Henrietta Lacks: The Untold Story - Ron Lacks, Author

8156 Main Street,Ellicott City MD 21043

25 June, 2022

Description

You may think you know the story of Henrietta Lacks, but there is more to the story. In the memoir book, her grandson, Ron Lacks, recounts how greed, racism and white savior complex, divided and nearly destroyed the family. Henrietta Lacks was an African American woman who became legendary after her cells were taken without the knowledge or permission of herself or her family in 1951. Her cells, known as HeLa cells, were the first to be discovered to live and grow outside of the body. Over the past several decades, the HeLa cell-line has contributed to many medical breakthroughs and research to include the development of Polio and COVID-19 vaccines; the study of leukemia; the AIDS virus; and cancer studies worldwide. HeLa cells have even been used in studies on the effects of zero gravity in outer space. The sale of HeLa Cells is a multi-billion-dollar business. While there have been many books, movies and countless articles and studies done on Henrietta Lacks and her cells, the family of Henrietta Lacks has been excluded from profits generated from the sale of her genetic property. In October 2021, Ron Lacks, the oldest grandson to Henrietta Lacks, and author of the book Henrietta Lacks: The Untold Story, became the sole executor of the Henrietta Lacks Estate. In his memoir book, he tells the story of how white savior complex, racism, and betrayal exploited and divided his family and led to inaccurate portrayals of Lacks family members, including Henrietta Lacks. Upon releasing his book, Ron Lacks engaged the law firms of famed civil rights attorney Benjamin Crump and Seeger Weiss, LLP, both recognized as one of the nation’s preeminent law firms handling complex individual, mass and class action litigation. A lawsuit was filed against Thermo Fisher Scientific, a company with annual revenues estimated at $35 billion per year and is the leading supplier of HeLa cell sales. What: Reading and Book Signing Featuring Ron Lacks, Author of Henrietta Lacks: The Untold Story When: June 25, 2022 6:00pm Where: Thomas at the Times, 8156 Main Street, Ellicott City, MD 20144 (410) 988-5053. *This event will be filmed. Attendance gives permission for use of your image.