Featured

What Happens After World AIDS Day

Published

12 years ago

January 2, 2014

WORLD AIDS Day on Dec. 1 is celebrated as a show of unity in the global fight against AIDS and to commemorate those who died from the disease. But after the day passes, many people forget that for those who are ill, AIDS is a reality every day.

Partners in the fight against HIV/AIDS have made dramatic progress on several fronts, but

Maurice Graham (AIDS for AIDS Africa Director and member of BASE/BTAN)

startling statistics illustrate a stark reality for many African Americans. It seems for the last 20 years the barometer for African American HIV transmissions remain unchanged.

African Americans are only 13 percent of the U.S. population, but account for 44 percent of new HIV infection cases. Over the course of their lives, an estimated 1 in 16 Black men and 1 in 32 Black women will be diagnosed with a HIV infection.

In 2010, an estimated 16,188 Blacks were diagnosed with AIDS in the United States, a number that has slowly decreased since 2007. By the end of 2009, an estimated 250,745 Blacks with an AIDS diagnosis had died in the U.S.

Locally, a report released in 1997 by the African American State of Emergency HIV/AIDS Task Force convinced Alameda County to declare the nation’s first health emergency in the Black community.

This state of emergency still exists, and the task force, now known as BASE (Bay Area African American State of Emergency coalition), continues to work to improve performance measures in Alameda and San Francisco County, determined to see a change in how HIV impacts African American communities.

tic-tac and sweet-tarts packaged simulated medicines people with HIV have to take everyday was given in lieu of standard wafers and juice for communion at City of Refuge UCC Church in Oakland and Sojourner Truth Presbyterian Church in Richmond.

The theme of World AIDS Day this year was “Getting to Zero” – zero infections, zero AIDS-related deaths and zero stigma and discrimination. By engaging all parts of the community, BASE seeks to change and expand the dynamics of how services are delivered, beginning with HIV education, testing and linking those infected to health care.

In 2013, BASE members were instrumental in creating Alameda’s Faith Collaborative, to help pastors and ministers incorporate HIV/AIDS ministries into their services and places of worship year round.

BASE has also begun working with the non-profit, “AIDS for AIDS Africa,” to expand its speaker’s bureau. Through the bureau, HIV positive individuals are armed with the latest and accurate information and also are able to tell their stories about of how it is to live with HIV/AIDS, putting a face on the disease.

The speakers will go to schools, churches and other events. The benefit of seeing HIV as something that affects real people is priceless and for some life changing. BASE also released a health guide designed specifically for African American youth populations, and a plan for African American women health referral guide is coming in 2014.

The goal is to raise the daily visibility of HIV and AIDS, so that people understand that the epidemic is an ever-present problem. BASE is always looking for funders and individuals willing to contribute time, money and skills to help this movement.

For more information, contact Jesse Brooks at (510) 575-8245 or mrjessebrooksii@gmail.com

Oakland Post

Posts by Oakland Post

Up Next

Dan Siegel Joins Mayoral Race

Don't Miss

Unemployed Seek Work at West Oakland Job Resource Center

Oakland Post

Click to comment

Activism

Oakland Post: Week of July 2- 8, 2025

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of July 2 – 8, 2025

Published

4 days ago

July 7, 2025

Oakland Post

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.

Oakland Post

Posts by Oakland Post

#NNPA BlackPress

Trump Set to Sign Largest Cut to Medicaid After a Marathon Protest Speech by Leader Jeffries

BLACKPRESSUSA NEWSWIRE — The bill also represents the biggest cut in Medicare in history and is a threat to the health care coverage of over 15 million people. The spending in Trump’s signature legislation also opens the door to a second era of over-incarceration in the U.S.

Published

1 week ago

July 3, 2025

Oakland Post

By Lauren Burke

By a vote of 218 to 214, the GOP-controlled U.S. House passed President Trump’s massive budget and spending bill that will add $3.5 trillion to the national debt, according to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO). The bill also represents the biggest cut in Medicare in history and is a threat to the health care coverage of over 15 million people. The spending in Trump’s signature legislation also opens the door to a second era of over-incarceration in the U.S. With $175 billion allocated in spending for immigration enforcement, the money for more police officers eclipsed the 2026 budget for the U.S. Marines, which is $57 billion. Almost all of the policy focus from the Trump Administration has focused on deporting immigrants of color from Mexico and Haiti.

The vote occurred as members were pressed to complete their work before the arbitrary deadline of the July 4 holiday set by President Trump. It also occurred after Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries took the House floor for over 8 hours in protest. Leader Jeffries broke the record in the U.S. House for the longest floor speech in history on the House floor. The Senate passed the bill days before and was tied at 50-50, with Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski saying that, “my hope is that the House is gonna look at this and recognize that we’re not there yet.” There were no changes made to the Senate bill by the House. A series of overnight phone calls to Republicans voting against, not changes, was what won over enough Republicans to pass the legislation, even though it adds trillions to the debt. The Trump spending bill also cuts money to Pell grants.

“The Big Ugly Bill steals food out of the hands of starving children, steals medicine from the cabinets of cancer patients, and equips ICE with more funding and more weapons of war than the United States Marine Corps. Is there any question of who those agents will be going to war for, or who they will be going to war against? Beyond these sadistic provisions, Republicans just voted nearly unanimously to close urban and rural hospitals, cripple the child tax credit, and to top it all off, add $3.3 trillion to the ticking time bomb that is the federal deficit – all from a party that embarrassingly pretends to stand for fiscal responsibility and lowering costs,” wrote Congressional Black Caucus Chairwoman Yvette Clarke (D-NY) in a statement on July 3.

“The Congressional Budget Office predicts that 17 million people will lose their health insurance, including over 322,000 Virginians. It will make college less affordable. Three million people will lose access to food assistance through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). And up to 16 million students could lose access to free school meals. The Republican bill does all of this to fund tax breaks for millionaires, billionaires, and corporations,” wrote Education and Workforce Committee ranking member Rep. Bobby Scott (D-VA) in a statement. The bill’s passage has prompted Democrats to start thinking about 2026 and the next election cycle. With the margins of victory in the U.S. House and U.S. Senate being so narrow, many are convinced that the balance of power and the question of millions being able to enjoy health care come down to only several thousand votes in congressional elections. But currently, Republicans controlled by the MAGA movement control all three branches of government. That reality was never made more stark and more clear than the last seven days of activity in the U.S. House and U.S. Senate.