To The T

Fran Drescher, Roger Moore & other celebs tout prostate cancer awareness withBlue Cure T-shirts

Gabe Canales
Photo via Dobianchi
Fran Drescher
Sir Roger Moore and Lady Kristina
Carolyn Farb
Photo by © 2011 Sofia van der Dys
Dominic Walsh
Erica Rose
Matt Schaub

What do Bob Saget, Fran Drescher, former U.S. Secretary of Education Rod Paige and hometown reality TV star Erica Rose have in common?

They're all sporting a righteous white T-shirt emblazoned with the logo of the Blue Cure Foundation, a prostate cancer awareness outfit spearheaded by Houston media specialist Gabe Canales. The T-shirts are available through Sun & Ski Sports in order to spread the word on the No. 1 male cancer that claimed the lives of 33,720 in the U.S. in 2010.

The T-shirt's have caught the eyes of such local fashion plates as Carolyn Farb and international figures like former James Bond Sir Roger Moore.

Canales himself was diagnosed with prostate cancer at the age of 35. Because of his young age and good health, the news came as a shock. After treatment, he decided he didn't want to leave other men in the dark about the disease's risks.

"The Blue Cure Foundation is my response," he tells CultureMap. "The American Cancer Society just came out with the 2011 numbers, and the number of prostate cancer cases and deaths both went up."

Canales suggests that we think of the new movement as the counterpoint to the pink-tinted breast cancer awareness initiative.

"People are always talking about breast cancer, but never prostate cancer," says T-shirt groupie Erica Rose. "This is something that needs to gain awareness."

Canales is also taking a page from Drescher, a uterine cancer survivor who launched the sassy Cancer Schmancer Movement and Foundation. The T-shirt sales will boost the foundation's efforts, as 100 percent of proceeds head directly to the Blue Cure Foundation's coffers.

"It was important to get a celebrity backing to put a spotlight on the battle against prostate cancer," says Canales. "All of the celebrities who have jumped on board are personal friends of mine or friends of friends. They heard about it and wanted to get involved."

Indeed, the Blue Cure T-shirts have caught the eyes of such local fashion plates as Carolyn Farb and international figures like former James Bond Sir Roger Moore, Texans quarterback Matt Schaub, Phoenix Suns players Marcin Gortat and Garret Siler and Real World/Road Rules' Jamie Murray. Also sporting the shirt is former Playboy playmate Hope Dworaczyk. They're all betting that the white shirt will encourage more men to pursue annual screenings in order to avoid the cancer that afflicts one in six men.

Blue Cure Foundation T-shirts retail for $25 and are available at SunAndSki.com.

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Thanks, Queen Bey

Pop icon Beyoncé donates $100,000 to University of Houston Law School

Photo by Erza Shaw Getty Images

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Pop megastar Beyoncé Knowles-Carter has donated $100,000 to the University of Houston Law Center Criminal Justice Clinic through her BeyGOOD Foundation. The gift will allow the clinic to hire fill-time faculty to head it, benefiting the students who study there.

“I am delighted that the BeyGOOD Foundation has made this very generous gift to the UH Law Center,” said Leonard Baynes, dean of the UH Law Center. “Not only will this funding help establish a full-time criminal justice clinic that provides pro bono legal services in our community, but it will also supercharge our already excellent criminal law and justice programming.”

The clinic is one of nine at UHLC. It helps students learn to navigate the criminal justice system, especially on behalf of clients that are underserved by skilled attorneys. People of color are affected disproportionately by a lack of good, ethical representation.

Beyoncé, the most decorated artist in Grammy history and easily the biggest musical star native to Houston, has a long history of advocating for criminal justice reform. She was a staunch supporter of the police reform following the deaths of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile, asking law enforcement to “stop killing us” in a web post. In 2020, she penned an open letter to the Kentucky attorney general asking for justice in the death of Breonna Taylor.

Through her BeyGOOD Foundation, established in 2013, Beyoncé has focused mostly on expanding the prospects of Black-owned business and offering education opportunities to students. Forwarding the cause of legal representation in Texas while also helping out marginalized communities compliments her other philanthropic work.

“At UH Law, we envision a legal profession where ‘everyone has the opportunity to prosper,’ as BeyGOOD envisions, and we will achieve this vision by providing access to strong and effective legal representation in criminal proceedings,” Baynes said. “And together, through this gift, the BeyGOOD Foundation and UHLC will shepherd the next generation of criminal justice attorneys in the city of Houston, the state of Texas and the nation.”

To The T

Fran Drescher, Roger Moore & other celebs tout prostate cancer awareness withBlue Cure T-shirts

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Thanks, Queen Bey

Pop icon Beyoncé donates $100,000 to University of Houston Law School

CultureMap Emails Are Awesome
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