In an effort to reduce the number of HIV/AIDS cases among
blacks, people from the Los Angeles area and across the country are
observing the sixth National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day
today.
Though the black community only makes up 13 percent of the U.S.
population, they make up 40 percent of the HIV/AIDS cases reported
in America, making it a particularly relevant issue to many in the
black community.
To promote this year’s theme, “Get Educated, Get
Tested, Get Involved, and Get Treated,” the NBHAAD Coalition
of Los Angeles will be working with the L.A. County Office of AIDS
Programs and Policy to put on events educating the public about
HIV/AIDS in the black community today and throughout the month.
“In communities of color, we are trying to create equal
opportunities for people to get treatment and create a world where
there is enough knowledge for people to protect themselves,”
said Richard Hamilton, chairman of the NBHAAD Coalition of Los
Angeles.
From support groups to performances to public demonstrations,
members of the NBHAAD Coalition have arranged a series of events in
Los Angeles aimed at encouraging blacks to learn how to protect
themselves against HIV, get tested for the virus and receive
treatment.
Today, for example, Hamilton and 200 or more volunteers will
line up along Crenshaw Boulevard in Los Angeles to create a human
billboard. Volunteers in bright orange shirts plan to hold up a
sign that reads “AIDS” followed by another which says
“#1 Killer of Blacks Age 25-44.”
Hamilton said that he believes these events will help the
community overcome the fear of acknowledging HIV and AIDS, which
prolongs the crisis in the black community.
Recent studies from the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention found minorities to be significantly less likely to get
tested and therefore less likely to receive early treatment for HIV
and AIDS than any other group.
AIDS is also the number one killer among black women ages 25 to
34, according to the CDC.
One of the many areas where the NBHAAD is trying to increase HIV
and AIDS education, testing, and support is within religious
groups.
Charles McWells, an HIV-positive black man who devotes much of
his time encouraging the black community to get tested, said
religious groups comprise a part of the community that needs to be
a lot more involved in prevention than it currently is.
He said religious groups have not taken on an active role in
education and treatment.
Black churches, in general, are reluctant to speak about
HIV/AIDS because of it’s perceived connection to
homosexuality, McWells said.
“But this negative stigma prevents awareness and family
support,” he said.
McWells has several friends who died of AIDS without ever
telling their families. Fortunately, McWells said he was part of a
very progressive church when first diagnosed with HIV and found the
support he needed to find early treatment as a result.
Tina Henderson, a staff researcher from UCLA’s Department
of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, has researched the lack
of discussion about HIV/AIDS in black churches.
“The problem may be that they didn’t know how to
communicate the problem, and the question is why is it that they
don’t know how?” Henderson said.
Some say the inability to discuss sexual issues openly is only
one of the roadblocks in communicating the urgency of this problem
to the black community.
“Problems with violence, poverty and finding a job in the
African American community often puts the HIV/AIDS problem on the
back-burner,” said Monique Collins, state grant manager for
the OAPP.
Collins also said she believes support from parents for HIV/AIDS
education in schools is lacking.
“HIV is a very political issue in schools. Because many
parents think more information is going to lead to more sex, there
isn’t as much support from parents for HIV/AIDS
education,” Collins said.
McWells said he would like to see more financial support for
HIV/AIDS education from both locally and nationally elected
officials.
“HIV/AIDS prevention is a civil right and we need to look
at it in that vein if we’re to reduce the number of AIDS
cases,” McWells said.