HBO:The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks

This film is the true story of one woman’s cells being used for tremendous medical advancements and staggering profits, but without her knowledge – a fascinating story of bio-ethics, race, and class. Our team created The HeLa Project (for HeLa cells) to promote the film, and to support HBO Multicultural Marketing’s mission to tell crucial stories and connect with communities. For our initiative, an exhibition designed to celebrate the woman behind the cells, we assembled an unprecedented collective of African American talent to create works honoring Lacks including the Lewis Long Gallery, Derrick Adams, Zoë Buckman, Madeleine Hunt Ehrlich, Tomashi Jackson, and Samuel Levi Jones, among others. The HeLa Project also included a recording of Motherless Children by Jazmine Sullivan, and an original poem by Saul Williams, Mother of Resurrection. At the center of the exhibition was Mother of Medicine, a portrait of Lacks by the artist, Kadir Nelson. It was our honor to host The HeLa Project at the Reginald F. Lewis Museum of African American History & Culture, Baltimore; Center for Civil & Human Rights, Atlanta; and the National Museum of African American History & Culture, Washington DC. We held screenings and panels at HBCUs including Spelman College and Morehouse School of Medicine in Atlanta, and Howard University in Washington DC. Our efforts resulted in The HeLa Project winning a Mosaic Media Image Award by the American Advertising Federation for Diversity Achievement.