Justin Davis

Mr. Clarke
University seminar
3/9/14
The Lacks Family
On March 6
th
I attended the conference held in the EH theater. The conference was with
the family of Henrietta Lacks. There were two members of her family, her daughter in law and
also her granddaughter. They spoke on Henriettas life and the after effect of her cells being
used. The members of the Lacks family showed pictures of the entire family and also other
pictures of Henrietta. They even showed pictures of the family out with the author of the book.
However, after the slide show the members began telling the stories about the different family
members and how they were affected by the situation. My favorite story was when the family
actually went to John Hopkins hospital and seen the henna cells for the first time. When she
described how beautiful the cells looked under telescope you could hear the emotion in her
voices. After a few more stories about the family they began telling us about the different
foundations that they have started. They even told about the scholarship fund that is in
progress. The way I see it the Lacks family took something that was tragic and hurt family and
looked at the positive outcomes. Since Henrietta passed her family has raised nurses and
doctors that find the profession of medicines interesting. The Lacks family is the prime example
turning something negative and making it positive. At first the family seen as if they could never
trust doctors or anyone else for that matter but looked at the positive outcomes the cells made.