Tia Mowry is on a mission to change the health narrative among Black families one recipe at a time.

As a woman who wears many hats, Mowry is best known for her work as an actress, producer, entrepreneur and more over the past few decades. Mowry also has a passion for food, using her love for cooking to prepare delicious meals for herself and her loved ones.

Mowry is hosting a new series, Rewrite the Recipe, designed to spark conversations about cancer around the dinner table in Black households across the nation.

“Our families tend to skip this conversation,” Mowry told Blavity in an interview. “The reason why I wanted to be a part of such an incredible campaign is because I, myself, have been, of course, affected by cancer in some kind of way. I’ve lost two uncles, my grandmother, to cancer, and then, most recently, about a year and a half ago, my auntie, to cancer. They were all relatively young.”

She added, “I’ve always been the type of person to be curious and ask ‘Why?’ And so in my mid-20s, even up to now, I have been diving in, I’m talking about digging deeper, into my family genetics, into my family history, because all of the passings happened on my mother’s side, so it’s maternal. So I say all that to say, I have now been informed, and I now feel empowered, because I now understand my potential risks, and I understand how there is a gap, and when it comes to odds, it’s not necessarily the same in Black communities. So this is very personal to me.”

“When we’re talking about cancer, the odds aren’t the same when it comes to Black communities, in the sense that we tend to get diagnosed with cancer in the later stages, and that is with any type of cancer, which can, in fact, affect, or impact, a patient’s outcome,” said Mowry.

The importance of knowing your family history

With family history being a key factor that can influence a person’s risk of a cancer diagnosis, Mowry understands the importance of having the proper support and resources, through advocacy and access to screenings, to take the appropriate precautions that can save someone’s life. This is why she’s partnering with Pfizer and the American Cancer Society to spread awareness through a series that not only hands down recipes, but family knowledge, too.

“This series is all about us gathering around the dinner table, passing down this information, passing down recipes, but passing down this information and talking about difficult, hard, but honest conversations. One might say, ‘Well, that’s kind of like a little bit of a downer.’ You know, ‘Everybody’s together, and we’re talking about cancer,’ but I think that’s the stigma. I’m not dismissing that these conversations are not difficult or hard, but it doesn’t stay there; meaning, yes, these are heavy conversations. Still, at the end of the day, the warmth, the connection, the love, the support that we all had with one another was mind-blowing. And if I can encourage that for others to do, then I feel like it is one way we can close the gap and change the odds. When it comes to how cancer is impacting our Black communities, it’s just starting the conversation.”

Being one-half of famous acting twins

Since they first hit the scene in the 90s, the world has felt a sense of entitlement to Mowry’s sisterhood journey with her identical twin, Tamera Mowry-Housley.

Despite the narratives society or the internet tries to come up with, the actress opened up about the understanding she has that people’s commitment to their lives is part of the process.

“It’s a part of the journey. It’s something that is expected,” said Mowry. “You are talking to someone who has been in the industry ever since she was 12 years old. It’s something that I have just gotten accustomed to. It’s what I’m used to. So at the end of the day, I just continue to live my life from an authentic perspective, and to move with honesty, with love, and with kindness. The more I am an example, I feel like that is how people learn, right? You learn through observation.”

“So as long as I’m moving with love, kindness, authenticity, truth, then again, I am hoping that others will do the same. I’m not the type of person that’s like, ‘You need to stay out of my business or whatever.’ You know what I mean? I understand and I empathize with that, which is what comes with the territory, and it is my job to block out any type of noise that is not empowering, that is not kind, or that is not positive or uplifting.”

She also noted that sometimes she and Tamera forget how much they mean to others.

“What is so funny is we tend to forget, because, my brother, Tahj, he is so amazing, I was literally talking to him yesterday, because he’s hosting Thanksgiving this year, but my sister and I, we were in New York, and my brother, he would say, ‘It is so annoying being around you guys because it’s like, double dutch,’ You know, when you’re trying to jump in the rope, you’re like, ‘Uh, should I go? Oh no, wait. Let me wait,” Mowry explained. “He said that is how it is when he’s around Tamera and me because we’re so in tune with one another. It’s like when we’re together, we don’t see anybody else. It’s the weirdest thing. That’s how it was when we were in New York, and we were just walking the streets. We couldn’t walk five minutes without someone asking a question, coming up to us, and stopping us, asking for a photo. We literally had to get into a cab just to go five minutes down the road to get into a store because they were so happy to see us together, because we hadn’t done anything together when it came to our profession.”

“It was so much fun being in New York and working with each other. We had a good time, but I’m going to see her; we always see each other,” said Mowry. “I mean, we don’t see each other as much as we used to, and as much as I’d like, because we now have families and she doesn’t live in LA anymore, but she is coming down for Thanksgiving. The whole family is, and we’re just going to hang out and love on one another. I’m excited.”

Her commitment to advocacy

For Mowry, the more knowledge she has, the more she can be a good mother to her children, a great family member to her loved ones, and so forth. As a person who takes community very seriously, the Twitches actress has a deep understanding of how she is to show up in the world.

“I truly believe that being famous without purpose is very dangerous, and so I know that I am where I am, and I have a calling on my life for a reason, and that is to inspire, that is to encourage, that is to help build better communities, and how that starts is with you and yourself,” she concluded. “So learning more about my health, learning more about, I’m just not talking about physical health, I’m talking about mental health, learning more about just who I am as a person.”

Mowry added, “The more that I can learn about myself, the better I can be for others. So again, I believe that people also learn through observation. It starts with you. So if I can be an advocate for myself, then I am encouraging my children to be advocates for themselves. I’m encouraging other people to be advocates for themselves. But I think I’m also really passionate about the next generation. So I’m all about not just thinking about myself. I am thinking about my children. I’m thinking about their children. And the list goes on and on. And I think I think this way because I am so grateful for my ancestors. I’m constantly thinking about them. I know this may sound simple, but even if I’m at the gym, girl, and I’m like, ‘Oh my gosh, I can’t go this extra mile.’ I think about my grandmother, yes, I think about my great-grandmother. I think about what they’ve done and how their spirit is in me, and how my great-grandmother was so strong and courageous to leave her world, move to the States at such a young age, and start a whole new life. I think about my grandmother, how she pushed through being diagnosed with cancer, how she lived such an impactful life. I think about those things, so I say that all to say I’m not just thinking about myself.

The post Tia Mowry Says ‘Being Famous Without Purpose Is Very Dangerous’ In Discussing New Cancer Awareness Series appeared first on Blavity.



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