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Why The Acronym, S.C.A.R.E.?
 
Many who have heard the name of our organization wonder why we would choose such a one whose initials form the word, S.C.A.R.E.?
Many have questioned the wisdom behind selecting such a provocative name.
Many have openly criticized S.C.A.R.E. for being, "too combative...," or for being "too negative," or even for irresponsibly conjuring thoughts of "...a bible-belt, right wing, Messianic militia, on the sole basis of our acronym alone?
Well, it is time to set the record straight! We, the founders of this organization, specifically chose the acronym S.C.A.R.E. because of the sickle cell community's relationship to that ever-present and most potentially crippling of emotions...
 
FEAR!!!!!!
We are afraid. In fact, there are often times when we of the sickle cell community are terrified by the day to day circumstances of this disease, and the looming uncertainty of our futures. This is true for those in our community who are family and friend to persons with sickle cell, as well as for defiers themselves. And it is our reaction to this fear that is most frequently responsible for that which disables us...not the sickle cell disease.
 
It is our reaction to this fear that incapacitates us. It is our reaction to this fear that debilitates us. It is our reaction to this fear that immobilizes us. And it is our reaction to this fear that most ably renders us, as individuals as well as a collective, inert and powerless.
We, the advocates of S.C.A.R.E., recognize this truth. Further, we recognize the overall role that fear can play in effectively undermining our individual as well as community efforts to advance the quality of life of those struggling with this disease. That is why S.C.A.R.E. has chosen, as a constant undercurrent to its lifetime mission of empowerment, to target this infamous and ubiquitous fear that so enfeebles our community, and reclaim it.
 
We appreciate that fear is an everyday part of having sickle cell disease. We realize that it is something that simply goes with the territory of dealing with any serious and/or chronic illness. However, we do not perceive this fear as something to be retreated or withdrawn from. Rather, we determine it to be something that should be confronted and embraced.
 
Fear is not something that is intrinsically bad. Nor is it something that is intrinsically good. Fear simply is...and should be respected as a source for potentially negative or potentially positive action.
 
There are precedents for this in nature. It is the emotion of fear that can cause the biochemical reaction of adrenaline that can ultimately produce great physical feats of strength or speed, which can in turn be used to accomplish any number of things. For example, it is fear that can cause either of the adrenaline produced responses of fight or flight. It is fear that effectively enables a mother to do whatever she must to protect the young lives of her children when they are in danger. And in war, it is oftentimes fear that is most responsible for men committing unspeakable acts of horror upon each other.
 
There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so.
--William Shakespeare, "Hamlet"
II.ii.259
 
In S.C.A.R.E., we believe this is extremely true for fear. Except, it is not only thinking that we believe can make fear either good or bad, but it is acti on as well.
 
Fear is simply an emotion, if you will...an energy. And it is how we act upon that emotion that counts. It is how we direct that energy that ultimately determines what our fate, as individuals and as a society, will be.
 
Of course, we recognize that it is this fear, (that so unforgivingly grips so many in the sickle cell community), which slowly saps the very fight right out of us , rendering not a few, by the end of our lives, almost prostrate upon the mercies of this disease. Nevertheless, we, the advocates of S.C.A.R. E., choose to view this fear as a powerful source of potentially positive energy for our people. We believe that once we are able to challenge, confront and effectively harness this fear, we, the members of the sickle cell community will finally be able to access that power which is vital to our healthy survival as individuals, and our successful mobilization as a community.
 
Hence, S.C.A.R.E.'s motto:
TURNING FEAR INTO ACTION
 
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