Greater Joy Baptist Church

06/08/2026

06/03/2026

AMEN ❤️ 🙏

06/03/2026

In 1951, Henrietta Lacks went to Johns Hopkins Hospital for treatment after being diagnosed with cervical cancer.

She was a young Black mother of five, fighting for her life. But without her full knowledge or consent, doctors took a sample of her cancer cells for research.

What scientists discovered stunned them.

Henrietta’s cells did not die in the laboratory.

Most human cells survived only briefly outside the body, but hers kept growing and multiplying. They became the first widely used “immortal” human cell line, known as HeLa — taken from the first two letters of her first and last name.

After Henrietta died, her cells spread through laboratories around the world.

HeLa cells helped scientists study cancer, viruses, genetics, radiation, and human biology. They played a major role in medical breakthroughs including the polio vaccine, cloning research, in vitro fertilization, and even experiments connected to space travel.

But for decades, Henrietta Lacks herself was barely known.

Her cells became famous.

Her name did not.

Her family did not fully understand what had happened for many years, even as HeLa cells became one of the most important tools in modern medicine.

That changed when journalist Rebecca Skloot brought her story to global attention through The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks.

Today, Henrietta Lacks is remembered not only for what her cells gave science, but for the ethical questions her story forced the world to face.

Consent.
Race.
Medical power.
Human dignity.
And the people behind scientific progress.

Henrietta Lacks did not choose to become part of history.

But history cannot be told without her.

06/03/2026

Praise the Lord everybody! Good morning to all our families and friends