San Francisco CyberKnife Participates in Juneteenth Event

San Francisco CyberKnife recently participated in the S.F. Juneteenth celebration.

The event, held Saturday, June 17, was a day to celebrate freedom and equal rights in the United States.  Thousands of people throughout the San Francisco Bay Area gathered to pay respect and educate the community around the meaning of “Juneteenth.”

Juneteenth, also known as Juneteenth Independence Day or Freedom Day, is the oldest known celebration commemorating the ending of slavery in the United States.  The American holiday, which is observed primarily in local celebrations, commemorates the June 19, 1865 announcement of the abolition of slavery in the U.S. state of Texas, and more generally the emancipation of African-American slaves throughout the former Confederacy of the southern United States.  Celebrated on June 19, the word is a portmanteau of “June” and “nineteenth.”

The theme, “Our History Hidden No More,” exemplified the San Francisco Juneteenth Festival’s commitment to connecting businesses and services to minority families and to advocate fair and equal access to private and governmental resources in an effort to improve the quality of life for residents in the community.  The festival included food, arts and crafts, a parade, a classic car and motorcycle show, a short film screening by the SF black film festival, three stages of live entertainment and vintage fashion show, a health and wellness pavilion, community information booths, a kids zone featuring pony rides, petting zoo, carnival rides, and much more.

San Francisco CyberKnife had a booth at the event and provided attendees with information on prostate cancer and how it is treated with the CyberKnife® Robotic Surgery System.  Prostate cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer among black men and, according to the American Cancer Society, African-American men are twice as likely to develop prostate cancer in their early 50s and twice as likely to die of the disease.  They are also more likely to develop aggressive forms of prostate cancer and be in an advanced stage of the disease when diagnosed.

For information on the San Francisco Juneteenth celebration, please click here.  To learn more about cancer facts and figures for African-Americans, please click here.

Photo caption:  Site Administrator Kellie Frawley represented San Francisco CyberKnife at the S.F. Juneteenth celebration.