On February 9, 2001, actress and vocalist Diahann Carroll addressed the World Summit Against Cancer meeting in Paris, France. Carroll addressed the audience of scholars and activists as a breast cancer survivor. Her speech appears below.

Bonjour. Good afternoon. Thank you for your gracious invitation to join this assembly of medical and scientific professionals who collectively, in my estimation, make up not only staggering brainpower, but also represent tremendous hope for a cure for cancer.

I just had the privilege -- and I say this with great humility and sincerity -- to sign The Charter of Paris Against Cancer. I read those ten articles that so simply, yet eloquently, articulate the principles of this summit, and let me tell you, I got a lump in my throat. These tenets that guide your work reach to the very core of human dignity and human rights. They are what every cancer patient depends on and deserves. As a cancer survivor, I praise your compassion and dedication, and thank you for the opportunity to publicly endorse The Charter.

I have a lot to be grateful for these days. Ive had a long career in entertainment that has taken me onto countless stages and into millions of living rooms around the world. I am grateful to have spent a lifetime doing what I love: singing, entertaining and working hard for causes that I believe are important to all man- and womankind.

I am particularly grateful, however, to the heroes in my life who are responsible for my remission: my friends and family who loved me and supported me when I went from the spotlight of fame to the shadows of illness, and, indeed, to doctors and scientists like you who have devoted your lives to finding better, more humane treatments for the menace we call cancer.

I believe I speak for all cancer patients and survivors when I say, thank you. Thank you for your ingenuity, thank you for your perseverance, thank you for your commitment. Without you and those who traveled before you, I would not be here, nor would I have the privilege of

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