Seen, But Not Heard: AIDS, Sexual Politics
and the Untold War Against Black Women
a documentary by Cyrille Phipps

Events will be happening all month long throughout New York City and around the country!

From the Black AIDS Day website:

National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day, February 7th of every year, is a national HIV testing and treatment community mobilization initiative targeted at Blacks in the United States and the Diaspora. There are four specific focal points: education, testing, involvement, and treatment. Educationally, the focus is to get Blacks educated about the basics of HIV/AIDS in their local communities. Testing is at the core of this initiative, as it is hoped that Blacks will mark February 7th of every year as their annual or bi-annual day to get tested for HIV. This is vital for those who are sexually active and those at high risk of contracting HIV. When it comes to community and organization leadership, getting Blacks involved to serve is another key focus. We need Black People from all walks of life, economic classes, literacy levels, shades and tones as well as communities (large and small) to get connected to the work happening on the ground in their local areas. And lastly, for those living with HIV or newly testing positive for the virus, getting them connected to treatment and care services becomes paramount.

The summer is almost over and it’s been a hot one. Heat and sex seem to go hand in hand especially when it comes to causal sex. It’s easy to hookup with someone after an informal dinner, while at the club or at a friend’s BBQ. But, if you’re not careful, hooking up can be dangerous! Those who are hooking up or just having causal sex are more than likely sharing or overlapping sexual partners. In the article by Linda Villarosa, The Dark Side of Hookups, “Friends With Benefits” and F— Buddies, “These partnerships can speed the spread of sexually transmitted diseases,” Dr. Paik says. “With sequential partnerships, the disease has to wait before it can spread. Between relationships, for example, a bacterial infection can be treated. With overlapping relationships, the disease doesn’t have to wait.” When you are hooking up with several different partners and not practicing safe sex, you have a greater chance of becoming infected. It’s not always easy to remember to use a condom while in the heat of the moment.  Therefore, being prepared is crucial to protecting your sexual health. Carrying condoms, is not cocky, it’s smart! It’s better to have a condom and not use it if you don’t need it, then to be caught without one when you really need it. No longer can we make assumptions about a person’s status by just eyeballing them. The tell tale signs of someone being positive rarely exist now. You won’t know just by looking at someone or assuming that because he or she is cute then they couldn’t be infected.

One good way to protect yourself, is to always use a condom when having sex. A percentage of people who become infected usually got it by another person who didn’t know they were infected. Condom use can be one of the best ways to protect yourself. Knowing your own status is also important in not only protecting yourself, but protecting your sexual partner. As noted in the article, in regards to the high infection rates in D.C., “Nearly 50 percent of people surveyed in its hardest-hit areas reported having overlapping sexual partners in the last 12 months. Most were not aware of either their own HIV status or that of their partner, and the vast majority said that they did not use a condom the last time they had sex with their main partner, even though they were aware that the relationship might not be monogamous. This deadly mix explains why a Black woman, for example, who doesn’t “sleep around” might contract HIV, while someone else engaged in frequent episodes of unprotected sex might not become infected.” Taking a HIV test is now considered one of the best prevention methods against becoming infected. Assuming that one test positive then they can get treatment and learn how to care for themselves as well as prevent infecting someone else by not spreading the virus from one person to another. And, if they test negative, then they learn to stay negative through preventive measures and condom use.

Practicing safe sex is easier said than done. It’s no easier than staying off salt, not drinking too much or watching your weight when all your favorite foods are available. These are all things that we struggle with, but not taking the proper precautions can be dangerous and in some cases deadly. Its takes practice, a concerted effort and a commitment to be healthy, the same goes for your sexual health when you practice safe sex. Make it a habit like brushing your teeth, cleaning your house or watching your weight. Keep a condom on you for those special unexpected encounters. If you are having casual sex, make sure your sexual partner(s) gets tested. Get tested with them, if it will make them feel more comfortable and less stigmatized. If they are not willing to get tested or provide information on their status, they might not be the person you wanna have sex with. Its is also important for you to be tested and provide information on your own status. To find an HIV testing location in your area, visit www.hivtest.org.

Whether it’s a holiday weekend, a hot Summer night or a beautiful Fall evening, always be prepared. High and low risk sex is all the same when it comes to HIV and STDs. Every time you have unprotected sex, you are at risk of getting infected.  It only takes one careless moment to change your life. Wrap it up and be safe.

Monday, Jan. 18th marked the celebration of Martin Luther King, Jr.’s birthday (Jan. 15th) and a national day of service. Many of you have heeded President Obama’s call to service without reservation.

As we celebrate, honor and reflect on the work of Dr. Martin Luther King, The Black AIDS Institute asks, What Would Martin Do? In an article written by Phill Wilson, founder and CEO of the Black AIDS Institute, he states “Dr. King would be leading a movement against the war and for creating jobs, passing meaningful health-care legislation, educating our young and protecting our environment. And yes, just as he stood up for the sanitation workers, Dr. King would be passionate about HIV/AIDS. There is no question that ending the AIDS epidemic would be at the top of his agenda. And because it would be at the top of his agenda, it would be at the top of our agenda.”

Phill Wilson believes, as well as I, that Dr. King would have been a significant leader in the struggle to end AIDS.  And though, Dr. King was not able to contribute to this movement, his wife was a strong advocate of the AIDS community.

In a speech she gave at the Metropolitan Community Foundation’s Circles Of Hope Dinner in 2002, she says “As my husband, Martin Luther King, Jr. said, we are all “tied in a single garment of destiny,” … “caught in an inescapable network of mutuality. Whatever affects one directly affects all indirectly. I can never be what I ought to be until you are what you ought to be. This is the interrelated structure of all reality.”

