“I had a dream, and in my dream, I knew I had breast cancer,” Onyx Keesha revealed to me during our interview. The screenwriter admitted that she has always been scared of getting breast cancer and questioned if her fears gave way to her diagnosis. “I’m like, ‘did I manifest this for my life? Or did I have the sight to know that this was going to be part of my journey?’” Fast forward a few years before that particular dream, Onyx felt some lumps in her breast around the age of 32, so she advocated for a mammogram screening. The doctors found nothing but told her to keep up with her mammograms. Onyx didn’t, and her breast cancer premonition would soon be a reality.

The Prophetic Diagnosis

The theater/television/film industry is a whirlwind of grinding, fast living, little sleep, and big rewards. After receiving a negative mammogram screening, Onyx took the industry by storm. The New Jersey native began working on grand television/theater projects, mixing and mingling with the industry’s greats and flying by the seat of her pants. She rarely sat down to rest. Her focus was on her career’s trajectory, and everything else fell by the wayside.

Now, I am living my dream, and it’s because I put myself first.

While living a fast life, Onyx neglected her suggested follow-up mammogram screenings for several years. She was encouraged to get her screenings through a dream but ignored the nudge. Onyx was too late when she finally took heed to the spiritual signs she was receiving through her dreams. She woke up after a dream about her having cancer to find a small pebble had formed in her breast after conducting a self-examination. “Now, this was very different than what I felt those years before. I was terrified, and I had just turned 40,” the entrepreneur confessed. “I flew back home; my doctor examined me, Onyx recalled. “The results came back, and I received the news that it was breast cancer on New Year’s Day.”

Onyx Keesha’s Turns Breast Cancer Battle into Triumph

Onyx’s breast cancer diagnosis put a lot of things in perspective for the producer. She is a mother of two, and telling her children about her diagnosis was one of the most challenging things she’s had to do. Therefore, she wrote a children’s book called “Pink Lemonade” about a mom who has to talk to her daughter about breast cancer. “I have a son and a daughter. It was hard to tell my son because he’s just very protective. Telling my daughter was also hard because we’re a reflection of each other,” she expressed.

After writing her children’s book, Onyx wrote another book about her journey titled, “Facing it Together.” This literature gives breast cancer survivors, their friends, and family strategies to conquer the feat together. “The book was born out of my wanting to give tools to the support system. Because, you know, it’s just as scary for your husband, your wife, your son, your daughter, and your best friend,” explained Onyx. “It’s very hard for the diagnosed person to express even what the doctor told them. Then, the people who support them feel hopeless and helpless. So that’s how the book started.”

Black women are 40% more likely to die from breast cancer than white women, according to research. A lot of Black women either don’t have access to the proper healthcare to get regular screenings, have a mistrust in the healthcare system for obvious reasons, or rely on their convictions to carry them through the disease. Former MTV VJ recently revealed that she has stage 4 breast cancer after deciding to work the cancer out of her body “a different way” following her 2019 diagnosis. While Onyx agrees that everyone should have autonomy over their bodies, she hopes that women will begin making more informed healthcare decisions. “There’s so much misinformation out there, and the wrong information can influence your decisions. Black women, we have to be the ones to advocate, educate, and dispel those myths so we can save other black women,” Onyx preached.

Life After Surviving Breast Cancer

Since surviving breast cancer, Onyx Keesha has made it her mission to advocate and educate Black women about the disease. The author has created a variety of media about breast cancer and stresses the importance of being proactive regarding our health on all of her platforms. Onyx wants Black women to know that breast cancer doesn’t discriminate. She doesn’t have a history of breast cancer in her family, but she was still diagnosed with the disease.

Stress is a conduit for several diseases and health issues Black women face. Studies have shown that fibroids in Black women have been linked to elevated stress levels. American Heart Association has gathered data showing that 50% of Black women have “some form of cardiovascular disease.” Onyx Keesha is aware of the “superwoman schema” that plagues Black women and affects our mental and physical well-being. Before her cancer diagnosis, she, too, was a victim of giving her all to everything and everyone except herself. Now, as a breast cancer survivor, her self-care regimen has been turned up several notches (she was fresh off a workout with her personal trainer when we conducted our interview). She now defines success on her own terms and faithfully pours into herself.

“The crazy thing is when you take care of self and prioritize what success looks like for you, you will ultimately be successful,” the creative emphasized. “Because before cancer, you couldn’t tell me I wasn’t on the road to my destiny. I was in spaces I’d never thought I’d be in, and I thought that was the picture of my success. But it’s nothing compared to now. Now, I am living my dream, and it’s because I put myself first.”

To follow Onyx Keesha’s journey, click here.

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