Her Leadership Helped Black Women Address A Community Taboo

She’d only been in office a few days, and her enemies – racists who’d hated that she was running for office – were likely happy when they heard the devastating news. 

Suddenly, Daisy Riley Lloyd was fighting for her life AND her career.

Previously a stay-at-home mom, she’d thwarted “good old boy” politics on the campaign trail and her people loved her for it. 

So when her breast cancer diagnosis became public, she debated relinquishing her hard-earned position as a Black woman elected to Indiana’s State Legislature in a dangerous KKK-controlled country.

But she realized she had a rare platform to confront the stigma and reality of a disease that was killing Black women at a disproportionately higher rate. 

So before her surgery, she made a major boss move.

She televised her condition from her hospital bed! Instead of hiding, or quitting, she created a safe space for Black women and their loved ones to openly discuss a deadly taboo. 

Reporters crowded around her hospital bed as she made her statements. No one would stop her from speaking the truth and breaking down the stigma. And guess what she did after?

She got back to work!

We must always confront taboos and refuse to cower to stigma or the finger-wagging of naysayers. Our bravery can ultimately lead to saving of Black lives.