Dee Manuel Cloud didn’t set out to become a breast cancer advocate. What she set out to do, at first, was survive.
Cloud was diagnosed with Stage II Ductal Carcinoma in 2005 at age 35. After enduring a lumpectomy and chemotherapy, the cancer returned at age 38 in 2008. She had a unilateral mastectomy with reconstruction.
The second time, Cloud sat in a doctor’s office wearing what she still remembers as a “godawful hospital gown” when her physician delivered the words no patient wants to hear.
‘The cancer was back, and it was because of stress.’ She had already endured chemotherapy and surgery following an earlier diagnosis. This time, she was not shocked, but she was exhausted.
“Black women are taught to work twice as hard just to get half as far,” Cloud said. “So we overperform in everything that we do. Stress was literally destroying me from the inside out.”
Her journey
At the time, Cloud was a working mother of two, married and outwardly successful, a woman who “looked like she had her sh*t together.” But behind the scenes, she was carrying relentless stress she had not yet learned to name.
She developed a unique perspective on her diagnosis, which would go on to reshape every part of her life.
“Breast cancer literally changed my life, it saved my life. Some gifts come wrapped in sandpaper. It took the threat of me almost losing my life for me to finally choose my life.”
Dee Manuel Cloud
“Breast cancer literally changed my life, it saved my life,” she said. “Some gifts come wrapped in sandpaper. It took the threat of me almost losing my life for me to finally choose my life. I finally got the courage to leave the marriage that I was unhappy in, leave the great-paying job that was stressing me out, come out and acknowledge my sexuality, and acknowledge to my friends and family that I was in love with a woman who has now been my wife of 13 years.”
A prophetic decision
Today, Cloud is the president of the Greater Houston Chapter of Sisters Network Inc., the nation’s first and largest Black breast cancer survivor organization. It focuses on advocacy and support for Black women, a population that is less likely to be diagnosed with breast cancer but nearly 41% more likely to die from it.
Cloud’s path to the organization felt almost prophetic.
She had long known of the organization’s national presence in Houston and once confided to her wife that she hoped, one day, to share her story on its stage.
A year later, she was invited onto a panel discussing mental health and breast cancer.
Soon after, she met Sisters Network founder Karen Eubank Jackson and Caleen Allen, executive vice president. What began as conversations over lunch evolved into an unexpected offer: lead the rebirth of the Houston chapter.
“I love spreading awareness about clinical trials,” she said. “The Black community, we don’t typically trust the medical industry. But to my beautiful black queens out there, we need you to participate in clinical trials because when we trial, we can get treatments designed with us in mind.”
Advocacy
Cloud’s advocacy is grounded in equity. She speaks candidly about the disparities Black women face in breast cancer treatment, from delayed diagnoses to therapies not designed with their bodies in mind.
Early detection remains central to her message.
Diagnosed for the first time at 35, she discovered her lump herself. It was a reminder that standard screening guidelines don’t always serve Black women, who are more likely to be diagnosed younger.
That philosophy extends beyond medical appointments. Cloud founded a group coaching program called Gracefully Protecting Self (GPS), designed to help Black women prioritize peace as a matter of health. She draws a direct line between chronic stress and conditions where Black women lead the nation, comprising breast cancer deaths, maternal mortality, heart disease, and hypertension.
“We’re leading in all the things. Black women are the most educated group in the country,” she said. “We are on the front lines when it comes to change, politics, medicine. We’re also leading in breast cancer deaths, and the one thing those illnesses have in common is stress.”
How can Black women be helped?
At community forums, health fairs, and Sister Network workshops, Cloud encourages intergenerational accountability.
She urges daughters and nieces to advocate for their mothers and grandmothers, accompany them to appointments, and, when necessary, ask questions doctors do not always volunteer.
“You do not go through breast cancer and come out the same,” she said. “The ladies who come out and they’re not transformed, are angry and bitter about having had the illness.”
Faith and responsibility
Her faith today is less about doctrine and more about purpose.
Survival, Cloud believes, carries responsibility.
“Community leaders, local hospitals can serve Black women in the breast cancer community better by meeting us where we are,” she advised. “Go into those low-income neighborhoods, those areas where they don’t have access to screening. Let’s go into the colleges and educate our younger generation about self-exams, what to look for, and reducing stress.”
Cloud is busy doing what she preaches. She is out there amplifying Black women’s voices and turning her survival into a collective call to action.
“The more noise we can make, the louder our voices, the more we come together to advocate for research, healthcare equity, more screening, more resources, especially in underserved communities,” she said. “The louder the noise we can make, the more you cannot be ignored.”
