Raising Knowledge and Awareness and Building an Effective Advocacy Base

Rev. Blane Newberry, PHEN Ambassador and Associate Pastor at the Enon Tabernacle Baptist Church, presented on ways to increase prostate cancer knowledge and awareness as well as creating an advocacy base at PHEN’s 2024 Prostate Cancer Disparity Summit.

Rev. Newberry described his prostate cancer journey in 2011 and how he learned about PHEN and its advocacy work. Since then, he has partnered with PHEN to advocate for early detection screening and clinical trial research among African American men diagnosed with prostate cancer, including providing free PSA screenings for more than 1,000 men.

“We started an effort called YCL – You Can Live,” explained Rev. Newberry. “You Can Live attracted over 1,000 or more men within the body of our church and, thus, our advocacy really began. It led us to great teaching medical facilities in and around Philadelphia, such as the University of Pennsylvania, Jefferson High School, Albert Einstein, and other entities.”

“The five elements of advocacy are compassion, commitment, integrity, trustworthiness, and honesty,” stated Rev. Newberry. These five elements are essential for building a strong advocacy group, he disclosed.