Truth Initiative Shines a Spotlight on Tobacco’s Impact on Black Communities at the 2025 Celebration Bowl
Truth Initiative — the nation’s largest nonprofit organization dedicated to ending nicotine addiction — is taking its message directly to HBCU students, alumni, and fans at the 2025 Celebration Bowl in Atlanta on December 13. Their presence highlights the urgent need to address how tobacco continues to harm Black communities and introduces culturally relevant quit-support through the EX Program, a free digital cessation program developed with Mayo Clinic.
For decades, the tobacco industry has aggressively targeted Black neighborhoods and cultural spaces with predatory marketing and menthol advertising. The results are devastating: Black Americans experience higher rates of tobacco-related illness and death, and more than 80% of Black smokers use menthol cigarettes, which are easier to start and harder to quit. Each year, an estimated 45,000 Black Americans die from smoking-related diseases.
During the Celebration Bowl, Truth Initiative will amplify its message across in-stadium activations, digital platforms, and the Battle of the Bands — meeting people where they gather, celebrate, and connect. The goal is clear: reclaim health as liberation and provide real tools for quitting nicotine, especially for young adults and HBCU communities.
This work is strengthened by the Breath of Freedom coalition, part of Truth Initiative’s Culture + Cessation Collective. The coalition unites Black-led health equity organizations to challenge menthol marketing, address the systemic impact of tobacco, and uplift culturally grounded strategies that help individuals quit for good.
Kendric Dartis, Vice President of Outreach and Engagement at Truth Initiative, emphasizes the importance of this moment: “As we celebrate HBCU excellence, we must also confront the long history of exploitation by the tobacco industry and ensure our communities have access to trusted quitting support.”
👉 Read the full article:
https://truthinitiative.org/press/press-release/truth-initiative-kicks-celebration-bowl-partnership-spotlighting-tobaccos
