Unshelved by Bill Barnes and Gene Ambaum
comic strip overdue media

Thursday, March 25, 2004

I am not Christian, nor am I Black, but...

I have long been concerned with the rise of HIV/AIDS among minorities and also the crippling epidemic in Africa itself. I'm glad to see that organisations--especially religious ones--are taking steps to educate their communities about the disease. I came across Balm in Gilead, which sponsors a Week of Prayer for the Healing of AIDS, which just completed its 15th year. They also provide AIDS Facts and other educational materials, and run an HIV testing campaign. Given the number of African-Americans in this country who are Christian and involved with a church, this is a wonderful way to reach people. I hope they will mind that my own prayers and thoughts are with them.

I need to check and see what other sorts of similar organisations are out there, including those targeting the Hispanic community.

I remember the beginning of the AIDS epidemic, when the only activists tended to be gay because the disease had been labelled a 'gay disease' and they fought the prejudice and slowly people began to realise it was a more mainstream problem. We've made great strides since then, but there is still so much to do, especially with minority populations, younger people who think of it as a chronic illness (those meds are quite complex, you know, and subject to the virus gaining resistance) and older people who now are a growing population (divorce after years of marriage or the use of drugs for male impotence has changed the playing field so that educators are now going into nursing homes to explain the ways to prevent HIV infection).

AIDS activism is not pass&eacut; by any means. Keep fighting the good fight. Take precautions. Don't have unprotected sex. Don't share needles. Talk to friends and partners. Keep in mind that different cultures have different barriers to HIV education. Bridge prejudices. Remember those lost. Someday, we might be able to look at the AIDS epidemic as a distant memory.

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