On October 4, singer Mary J. Blige recently opened up and said that she was unaware of breast cancer and mammograms until she was 40 years old in hopes of motivating more Black women to educate themselves.

The singer recently joined medical technology company Hologic’s “Screening the System: A Dialogue on Bias and Breast Health” discussion as a panelist alongside moderator Sheinelle Jones, Dr. Arlene Richardson, and Black Women’s Health Imperative president and CEO Linda Goler Blount.

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Bilge said, “I didn’t know about breast cancer or mammograms until I was 40, and I was in the music business, and I was trying to take care of myself.”

“My body started talking, so I started listening. I found out about a mammogram at the GYN. They don’t discuss this as children. They tell us, ‘Go get a mammogram.’ We learn about this as we get older,” she continued.

The artist then explained that she feels like she was kept in the dark about the importance of health due to the lack of open dialogue surrounding it within her home life.

“My aunt died from breast cancer. My grandmother died from cervical cancer, and one of my aunts just died from lung cancer. What happens is they end up in the hospital, and … there’s no one in our families speaking about it when we’re younger,” she stated in regards to her decision to raise awareness for the cause.

“They don’t speak about it, and that’s why they end up in the hospital with two weeks to live, and now you know about it,” she explained. “That’s why it’s extremely important to me because I’m sure it’s going on in a lot of African American homes, in our culture. … I’m here to let women know, no that matter how scary it is or who’s telling you it’s scary, take care of you. Take care of your health. … I’m here for us

. … Somebody has to help us in our communities get the proper treatment. I do it annually now that I found out what it’s about.”

The Hologic panel claims that the recommended exam time for women’s mammograms occurs at age 40 to allow for early detection.