Featured

Defeating AIDS Is a Civil Rights Issue

Published

10 years ago

January 21, 2014

AIDS is a civil rights issue. While statistics show that most HIV testing is done in healthcare settings, health agencies have been trying for many years to figure out how to test in public venues – to reach out to the communities that are most impacted.

However, those African Americans and Latino communities, those who are hardest hit the HIV/AIDS epidemic, seem hesitant to test in public venues.

The latest example: of the thousands of celebrants who turned out Monday at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco commemorate Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day, only nine people were tested for HIV/AIDS.

African Americans have the most severe burden of HIV of all racial/ethnic groups in the U.S. Compared with other races and ethnicities, they account for a higher proportion of HIV infections at all stages of the disease, from new infections to deaths.

Moreover, a number of challenges contribute to the epidemic in Black communities, including poverty, injection drug use, drug addiction, mental illness, limited access to health care, cultural barriers in health care.

< p>But at health events where HIV/AIDS testing is being offered, testers find after 33 years, stigma is still the largest barrier that stops people from testing.

To date, over 230,000 African Americans have died of AIDS related illnesses, nearly 40 percent of total deaths and of the more than one million people living with HIV, almost half are Black, and yet as a racial group, African Americans represent just 14 percent of the U.S. population.

Young African American gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men are especially at risk of HIV infection. New HIV infections among African American women decreased for the first time in 2010.

Blue Williams, program Manager for the DREAM Project (Determined to Respect and Encourage African American Men), a program at the San Francisco AIDS Foundation, has been a certified tester since 2005.

Williams was one of the testers Monday and also was one of the testers at last year’s event.

“The number of people testing was just slightly higher last year, but having nine people getting to know their status is something to celebrate,” he said. “Large events seem to be daunting places to test. A lot of people are here, surrounded by friends or family feel embarrassed, have fear to get tested, or some just feel they are not at risk.

A 2009 survey by the Kaiser Foundation reported a fifth of Black Americans cite HIV/AIDS as the most urgent problem facing the U.S. In another survey, four fifths of African Americans believed that government spending on the disease domestically was insufficient.

The report said African Americans were the most aware about transmission routes, were the most likely to have been tested, were the most likely to say they knew someone who was living with HIV or had died of AIDS, and were the ethnic group that reported experiencing the highest levels of stigma.

Scottie Warren, a case manager for Volunteers of America in Oakland, was a tester at last year’s Art and Soul festival in Oakland, said that during the two-day event, his agency tested over 50 people, and there were three other agencies testing people as well.

Warren says he finds success with his personality, putting them at ease while conveying confidence in his knowledge, but ultimately getting them to see that testing is not a moral judgment or moral indicator, but a health decision.

He also notes that persons of color, including the Latino community that face the same issues and are the second largest population hit.

“People of color tend to test more at events if there is some type of handout, some incentive,” he said.

According to Civil Rights leader and former NAACP Chairman Julian Bond, the importance of testing cannot be overrated.

“It’s sometimes daunting to want to take on something else, but nothing less, we just have to do it,” he said “We must accept responsibility for the growing epidemic and make HIV/AIDS education and prevention a priority.

Up Next

New Law to End California’s Rape Kit Backlog

Don't Miss

MLK, a Drum Major for Justice

Oakland Post

Click to comment

Activism

Oakland Post: Week of September 20 – 26, 2023

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of September 20 – 26, 2023

Published

1 day ago

September 22, 2023

Oakland Post

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of September 20 -26, 2023

To enlarge your view of this issue, use the slider, magnifying glass icon or full page icon in the lower right corner of the browser window.

#NNPA BlackPress

WATCH LIVE! — NNPA 2023 National Leadership Awards Reception

NNPA NEWSWIRE — Welcome to the NNPA 2023 National Leadership Awards Reception
The post WATCH LIVE! — NNPA 2023 National Leadership Awards Reception first appeared on BlackPressUSA.

Published

1 day ago

September 22, 2023

admin

The post WATCH LIVE! — NNPA 2023 National Leadership Awards Reception first appeared on BlackPressUSA.

