“Last year, it was just a party,” said Orlando “Pretty Boy” Watson, songwriter, producer and promoter. “I was five years cancer-free and just happy to be alive.”
Last year when Watson decided to celebrate a victorious battle with Lymphoma and invite the entire city to join him, it was about a good time.
“I went to one of Diddy’s all-white parties a few years back, and it just felt so cool. I just liked the way that it felt,” he said.
But when he attached a party to his survivor story, something magical happened. The same group who came in all white for nothing more than to tear the club up began to open up to him about their own cancer stories. He was inundated by people who asked what they could do to help him with the party next year.
“People were urging me to do it again,” Watson said.
“What really struck me was when someone in the industry said, ‘You do music and these events, but what are you feeding people that are worthwhile beyond the music and the parties?’ It made me think that maybe I have an obligation to do it again and make it more of an awareness event.”
With that in mind, “I’m a Survivor” will return next week. And this year, it’s still about a good time but it’s also for a worthy cause with a new goal in sight.
The Second Annual I’m a Survivor All-White Party will serve as the launching pad for his foundation. Proceeds from the event will be divided between “I’m a Survivor” Foundation and the American Cancer Society. 100 Black Men will be on hand to give a talk about Prostate Cancer Awareness. The KMJM/KATZ Sista Strut Cancer Awareness Initiative, Susan G. Komen, American Cancer Society will participate as well.
“What happens is you have breast cancer over here, prostate cancer over there and the other cancers over there,” Watson said. “I want to get people talking about cancer as a collective. To me, cancer is cancer. I can name a cancer and one of my family members has died from it.”
But the party won’t be doom and gloom. 1990s soul star Carl Thomas and St. Louis’ own Aloha MiSho will perform with Majic 104.9 FM personality Selena J as host. Ola will bless guests with her latest designs by way of a special fashion show. The musical backdrop of the evening will be courtesy of DJ Nune with a spoken word segment by Corey Black. A live painting experience and silent auction also are part of the festivities.
“The demographic that I can reach, the people in my age group, are the hardest group to reach not just about cancer but health,” Watson said. “I was 32 when I got diagnosed. I was in L.A. working Akon and in the industry living this type of life and it was like, ‘Bam!’ Folks looked at me and were like, ‘It could happen to me.’”
As he uses the opportunity to revel in his own survival for the sake of awareness, the celebration is bittersweet. He has lost more than a dozen close family members, and his mother is battling lung cancer that has spread to her brain.
“What we are facing is an epidemic, and nobody wants to use that word because it is scary,” Watson said. “We want to educate them on how to reduce your risk – a lot of people don’t believe you can do that, but you can. They don’t stress that with cancer, and they should.”
He wants Survivor Parties to be held around the nation and sees the organization as an entity that can stand alongside some of the other powerhouses working to eliminate casualties of cancer.
“Hopefully this thing can have legs of its own and do a walk and bring out 200,000 and talk about cancer and not be afraid to talk about things you can do to prevent it,” he said. “It’s about bringing down these Goliaths.”
The 2nd Annual I’m a Survivor All-White Celebration will take place at 7 p.m. on Sunday, June 10 at the James S. McDonnell Planetarium in Forest Park. For more information, visit www.survivorstl.com or call (314) 685-0500.
