After reading some disturbing news I went to our 10th
floor office window that looks down on Downtown Brooklyn and couldn’t help
myself as I screamed out in the air, “What’s Going On!’ It wasn’t a sing-a-long
to Marvin Gaye’s signature song rather it was a frustrating cry of attention to
the brotha’s who were passing down below. An honest guttural reaction that came
from a person who just read how black men like me continue to be the face of
HIV/AIDS and wondering after 30+ years why are African American males so heavily
impacted. And as this news is brought forth where are the other voices
screaming out. Why is there such a deafening response of no response?
The report
I’m referencing was just released at the beginning of the International AIDS
Conference being held in Washington D.C. The report released by the Black AIDS
Institute titled, “Back of the Line: The State of AIDS Among Black Gay Men in
America," paints a vivid picture of the growing epidemic in the black
communities. According to the report in some cities one in two black men who
have sex with men are HIV positive. The report goes on to state that looking at
the entire United States, one in four new infections occur among black men.
Would it be to over dramatic of me to compare reading this to reading a horror
book by Stephen King?
Kidding
aside what we have is another wake up call that when it comes to HIV
prevention, black men are not hearing the alarm. To quote the movie, there is
really a failure to communicate but unfortunately that miscommunication is
resulting in a disease slowly ingraining itself like a deep rooted weed into
communities of color and what’s worse is that the weed is left to grow
unattended.
Perhaps one
of the reasons for the continued rise is that there’s an acceptance that black
men are always the ones infected, a growing complacent that is sweeping the
cities and rural areas of this country. I say this as there’s no press release
from elected officials concerning the report. No major media outlet has it as a
breaking news story ticker –taping its way across the screen. There’s no “We
Are the World” moment of celebrities bringing awareness as those moments are
saved for those outside the borders of the United States. A realization that
it’s expected. What’s going on!
Rather than
repeat the information that the report provides, in summary it states that
African-American men are increasing their rate of infection. A question can be
asked why it takes places like Africa to have similar numbers for people to
take action. A bigger question may be why is such a report with huge
disparities simply accepted and why no call to arms not just from the black
community but all communities. Is this a Kayne West moment where he made his
infamous statement during the New Orleans Hurricane tragedy claiming that
‘George Bush doesn’t like black people’ only now replaced with new language
claiming that ‘America doesn’t like black people’ or if I can get more deep and
make the bold statement, ‘Black people don’t like black people’? Are we as a country hiding out in a Superdome
ignorant to the fat that the roof is blowing off over our heads? Or has the
waters of HIV become so deep we feel there’s way to save them all.
Have we
just given up on gay black men? In the tone of Mrs. Romney, have we told
ourselves we created all the HIV posters for you people, supplied you with all
the Magnums condoms, and provided all the incentives for you to get tested?
Feeling no other efforts is deemed necessary, as we tell ourselves that it
doesn’t involve me.
Have gay
black men given up on themselves? Telling ourselves it’s not a matter of if but
a matter of when so why let HIV prevention messages soak into our
consciousness? Have we truly lost value in ourselves and each other that we
don’t wrap before we strap? Or do we have ears plugged with the sounds of
poverty, racism and stigma to not hear the message that our lives matter or
maybe that’s the problem. We’re tired of hearing the message. We want to
pretend it’s a song for someone else.
Has the
deafness of this tragedy afflicted the gay community in general as there’s no
room to discuss HIV in the black community as the agenda has switched to one of
gay marriage. HIV becoming an afterthought that no longer requires us to chain
ourselves to government doors demanding they do something about this? Has the
deafness prevented the black community to storm the doors of local state and
city funded HIV agencies and ask what is being done with our monies that fund
HIV prevention programs and why are we not starting to ask for refunds on a
product that is no longer working or at the very least question why it’s not
working?
I know I’ve
been asking a lot of questions and not giving many answers, or rather not joining
the chorus of intellects who have the answer but can’t apply the solution but
let me just extract one remaining thinking point. Can the absence of reaction
be a rationale as why HIV doesn’t make a difference when it affects gay black
men? If the silence is an indicator it may not be an excuse or provide the
reason but it may give us all a second thought that in the struggle for
equality and gay marriage we should leave room on the plate for something
that’s not going away soon. We’re all affected and infected when it comes to
HIV and the growing rise amongst African-American men.
We need to all yell out the window and ask, ‘What’s Going On’
and make sure that the question doesn't fall on deaf ears.
To see the original report click on the link below and a PDF will open
To see the original report click on the link below and a PDF will open
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