Say Her Name: Honoring Henrietta Lacks' Legacy and Impact on Medicine and Research Ethics

This anthology features poems by Listener Poets from The Good Listening Project (TGLP), inspired by one-on-one conversations with 13 women in the Cedars-Sinai community. The poems capture both the participants’ personal and professional experiences, as well as their reflections on Henrietta Lacks’ legacy. This collaboration is part of both organizations’ commitment to advancing research and health equity, offering a multi-layered narrative that underscores the ongoing importance of health justice today.

“To the Lacks family, we offer this poetry anthology as a gesture of gratitude, recognition, and continued advocacy. Henrietta’s gift to the world is immeasurable, and we hope to offer something in return: the promise that her name, her story, and her humanity will never be forgotten.”

- Cedars-Sinai Editors

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Poems in this Collection

'O ka mele

Her childhood was infused with Hawaiian-Polynesian music and dance, taught to her father by his mother. Today, this poemee is the Director of the PhD program in Biomedical and Translational Sciences. She has used HeLa cells for decades. Her life’s work is to connect the unbelievable discoveries of molecularly focused pre-clinical research directly to the patient experience of treatment.

Hidden Figures

Professionally, Lacks’ story represents for her the need to critically examine our research infrastructure generally. “We need to pay more attention to the sustainability of research,” she explained. “Private companies benefit from publicly-funded research without a requirement to give back to ensure the viability of future research.”

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