For years, Dr. Ed. Partridge, the former director of the O’Neal Comprehensive Cancer Center at UAB, worked not just against cancer itself, but against the disparities in cancer treatment.
Now the Black Belt Community Foundation is honoring him as the Black Belt Legacy Award recipient for 2019.
The award will be presented during the Black Belt Legacy Dinner and fundraiser, Oct. 3 at 6 p.m. at the Harbert Center, according to a statement from the foundation.
Partridge led the move to launch outreach programs in the Black Belt that trained non-medical community members to promote cancer screening and to connect low-income patients to care. Under his leadership, the cancer center supported a network of hospitals and thousands of community health outreach workers to close the gap in mammogram screenings between African Americans and whites.
He also took on the challenge to improve African American participation rates in clinical trials and partnered with historically black institutions, including Tuskegee University and Morehouse School of Medicine, to bolster cancer research.
“Creating trust, eliminating bias where you can and sharing power with those that are less fortunate are sort of the underlying themes,” of his work, Partridge said in the statement.
He is a former president of the National Board of the American Cancer Society and in 2013 received the society’s national Humanitarian Award.
“BBCF is so proud to be able to honor one of Alabama’s and the nation’s leaders in the fight against cancer, particularly because his work has greatly impacted and transformed health care for the poor, rural and predominantly African American communities of the Alabama Black Belt,” Felecia Lucky, president of the foundation said in the statement.
UAB President Ray L. Watts is serving as the chairperson for this year’s Legacy Dinner, in which Partridge will be honored. Birmingham news anchor Sherri Jackson of CBS42 will emcee the event.
The dinner recognizes leaders who have provided leadership and support for building a better and stronger Black Belt region. Previous honorees include Judge John H. England Jr.; George McMillan, former Alabama lieutenant governor; former state Sen. Hank Sanders; Julian H. Smith Jr., retired vice president of Alabama Power; Dr. Carol Prejean Zippert, Black Belt community organizer and author; and, most recently, Johnny Johns, retired CEO of Protective Life insurance.
Money raised through the event has helped support community-based nonprofits working to increase graduation rates, improve reading levels and use the arts to teach math, just to name a few projects.
Tickets to the dinner start at $125 and are available at Eventbrite by searching for Black Belt Legacy Dinner.
