Betty Ford died at age 93 on July 8, 2011, and Breast Cancer Action mourns her death and celebrates her life.  At a time when no one talked openly about breast cancer, Ford took her disease public and breast cancer out of the closet.  She was known for “shooting from the lip,” defying convention, and telling the truth about breast cancer. Her courage in doing this was an inspiration to breast cancer activists. Breast Cancer Action salutes her courage and carries on her work by moving us beyond awareness to the actions necessary to produce systemic change to end the epidemic. In order to change the course of this disease, we need to change the conversation about breast cancer and take action to put patients first, stop cancer before it starts and challenge the health inequities that cause more women of color to die of breast cancer than any other group of women.