By The GrioFrom The Grio — February 7th and National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness day.
If that doesn’t send a message to the black community that AIDS is a bigger problem than we would like to admit then I don’t know what more we can do.
We have to have our own national day during Black History Month, a month during which we should be praising and recognizing the accomplishments of African-Americans who came before us.
Yet on this day in February we must spread awareness about the fact that the black community is being disproportionally impacted by AIDS.
HIV/AIDS does not discriminate by any means and affects every community. The H in HIV stands for HUMAN so we are all at risk of contracting HIV/AIDS but we can’t ignore the facts.
African-Americans make up 46 percent of all new diagnosis but are only 12 percent of the US population. I try my very best to understand why people don’t feel they should educate themselves on HIV.
We have an image in our minds of what a person with AIDS looks like, we can spot someone with HIV/AIDS a mile away?
Someone who has AIDS is skinny and has a wasting away look to them with lesions all over their body, or lives in the inner city. Only the girl in the club every weekend or the brother on the corner is at risk for HIV.
Please stop! Shake your head and get those stereotypes, right out of your mind.
I am a size 7 with perfect skin and a pretty face living with full-blown AIDS.
I am not gay nor am I a girl who is promiscuous but yet I am living with AIDS.
We, as Americans, have become very complacent; since we don’t see people walking around looking like death we have chosen to turn a blind eye to HIV.
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