Black AIDS Institute

I had the opportunity to attend a press conference hosted by the Black AIDS Institute, which presented a new report entitled "Left Behind - Black America: A Neglected Priority in the Global AIDS Epidemic." This report highlighted the crucial urgency of the AIDS epidemic within the United States among the African American population. In a study recently released earlier this month by the CDC, it was revealed that new HIV cases in the US was under-reported by 40%, further underscoring the need for immediate action to address this crisis domestically, despite substantial progress globally.

One of the key message from the press conference, which included Phill Wilson, Dr. Helen Gayle, Pernessa Seele, Sheryl Lee Ralph, Jacob Gayle, and US Congresswoman Barbara Lee, was that while PEPFAR has been successful internationally, there is a critical need to create a National Strategy for AIDS in America - a sort of "Domestic PEPFAR". In addition, the panelists and experts called for a domestic prevention commitment of $1.3 billion US per year.  read more »

Yesterday afternoon I had the pleasure of attending the press conference of the Black AIDS Institute, where they spoke about their most recent publication release entitled "Left Behind".

It is a perfectly ironic title for how I felt sitting in the audience as a gay black man living with HIV. While I am honestly extremely happy about "my people" coming together and issuing a call for; "a national AIDS strategy equivalent of PEPFAR", "An investment of 1.3 Billion in National Prevention programs", "Needle Exchange Programs", "Testing 1 Million people" and "support for traditional Black Institutions". While there are many issues I have with the "Left Behind," and the press conference itself it is the last that I will focus on in this blog.

I deeply agree that federal support for Black Institutions must be increased in order to have an impact on the devastation that is happening in the Black community. An issue that was not covered yesterday, however, is the work that Black Institutions must do.

In both the press conference yesterday, and in many of the institutions I come into contact with, the conversation around GAY Black Men is limited and in some cases none exsitent.  read more »