Rep. Barbara Lee and Dazon Dixon Diallo on the Overlooked HIV/AIDS Epidemic in Black America

Democracy Now 

The 2012 International AIDS Conference has raised hopes that the U.S. will increase its efforts to end the epidemic both globally and here at home, where HIV/AIDS continues to pose a major health threat. Every 10 minutes someone in the U.S. is infected with HIV and many people living with the virus don't even know it. People of color, especially women and gay men, bear the overwhelming burden of the disease. We're joined by Dazon Dixon Diallo, a pioneer in the HIV/AIDS and reproductive justice arena; and by Democratic Rep. Barbara Lee of California, a leader in the global fight against HIV/AIDS and has worked to establish a national AIDS strategy. Lee represents the United States on the U.N. Development Program's Global Commission on HIV and the Law, and recently introduced H.R. 6138, calling for a global strategy for an AIDS-free generation.

'Left of Black': Episode #15 featuring Pastor Carl Kenney and Zelda Lockhart

Left of Black #15—January 4, 2011
w/Mark Anthony Neal

Host and Duke University Professor Mark Anthony Neal is joined by Pastor Carl Kenney in a discussion of sex and sexuality in the Black Church, the emergence of the "Prosperity Gospel" and the Bishop Eddie Long controversy. Neal is joined by novelist Zelda Lockhart, who has been using her writing in support of HIV advocacy in Black communities. The episode was filmed on location at the Beyu Caffe in Durham, NC

Pastor Carl Kenney is the founding Pastor of Compassion Ministries in Durham, NC and former pastor at Orange Grove Missionary Baptist Church in Durham, NC, Kenney is also the author of Preacha Man and the just published sequel Backslide.

Zelda Lockhart is the author of the recently published Fifth Born II: The One Hundredth Turtle, a sequel to her first novel Fifth Born and Cold Running Creek. As the 2010 Piedmont Laureate, Lockhart has been instrumental in raising HIV/AIDS awareness in Black communities.

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Left of Black is a weekly Webcast hosted by Mark Anthony Neal and produced in collaboration with the John Hope Franklin Center at Duke University.

Fighting Against the Black AIDS Epidemic

In the United States, Black people represent close to half (46 percent), an estimated 510,000, of the cases of HIV/AIDS, a number grossly disproportionate to the 14 percent of the U.S. population that Black people make up.

Fighting Against the Black AIDS Epidemic
by Mychal Denzel Smith | TheLoop21

Over the summer I attended “Basseyworld LIVE!”, a series of events in various major cities that featured a night of poetry and a panel discussion covering topics as diverse as politics, social media, and pop-culture, hosted by writer/performer Bassey Ikpi.*

A major highlight of the discussion during the Washington, D.C. event was when Helena Andrews, author of Bitch is the New Black, said “if one of us has AIDS, we all have AIDS.” Deliberately shocking and poignant, her statement underscores the seriousness of the disease, our connectivity as human beings, and the ease with which HIV/AIDS spreads throughout our communities.

Globally, there are around 33 million people living with HIV/AIDS, with over 25 million deaths being attributed to the disease since 1981. While the highest concentration is in Sub-Saharan Africa, there are over a million people living with the disease in North America.

In the United States, Black people represent close to half (46 percent), an estimated 510,000, of the cases of HIV/AIDS, a number grossly disproportionate to the 14 percent of the U.S. population that Black people make up. These statistics, which come from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), show that of the estimated 25,000 new infections that occur yearly among Black people, over a third (38 percent) are among the youth, aged 13-29.

Add to that the fact the CDC reports “AIDS is the third leading causes of death among Black women aged 25-34 and 35-44 and among Black men aged 35-44” it’s safe to say that HIV/AIDS continues to be an epidemic in the Black community that demands and deserves our attention and concentrated efforts to stop the spread of the disease and the havoc it has wrecked in its near 30 year history.

We may have come a long way from the fear that permeated the discussions surrounding HIV/AIDS during the 1980s, but we’ve also dropped the ball when it comes to education, outreach, and prevention. While we continue to search for a cure, it is imperative that we do all in our power to educate and protect people from further exposure, especially those of us who are most vulnerable.

Instead of placing the blame on scapegoats (such as Black men on the “down-low”), we have to continue pushing for more access to preventative measures such as condoms and free HIV/AIDS testing in communities hardest hit, as well as stress the importance of safe sexual habits and behaviors and regular testing for HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases.

Read the Full Essay @ theLoop21