While reading, I came across this passage where the author said, “Her cells caused millions of dollars in damage. It seems like a bit of poetic justice, doesn’t it?” I thought there was a good tone coming towards the end of the book. It's nice to go through the book and see some sort of "poetic justice" as Here Lengauer refers it to, for all the bad things that were done to the Lacks family. 

This honestly reminded me of the Watergate scandal. The reason is it showed that Richard Nixon tried to get ahead and cheat in the next election, but was eventually uncovered and removed from office. Just like George Gey and all the companies that own the HeLa cells who took them without permission from Henrietta Lacks, they caused millions of dollars in damage and some sort of justice. Just like the American people received justice against Richard Nixon for attempting to spy on his political rivals.

While reading through to book, I came across this passage where the author said, “Gey was relieved that companies had taken over HeLa distribution so that he didn’t have to do it himself, but he didn’t like the fact that HeLa was now completely out of his control.” This passage made me disappointed in George Gey, maybe even a little sick. His annoyance that others were also in control of the HeLa cells shows his possessive nature towards the Henrietta Lack's cells. Considering them his own, not Henrietta Lack's, or her family's, but his. This is sad because, in my last post, I talked about how selfless and generous Henrietta Lacks was, but then she was forced into this selfish and possessive doctor's care.

While reading through the book, I stumbled across a passage on page 107 where they said, “I’ll never forget it,” Aurelian said. “George told me he leaned over Henrietta’s bed and said, ‘Your cells will make you immortal.’ He told Henrietta her cells would help save the lives of countless people, and she smiled. She told him she was glad her pain would come to some good for someone.” I found this passage to be significant for multiple reasons. Firstly, this passage showed that Henrietta Lacks was told about the importance of her cells and how they would reshape and play a big role in reshaping civilization. Lastly, it shows how unselfish and generous Henrietta Lacks is.

When I thought about this passage, I thought about the scene where Iron man kills Thanos in, "Avengers Endgame". I thought of this part because of the selflessness Tony Stark, Iron man, in the movie showed. I remember when I first started watching Marvel films in 2011 when "Captain America '' came out. Going back to, "Iron Man '', in 2008, it has been 11 years of Marvel films and waiting for this movie to come out. All the build-up to this scene. There was Total silence in the theater. Then it all happened so quickly. When he killed Thanos everyone started clapping in the theater, that's how happy everyone was. But, after the scene was done, while Tony Stark was on the ground, sitting up with everyone after and slowly dying. He talked to his wife and his companions, saying how much he loved them and how he was glad he did some good in the world. This reminded me of Henrietta Lacks because when the Gey told her about how she could be potentially immortal, she didn't look at her cells that way, but how it could help millions of others in the future.

While reading through the book, I found this quote from Lawrence Lack in chapter 21, "If our mother is so important to science, why can't we get health insurance?" I thought this was an impacting point made by Lawrence Lack. Many biotech firms that use and sell HeLa cells make millions of dollars, but the family that provided them isn't given any benefits for their contribution to science. As Bobbette Lacks points out in the same chapter, "She didn't donate nothing. They took them and didn't ask." I honestly feel very sorry for the Lacks family. Henrietta Lacks was in a terrible situation during a terrible time in our country's history and she was exploited for her cells, but even worse, her family continues to suffer as a byproduct of this whole situation. 

When I thought of this whole situation it reminded me of Georgetown's decision to give reparations to families who have descended from slaves. This idea sparked much conversation about the topic of reparations for slavery. This is now carrying out and affecting presidential candidates in the upcoming 2020 elections, and forcing candidates to bring up some sort of plan or solution to this issue. I found this to be a really interesting issue, and in my opinion, I feel that we should give some sort of reparation to slave descendant's families and or a family like Henrietta Lack's, that were taken advantage of during racist and cruel times in our country's history.

 In chapter 1, the author talked about the Johns Hopkins Hospital. While referring to Henrietta Lacks, the author said, "She, like most black patients, only went to Hopkins when she thought she had no choice." She said this because, in the Jim Crow laws mandate, there was still segregation in public places, meaning she had to go to the "colored" section of the hospital. In this section of the hospital, patients were receiving substandard treatment. This makes me very mad because there is still inequality going on in medical facilities. Especially in nursing homes, I hear about a lot of incidents regarding elderly abuse. Even though I'm grateful that we live in a time where I and my family have access to quality medical care, there is still inequality regarding race and gender in the world. I can't even imagine what Henrietta Lacks and all non-white patients who went to John Hopkins Hospital felt like. To potentially put their life in these doctor's hands and were given in return substandard treatment and care. 

When I read this section, I thought of the movie "42". This movie is a portrayal of Jackie Robinson becoming the first African-American to play in Major League Baseball. This passage and the movie "42" have a thematic connection. In the movie, there was a scene where Jackie Robinson came up to bat and the other team's coach was blatantly calling him racist names and trying to anger him. He eventually went on to hit a single, then steal to third, and eventually scored for his team while ignoring the other coach. This reminded me of the passage because of the bravery both of them showed. With Henrietta Lacks, she went to a known racist hospital for care because she knew her life depended on it, even though other African-Americans didn't go for that reason and were scared. Now because of her bravery, we have a better understanding of the prejudice and racism that was shown to African-Americans in these types of hospitals, and how we can avoid them today. Just like Henrietta Lacks, the portrayed Jackie Robinson in the movie and real-life, joined the league when others were scared and thought it was impossible. Due to his and other's sacrifices, in many sports today, teams are more diverse. Because of these brave people, anyone can say to their child, “You can be whatever you dream of, as long as you put in hard work”, and not face the same prejudice and hate these people went through because of the sacrifices they made no matter your race or ethnicity.    

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MkKK49vrd6Q -  This is a rated R film and they use derogatory terms, so take precaution before watching. I do not condone the actions or words by the racist coach in this clip. 

While reading, I came across this passage at the beginning of the book on page 7, "The Lackses challenged everything I thought I knew about faith, science, journalism, and race. Ultimately, this book is the result. It’s not only the story of HeLa cells and Henrietta Lacks, but of Henrietta’s family—particularly Deborah—and their lifelong struggle to make peace with the existence of those cells, and the science that made them possible." This made me feel very appreciative of the author and the work she went through to put this book together. This goes to show that there is a bigger picture to everything. Yes, HeLa cells are being used for good and have helped substantially in research for many diseases, but the author points out that those cells were gathered in an unprofessional way and opens of the debate whether it is humane to keep using those cells, seeing as the damage it has done to Henrietta Lacks family.

Another example of this would be an article on Robert Bilott, created by the New York Times. Robert Bilott was an environmental lawyer who used to defend chemical companies, one being a company called DuPont. He then received a call from an old family friend's farm and decided to go check out the issue. He discovered Dupont was illegally dumping Perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and Perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS) onto his farm. He then understood the bigger problem at hand here with Dupont dumping these chemicals everywhere, in secret. He then decided to switch sides and help defend people against chemical companies, and after 20 years of fighting, he still continues today. This relates to Henrietta Lacks because Robert Bilott, like the author, understood the Dupont created many praised products at the time but realized the bigger picture and inhumane ways they were created. In addition, the author realized the same with HeLa cells being used for good, but the way they were taken is also inhumane.