Blacks Urged to use ‘Drama’ to Awaken Black Community about HIV/AIDS

By Makebra M. AndersonNNPA National Correspondent ATLANTA (NNPA) – Congressman John L. Lewis, whose bloody beating on the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Ala. stirred the soul of American and helped pass the 1965 Voting Rights Act, urged an audience interested in curbing the spread HIV/AIDS among Blacks to borrow a page from the Civil Rights Movement. “You have to fortify, organize and be prepared to mobilize against this deadly disease,” Lewis told an audience of students and professional journalists over the weekend at the Morehouse School of Medicine. “My generation believed in drama. You must get in the way and get in trouble to do something about HIV/AIDS,” he told the group. The Town Hall meeting that featured Lewis, former U.S. Surgeon General David Satcher and other health professionals were part of a weekend of activities organized by the Black AIDS Institute of Los Angeles, the first Black HIV/AIDS policy center dedicated to reducing HIV/AIDS health disparities; the Black Leadership Commission on AIDS, the Balm in Gilead outreach to Africa, the Magic Johnson Foundation and Outreach, Inc., an AIDS and drug abuse prevention organization. Lewis reminded the audience of all the progress the Civil Rights Movement made without today’s advanced technology. “We organized a movement with no Web site, fax or cell phones, but we used what we had and that was the media,” he explained. “The Black media has to get out in front on HIV/AIDS. Without the media, the Civil Rights Movement would be a bird without wings.” With solid backing from the Black Press, as well as television crews that captured the violent attacks on film, the movement produced a string of victories, including the 1964 Civil Rights Act, the 1965 Voting Rights Act and the 1968 Open Housing law. African-Americans today are fighting a prolonged and deadly war against HIV/AIDS. The U.S. Census Bureau reports that African-Americans represent only 12 percent of the U.S. population, but account for 54 percent of all new AIDS cases in this country. Although initially confined to the gay and lesbian community, the epidemic is as likely to infect heterosexuals as homosexuals. According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), for example, 67 percent of Black women are infected through heterosexual activities, a rate higher than White women, 59 percent of whom are infected that way. Of newly infected women in the U.S., approximately 64 percent are Black, 18 percent are White and 18 percent are Hispanic. Of newly-infected men, approximately 50 percent are Black, 30 percent are White and 20 percent are Hispanic. Those numbers were surprising to some students, who were part of the conference to help mobilize their college campuses. “I had no idea that Black women had the highest number of new AIDS cases,” Tamellah Roberts, a sophomore at Spelman College in Atlanta, said. “Those numbers scared me to death and I hope that when we leave here students dedicate themselves to doing something about this epidemic.” Timothy Edwards, a student at Morehouse College in Atlanta, said he experienced more than his share of surprises over the weekend. “It doesn’t surprise me that gay Black men are still the number one carriers of HIV/AIDS, but what does surprise me is the large number of women who are getting it [HIV/AIDS],” he said. “I know at Morehouse we talk about HIV/AIDS, but I don’t think we talk about it enough.” He plans to help change that. And so does John Lewis. “Don’t be afraid to get out there and push and pull,” the congressman said. “I didn’t march across the bridge in Selma, Alabama on Bloody Sunday to see so many young people dying from HIV/AIDS. We can do much better.” Students agreed. “It’s sad that so many young Black people are dying from HIV/AIDS with all the information that is available out there,” Derek Lewis, a senior at Morehouse, said. “I know that I’m guilty of not paying too much attention to the AIDS problem, but after this, I will definitely become more involved.” Participants interacted with some persons who are either HIV positive or have contracted AIDS. “There was a student named Jonathan Perry who is HIV positive that facilitated most of the discussions,” said Lakia Thomas a student at North Carolina Central University. “All of the students formed committees and strategized on ways to get the message back to our campuses.” Perry, shared part of his story, at the Town Hall meeting. “I remember when I decided to let everyone know I was gay, my pastor made an announcement in front of the whole congregation and called me a faggot and said I was no longer welcome at the church,” he said, fighting back tears. “Not only did I get kicked out of the church, a letter was sent to me saying that I was no longer welcome in the denomination.” If Perry’s goal was to show the human dimensions of the disease, he was successful. “I can’t believe grown men and women could be so cruel and close-minded to a child,” said Lawrence Nathan, an Atlanta resident who has been an AIDS activist for more than 10 years. “Instead of focusing on a person’s sexuality, we need to spend more time focusing on the problem and that is HIV/AIDS.”