I am passionate about talking to women about their breast health.

And so to those who suggest that we are somehow 'harming' young women by encouraging them to take charge of their health we say this: We are not harming young women by educating them. We are arming them with information that they will carry with them throughout their lives.

Because we spoke so loudly opponents of reproductive health access demonized and smeared me and others on the public airwaves. These smears are obvious attempts to distract from meaningful policy discussions and to silence women's voices regarding their own health care.

Women's health needs to be front and center - it often isn't but it needs to be.

The idea of making access to safe abortions harder and more expensive and more difficult having to travel across state lines - that puts women's health and lives in jeopardy which is something I think no one wants.

Women are half the population and they know how to take care of themselves if they are only given access to health care.

In the beginning when I sat next to Tom Brokaw on the 'Today' show the stories I was interested in were those having to do with women and children and learning and health. In those days 25 to 30 years ago that was called soft news and not in a nice way.

The dual scourge of hunger and malnutrition will be truly vanquished not only when granaries are full but also when people's basic health needs are met and women are given their rightful role in societies.

I think the number one thing Black women and all Black people should be paying attention to is our health.

It's long past time we started focusing on the solutions that actually keep women healthy instead of using basic aspects of women's health as a tool of cultural moral and political control.