Miss Black Oklahoma a cervical cancer survivor

Oklahoma City, OK

Oklahoma has a new Miss Black Oklahoma, Ashton Joseph, and she is beating the odds in more ways than one. Not only is she the fourth consecutive Oklahoma City University student to win the state title, but she is also a survivor of a disease that will kill thousands of women this year.

In January, Joseph, 19, was diagnosed with cervical cancer and a few months later, she underwent surgery to remove it. So far, she said, it seems like the surgery was a success.

"It was a really horrible winter,” she said. But Joseph has managed to turn what would devastate most young women into an opportunity to change the lives of others.

"There is such a negative stigma attached to cervical cancer,” she said. "It's like, ‘did you deserve it? Were you promiscuous?' But that's not what cancer is. It attacks your cells.”

"I was not promiscuous,” she said.

That stigma was a hurdle not easily overcome at first. When she competed in the Miss Black OCU pageant in May, she still hadn't come to terms with her cancer. She admits that she was too ashamed to talk about it, even to her closest friends. Only her best friend and her mother knew about her cancer.

Her platform during the Miss Black OCU pageant was entitled "Increasing Exposure to the Arts,” but in her heart, Joseph knew the real message she wants to share is more important. Her real message is that cervical cancer is a disease that attacks 50 percent more black women than white women and that black women are less likely to find out about their cancer before it's too late.

Her most important message is that having cancer is nothing to be ashamed about.

So, for the state pageant, Joseph followed her heart and changed her platform to "Beating the O.D.D.S.” The acronym stands for the newly-acquired determination Joseph learned through dealing with her disease.

The "O” is for "Overcoming” life's setbacks. For Joseph a coping mechanism is her dancing.

"I could get on that dance floor and all my worries were left on that floor,” she said.

The first "D” is for "Determined Destiny.”

"I know that God has a plan for each and every one of us,” she said. "But, you can't just sit back and let life take you in just any direction.”

The second "D” is for "Dedicated Desire.”

"You take your dreams and you run with them,” she said. "You have to fail sometimes, but you have to know what your dreams are.”

The "S” is for "Securing a Standard.”

"You draw a line and you say OK, this is where outside factors are not going to affect me anymore. I control my desires, I control my dreams and I don't let anything else get in the way of who I want to be,” she said. "I won't let anyone define me but me.”

Cervical cancer rarely attacks women younger than 20 like Joseph, but the American Cancer Society estimates that in 2008 about 11,070 cases will be diagnosed, and 3,870 women will die from it.

Along with her new title, Joseph has assumed the heady responsibility of making sure that Oklahoma girls and women, especially blacks, have regular pap smears to screen for cancer.

"We're just not screened properly enough,” she said, referring to black women. "We don't pay enough attention to our health and don't go to the doctor enough.

"Women by nature are caretakers. We take care of every one else's needs before our own. Taking care of our own health should be a priority not just for African American women but for all women.”

"You take your dreams and you run with them. You have to fail sometimes, but you have to know what your dreams are.”

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