Relatives of Henrietta Lacks visit Clover to honor her memory – YourGV.com

CLOVER Living descendants of Henrietta Lacks a Halifax County resident known as the mother of modern medicine visited Clover on Sunday on what would have been the eve of Lacks 102nd birthday.

Lacks relatives honored her memory with a wreath-laying ceremony at her gravesite, followed by a traditional church service at St. Matthew Baptist Church, the place where Lacks was baptized.

It is more than an honor and a privilege to be in this same place, this same church where my great-grandmother and great-grandfather learned to worship the Lord, Veronica Robinson said with joyful reverence.

Lacks is best known for her immortal HeLa cells cells that were able to live and self-replicate after she died of cervical cancer on Oct. 4, 1951, in Baltimore, Maryland.

Henrietta Lacks descendants Bria Baptiste, Ava Flood, Jewel Carter, Victoria Baptiste, Alfred Carter Jr., Lacks only living son Lawrence Lacks Sr. and Veronica Robinson pose for the crowd Sunday as they prepare to lay the wreath on her grave in Clover.

Dr. George Otto Gey was able to culture Lacks cells to develop the HeLa cell line which continues to be utilized in medical research to this day.

Halifax County Board of Supervisors member Bryant Claiborne contextualized Lacks legacy for those in attendance.

Jonas Salk invented the polio vaccine. But do you know whose cells he used? Claiborne queried.

Halifax County NAACP President Barbara Coleman-Brown framed Lacks legacy as a medical miracle.

Henrietta Lacks was unique, Coleman-Brown said. Her cells cannot be replicated. So, this was a gift from God. The congregation met her remarks with jubilant concurrence.

The Rev. Alfred Chandler delivers remarks at the laying of the wreath Sunday morning at the grave of Henrietta Lacks.

Coleman-Brown expressed gratitude that the Lacks family chose to celebrate their famous ancestors birthday right here in Halifax County.

For the first time, it is being celebrated in her hometown, she said.

Lacks grandson, Alfred Carter Jr., shared although he lives in Baltimore, This is home. I feel like its home.

Forced to perform without their organist, the St. Matthew Baptist Church choir sings hymns a capella, accompanied only by the rhythmic clapping of the congregation.

Carter revealed that his mother was Lacks youngest daughter in 1951 when Lacks died. His mother was only 2 years old at the time, and feeling like she missed the chance to know her famous parent she dedicated much time and effort to learning as much as she could about Lacks.

In order for you to go somewhere, you have to know where you come from, Carter said.

He humorously added, My mother used to drag me down here every summer.

Lacks legacy continues in more than one way. Representatives from the Hometown Initiative spoke about their mission to erect a statue in Lacks honor in South Boston, indicating that the group needs donations to continue their efforts.

Lacks family representative Shyrea Thompson promotes the Lacks Familys Cervical Cancer Awareness #TealTakeover initiative to end cervical cancer Sunday morning with descendants Bria Baptiste and Ava Flood.

Lacks family representative Shyrea Thompson spoke alongside descendants Bria Baptiste and Ava Flood to explain the #TealTakeover initiative of the HELA100 organization. This project will promote testing for cervical cancer among Black women with the ultimate intention to end the disease that claimed Lacks life.

In honor of Lacks and to promote the #TealTakeover initiative, her descendants who attended the Sunday event all wore the color teal.

The celebration of Lacks birthday will continue at 10 a.m. Monday with a fundraising event in support of the Hometown Initiative at Constitution Square in South Boston.

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