In honor of National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, the Latin American and Caribbean Area studies department and the Art Museum at Binghamton University are showing “Territories of the Breasts,” a documentary that focuses on minority women’s personal accounts and experiences with breast cancer.
The documentary will be shown in the Fine Arts Building, Room 213 from 7 to 9 p.m. on Wednesday, with a special presentation in Spanish on Thursday from 11 to 11:50 a.m. in the Engineering Building, Room 200.
The screening will be co-sponsored by the Women’s Studies Program, the department of comparative literature, the Latin American Student Union; the English Department; Hermandad de Sigma Iota Alpha, Inc.; the Philosophy, Interpretation and Culture program and the Harpur College Dean’s Office.
“The museum wanted to do something for breast cancer month,” Jackie Hogan, assistant director for the Art Museum at BU, said.
Juanita Diaz-Cotto, director of the LACAS department, invited the co-director and star of the documentary, artist Sonia Baez-Hernandez, to lecture the audience about the hardships of breast cancer after the screening.
“I first met Sonia a couple of years ago,” Diaz-Cotto said. “I was immediately struck by her fortitude and humility. For her, having breast cancer … has made her even more determined to educate others about the plight of women with breast cancer and the difficulties they and their loved ones encounter.”
Baez-Hernandez was born in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, and received a master’s of fine arts in painting and drawing from the Art Institute of Chicago. Her art is exhibited in institutions across America, and is also displayed internationally in Europe and Latin America.
In 2001, Baez-Hernandez was diagnosed with breast cancer. During her treatment she experienced an injustice, which caused her to create this documentary in the hope of bringing awareness to the inequality that exists in the health care industry.
“Poor white and women of color frequently do not have access to early screening, which results in the cancer being discovered at later stages,” Baez-Hernandez said. “This leads to a high mortality rate among such women.”
According to Diaz-Cotto, the documentary addresses every subject faced by those diagnosed with breast cancer, from inadequate health services to the social sexism that identifies a woman by her body alone.
In the documentary, Baez-Hernandez addresses the idea that when a woman is faced with the prospective surgery of a mastectomy — the full removal of her breasts — she loses a part of her identity in the process.
“The documentary stands out because it is one of the few out there which documents the experiences of poor black and Latina breast cancer survivors,” Diaz-Cotto said.
The documentary and its cause have won many awards and nominations since its creation in 2006, including a screening at the Women’s International Film Festival in Miami, Fla. and the winner of Reel Sisters Spirit Award at the Diaspora Film Festival and Lecture Series in Atlanta, Ga.