#NNPA BlackPress

OP-ED: Delivering Climate Resilience Funding to Communities that Need it the Most

NNPA NEWSWIRE — Just last month, FEMA announced nearly $3 billion in climate mitigation project selections nationwide to help communities build resilience through its Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) national competition and Flood Mitigation Assistance program. In total, more than 50% of these projects will benefit disadvantaged communities, and in particular, 70% of BRIC projects will do the same.
The post OP-ED: Delivering Climate Resilience Funding to Communities that Need it the Most first appeared on BlackPressUSA.

Published

2 days ago

September 22, 2023

admin

By Erik A. Hooks, FEMA Deputy Administrator

We know that disasters do not discriminate. Yet, recovery from the same event can be uneven from community to community, perpetuating pre-existing inequalities. Recognizing these disparities, FEMA and the entire Biden-Harris Administration have prioritized equity when it comes to accessing federal programs and resources.

The numbers tell the story.

Just last month, FEMA announced nearly $3 billion in climate mitigation project selections nationwide to help communities build resilience through its Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) national competition and Flood Mitigation Assistance program. In total, more than 50% of these projects will benefit disadvantaged communities, and in particular, 70% of BRIC projects will do the same.

These selections further underscore the Biden-Harris Administration’s commitment to equity and reaffirm FEMA’s mission of helping people before, during and after disasters, delivering funding to the communities that need it most.

Building on this momentum and our people-first approach, FEMA recently announced the initial designation of nearly 500 census tracts, which will be eligible for increased federal support to become more resilient to natural hazards and extreme weather worsened by the climate crisis. FEMA will use “Community Disaster Resilience Zone” designations to direct and manage financial and technical assistance for resilience projects nationwide, targeting communities most at risk due to climate change. More Community Disaster Resilience Zone designations, including tribal lands and territories, are expected to be announced in the fall of 2023.

These types of investments have, and will yield a significant return on investment for communities nationwide.

For example, in my home state of North Carolina, the historic community of Princeville, founded by freed African American slaves, uses BRIC funding to move vulnerable homes and critical utilities out of flood-prone areas.

In East Harlem, BRIC dollars will provide nature-based flood control solutions to mitigate the impacts of extreme rainfall events in the Clinton low-income housing community.

While we are encouraged by these investments, we know more must be done.

Not every community has the personnel, the time or the resources to apply for these federal dollars. Fortunately, FEMA offers free, Direct Technical Assistance to help under-resourced communities navigate the grant application process and get connected with critical resources. Under the leadership of FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell, this assistance has been a game-changer, reducing barriers and providing even more flexible, customer-focused, tailored support to communities interested in building and sustaining successful resilience programs.

In Eastwick, Philadelphia, FEMA’s dedicated support helped the city with outreach to multiple federal agencies. Together, we built a comprehensive community-led flood mitigation strategy. When applied and implemented, this will make this community more resilient to hazards like flooding, which was negatively affecting many neighborhood blocks.

In DePue, Illinois, we worked hand-in-hand with communities to improve their ability to submit high-quality funding applications for hazard mitigation projects. We are happy to share that DePue is the first Direct Technical Assistance community to be selected in the BRIC national competition. And, we know they will not be the last. Thanks to this assistance and their ambition, DePue was awarded more than $20 million to build a new wastewater treatment plant, which will reduce flooding and raw sewage back-up into the basements of homes.

In total, our agency is working with over 70 communities, including tribal nations, to increase access to funding for mitigation projects that will make communities more livable and resilient.

With extreme weather events becoming increasingly intense and frequent due to climate change, we must keep pressing forward and continue investing in ways to better protect ourselves and our neighbors. And we are encouraged that local officials are engaging with us to learn more about the benefits of the BRIC non-financial Direct Technical Assistance initiative—just last week, we saw hundreds of participants nationwide register for a recent webinar on this important topic.

We want to see even more communities take advantage of this initiative, and, ultimately, obtain grants for innovative and forward-looking resilience projects. To that end, FEMA recently published a blog with five steps to help local communities and tribal nations learn more about the benefits of this non-financial technical assistance to access federal funding. I hope your community will take action and submit a letter of interest for this exciting opportunity and increase meaningful mitigation work throughout the country.

With the pace of disasters accelerating, communities can utilize federal resources to reduce their risk and take action to save property and lives. FEMA stands ready to be a partner and collaborator with any community that is ready to implement creative mitigation strategies and help build our nation’s resilience.

The post OP-ED: Delivering Climate Resilience Funding to Communities that Need it the Most first appeared on BlackPressUSA.