It's been a while since I heard anyone mention HIV or say the words, "I got tested today." What is happening to us as a people? Better yet, what is happening to us as a community? Are we losing our voice and just succumbing to the craziness of the world? Throwing our hands up to the stigma? Listening to the noise about HIV just being a chronic dis-ease now?
Think about your family, your children, nieces, nephews, cousins, grandparents, mothers and brothers. You know the people you love but hate at times, the ones who hold you accountable for carrying the family last name. Those loved ones who look up to you, ignore you, spend time with you at the family gatherings, and you don't see them again for another year or so. How would you feel just knowing you had an opportunity to share the knowledge that every 9 ½ minutes someone in the United States is infected with HIV? That HIV is no longer a death sentence? All of us can take responsibility of ensuring someone we know, we love, or we are friends with get tested so that they can know their status. Then they can take extra care of themselves and live a long fruitful life, but if we never mention HIV…. how will we ever know?
