Seeing how free people felt about sharing their COVID results but knowing if it were HIV they wouldn't - well DON'T - do the same.
EXPERIENCING how an epidemic and pandemic is devastating my community has been hard. It's violent, traumatizing, and a tragedy.
I grasp on a glimpse of hope because I read my history with acknowledgement and understanding of how resilient we are as a people and there is NO other culture like us in the world.
Given this moment of racial reckoning in the US amid the persistent stain of anti-Blackness; a new pandemic hitting our communities hardest yet again; unrest at the highest levels of government; and possibly some hope on the horizon with a new administration...
Being Black in America isn't just a race; we are a culture of influence grudgingly celebrated by others around the world.
I believe the focus of National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day (NBHAAD) should be on defining what community truly is... FAMILY. Black Family.
NBHAAD means so much to me every year and happens to be an awareness day that unfortunately becomes another moment of being glossed over and celebrated lightly as a culture and people fighting HIV/AIDS.
Because I'm so passionately involved in my Family aka community, I hear their voices often but it would be nice to hear from more family members who aren't advocates. I would love love love to hear from the next generation of young people. More conversations that bridge elders and young people. MORE INTERVENTIONAL INTERGENERATIONAL CONVERSATIONS would soothe my soul and the mere thought inspires me.
That part!
The intergenerational component is extremely important! I always love to work with older advocates and younger ones. I feel stuck in the middle somewhere lol