Later, she states, “To eradicate AIDS, we must give our medical researchers and scientists all of the support they need to find the cure. But we must first and foremost cure our own hearts of the fear and ignorance that leads to ostracism of people with HIV and AIDS.”

Mrs. King was a vocal opponent against injustice. She was heard speaking out against capital punishment and the 2003 Invasion of Iraq.  She also supported lesbian and gay rights and as demonstrated above, an ardent supporter of HIV and AIDS education and prevention. 

We are still struggling with many of the issues that Mrs. and Dr. King attempted to address. And we must continue to defend and protect human rights, especially as it relates to the fight for decent housing, equal job opportunities, education and healthcare. We, as a community of world citizens, must also fight against homelessness, poverty, hunger and the spread of AIDS.

His legacy as well as Mrs. King will live on with our continued effort to fight against injustice and stand for the rights of all!

In every major urban city, rural community and suburban town AIDS has a home. It doesn’t matter whether you are straight or gay, white, black, red, yellow or brown, AIDS is right around the corner. For folks who have the highest infection and death rates, primarily Black, Latino and/or gay, your care plays a significant role in your day-to-day life. The services you receive are vital to your survival. In DC as well as New York, a number of agencies and nonprofits have been caught squandering the resources used for housing, food, healthcare and other services needed in at-risk communities.

The organizations who have received hundreds of thousands dollars, even millions have victimized the very people they are suppose to serve. Misappropriation of funds, services promised but not provided, supervisors and specific staff helping themselves out to cash bonuses, gifts and trips while clients and patients lose out of access to services and/or necessary AIDS awareness and prevention information. And when the accused is caught, fingers point to everyone but themselves. Where are the checks and balances in government funding???? Hundreds of organizations have already suffered through funding loss during 8 years of the Bush administration and then more cuts due to the recession. Abusing an ill equipped system only further justifies the lack of trust and confirms the lack of accountability.

This is not to say that all AIDS organizations much less all non-profits misuse their funding. Many organizations are providing incredible services to individuals, groups and families around the country.  What hurts their good work is the selfish acts of a few who threaten the funding opportunities of other groups and the credibility of service based organizations. If any good can come out of this is the creation of a National AIDS Action Plan that has the input of several organizations, agencies, advocates, PWA’s (people living with AIDS), PWLHIV (people living with HIV), healthcare professionals and policy makers to develop a plan that recommends but not necessarily oversees funding, programming  and policy. A plan that can look at the overall system of AIDS services throughout the country, reduce redunancy in key areas, duplicate successful programs, track progress and eliminate or at least reduce waste. A plan that can look a the success and failures of prevention, awareness and care systems around the world and partner with other countries that have similar trends but with better outcomes. We have the resources, technology and research to do a better job. So, hopefully in 5 to 10 years, a HIV+ woman won’t die alone in a park only a few blocks from the HIV/AIDS administration or from resources that could have provided the help she not only needed but deserved.

“AIDS in America today is a black disease,” says Phill Wilson, founder and CEO of the The Black AIDS Institute (BAI) and himself HIV-positive for 20 years.”  This statement came after BAI released the report, “Left Behind! Black America: A Neglected Priority in the Global AIDS Epidemic”. During the 2008 International AIDS Conference in Mexico, he also stated in a press conference, “The U.S. is failing its people and that is a direct attack on Black America.” “This failure to respond is particularly acute in the epidemic in Black America.”

Is it true AIDS is a Black disease? If  so, why isn’t there a national call to action among all the AIDS organizations that serve people of color and the African American community? Why has the Black community fail to respond with the same passion and anger the gay community demonstrated over twenty years ago?

Does stating AIDS as a Black disease increase the stigma, fear and ignorance around this epidemic? Does this labeling do more to hurt our efforts to end AIDS in the Black community? In a posting responding to CNN’s Black in America program last summer, the author writes, “I admire what they are attempting to accomplish, but labeling AIDS as a “Black disease” is WRONG and short-sighted. Your temporary headlines on CNN and a possible up tick in funding are nothing compared to the damage that will likely follow if people are able to write off AIDS as a problem for “that other group of people” I thought we already fought this battle. Anybody can contract this disease.”

Where do we go from here? Both arguments are right and both are wrong.  One thing that we can agree is that the infection rates as well as the death rates are extremely high in the Black community, especially among Black women and Black MSM (men who have sex with men). The statistics certainly don’t lie despite what some naysayers want to believe. AIDS, as well as many others diseases are having a devastating effect among African Americans. How these diseases affect our community has as much to do with health as the psychological, social, economical and political climate we live in.  We need to examine the role we have as mothers, fathers, sons, daughters, husbands, wives and partners, how that role plays out in our relationships and in our sexual practices.

I don’t claim to have the answers but I certainly want to extend the dialogue about AIDS in our community. I want to see individuals, AIDS organizations (local and national), community based non-profits as well as funders come together to address this issue. I want us as a community to start caring for each other the way we are suppose to. I want that caring to show up in the way we take a friend to get an HIV test, the way we practice safe sex and the way we  talk to a love one if we know they are involved in reckless behavior.  Be proactive!

Remember, the life you save might not only be someone you love, it might be yours!

Listen to Phill Wilson from the Black AIDS Institute talk about AIDS in Black America and visit the Black AIDS Institute website. They have some great articles about HIV/AIDS in the Black community and how we should address it.

http://www.blackaids.org/

“African Americans, in particular, are more likely to be killed or to die of HIV than others are”

BY DR. JULIANNE MALVEAUX

This is a MUST read! We must ban together and fight for Health Care Reform Now!!! Our communities are most affected and we remain silent!

Please read this article.

http://www.juliannemalveaux.com/downloads/black-folk-must-advocate.pdf