he told her that she had “the bad kind” of breast cancer that required “the strongest stuff.’ treatment followed with chemotherapy, radiation and surgery. but what kept her spirits and determination high was the mantra that she was going to come out winning. it’s something that she passes willingly onto others.
“this is what i tell anybody being diagnosed: with anything, your diagnosis doesn’t determine your prognosis. you have to decide right up front. how do you want to play this game? do you want to fight or do you want to lay down and go to sleep? and i had too much to live for. i said, ‘we’re going to fight.’”
she still sees that same oncologist for monitoring and, just like her mom, she went through breast cancer a second time after a diagnosis in 2016. her mom had one breast removed in the first diagnosis and then the other breast in the second diagnosis, while patricia had a lumpectomy in the first treatment and then a mastectomy in the second treatment.
“breast cancer is not a death sentence. but what i can tell you today in january 2026, we are both alive. my mother is 92 years old and you would have to compete with her to make a better banana bread,” she laughs.
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novartis canada supports olive branch of hope
today, patricia radiates positivity, maybe from her unwavering (and gorgeous) voice to overcome all that she’s faced, and the mission she’s on to inform and support black women with breast cancer.
“we’re supporting women of african caribbean descent that need culturally responsive health, education and patient support programs,” she says of toboh, where she’s now the lead ambassador of the organization as it celebrates 25 years of service. “we address real gaps and awareness in education and engagement, and help people through care navigation.”
she emphasizes that too often black women aren’t reflected in mainstream materials. they need a safe space to share their experiences, build support networks and learn healing and coping strategies during and after a cancer diagnosis. this is what toboh offers, along with free mammograms in community-centred environments as well as workshops to empower women to advocate for equitable access to prevention, screening and care.
through the novartis health equity initiative, toboh can scale its reach. “we need the resources to break the barriers and to create lasting changes. so (the funding) is going to help us build organization and community capacity,” she notes, adding that it will also help engage community organizations, healthcare professionals and supportive care providers across the breast cancer continuum to help improve referral pathways and continuity of care.
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more aggressive breast cancer in younger black women
the hurdles have a very significant impact, as triple-negative breast cancer and inflammatory breast cancer are increasing among younger black women. as the breast cancer research foundation notes, “though young women have a higher incidence of aggressive cancers, young black women have double the mortality rate of young white women. advances in early detection and treatment have dramatically reduced breast cancer deaths overall, but it’s clear that these breakthroughs haven’t benefitted all groups equally—and this disparity has remained unchanged for more than a decade.”
as well, patricia says there are many unknowns and misconceptions among black women and healthcare providers that toboh is helping to break down. for example, the notion that everyone responds to the same treatment is widespread.
“the misconception is that one-size-fits-all. it doesn’t. and we continue to research this.” inflamed skin following radiation treatment, for instance, looks differently for women with darker skin tones. there are biological differences that contribute to cancer development and treatment responses, flagging the need for more tailored education and care for this population.
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in the midst of the challenges, patricia is confident about moving toward better health equity and helping people find support through toboh. “i would just say to any woman who is navigating this process that if you surround yourself with people that are speaking life, you’re going to be on a better trajectory. everybody has their ups and downs, but you can win.”
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