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World AIDS Day: Rapid Tests at LGBTQ Center

NNPA NEWSWIRE — Earlier this year, Congresswoman Barbara Lee of Oakland released a statement of concerns regarding the rate of new Black infections, and new diagnoses. As of 2018, despite comprising just 13 percent of America’s population, African Americans represented 42 percent of all people living with HIV.
The post World AIDS Day: Rapid Tests at LGBTQ Center first appeared on BlackPressUSA.

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By Dianne Anderson | Precinct Reporter News Group

It’s one thing to be Black, Latinx or a woman trying to seek adequate healthcare for any problem, and it’s another to be any of those in addition to being gay and trying to get around biases built into the medical system.

Wiley Phillips, an epidemiologist at the LGBTQ center, finds it a bitter pill to take when she goes to the doctor, and they ask about her husband, but her partner is female.

She believes individuals end up delaying health care because they’re scared or uncomfortable going into providers’ offices.

“That’s more true for the already marginalized community of LGBTQ, the pockets or subpockets being blatantly discriminated against or feeling the impact of exclusion. It’s certainly a massive issue,” said Phillips, MPH and manager of health services at the center.

Another frequently ignored big issue is the impact of HIV/AIDS on straight women, who represent 19% of new diagnoses worldwide, mostly attributed to heterosexual sex.

But in America, Black women continue to experience the brunt of new cases among women.

“Black women are disproportionately affected by HIV as compared to women of other races/ethnicities. Although annual HIV infections remained stable overall among Black women from 2015 to 2019, the rate of new HIV infections among Black women is 11 times that of white women and four times that of Latina women,” the CDC reports.

In all for 2019, 26% of new HIV infections were among Black gay and bisexual men, 23% among Latino gay and bisexual men, and 45% among gay and bisexual men under the age of 35.

California Department of Public Health has some good news. From 2010 to 2020 the overall rate of new HIV diagnoses decreased by 37% among Black/African Americans 55% in the rate of new HIV diagnoses among Blacks 45-54 years old and a 15% decline in the rate of new HIV diagnoses among Black men 25-34 years old.

But the bad news is that for Black women, during that same time, it’s up 21% in the rate of new HIV diagnoses among Black women 13-24 years old.

Not helping matters, testing decreased through the pandemic as other diseases emerged. While the situation is better than even ten years ago, health providers stress that antiretroviral drugs only work when people actually take them.

Phillips said their clinic is pushing to get more people in the door. In conjunction with World AIDS Day, she is working with the Long Beach Health Department for a health fair. They are planning a walk at her clinic that day, shuttling people back and forth to resources.

To her understanding, the clinic also experienced a decrease in walk-ins during the pandemic, which primarily was testing with Rapid HIV tests. They implemented precautions at that time, but they also experienced staffing shortages.

“Ultimately, [it] led us to not having the capacity to have walk-in and regularly booked appointments, which is something we’re trying to get back to. The pandemic was a large barrier in getting people tested,” she said.

Rapid testing results are available within 60 seconds and she is trying to get the word out to the community that it is very accurate. They also have different options, including a more extensive panel, available for those who prefer more conventional tests.

Those tests would be great to have at home, but she said that approach could hinder accurate documentation. HIV/AIDS is an infectious disease, and the CDC and FDA want to monitor cases within communities to determine the rate of spread.

To determine an accurate representation of infection in the Long Beach community, she said one of their grants requires that they meet specific qualifications throughout the year, which is to report at least 1% of infectivity for HIV.

It’s not that they want to see 1% infections, but she said they must get as many rapid tests out into the community as possible to pull back real numbers.

“Some might think isn’t it good to have a lower HIV infectivity rate? We know that’s just not the reality with our population. We know with Long Beach there is a high population of people living with HIV,” she said, which lately includes a large population of Latinx men.

With the holidays coming up, testing is expected to be busier than usual, the same as the weeks following LGBT Pride. The center is located at 2017 East 4th Street in Long Beach.

“I would imagine that the holidays would be a time when people are more conscious of their status, and hope that it’s an initiative to get people in the door,” she said. “We want to help everybody and provide any service we can to provide prevention treatment, education, or everything in between.”

Earlier this year, Congresswoman Barbara Lee of Oakland released a statement of concerns regarding the rate of new Black infections, and new diagnoses. As of 2018, despite comprising just 13 percent of America’s population, African Americans represented 42 percent of all people living with HIV.

“After 40 years of combating this disease, we know that we cannot end this epidemic without addressing the racial injustice that prevents Black communities from receiving the medical care they deserve. I am proud to reintroduce this important resolution to increase awareness, spark conversations, highlight the work to reduce HIV in Black or African American communities, and show support for people with and vulnerable to HIV in these communities,” she said.

For more information on services and testing, see https://www.centerlb.org/ or call (562) 434-4455

https://www.longbeach.gov/health/services/clinics/hiv-aids-clinic/

To see the Jama study of Black Women and HIV Prevention, http://bit.ly/3UfGqim.

This article originally appeared in The Precinct Reporter News Group.

The post World AIDS Day: Rapid Tests at LGBTQ Center first appeared on BlackPressUSA.

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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.

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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.

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WATCH: NNPA Publishers Pivot To Survive

7.2.25 via NBC 4 Washington

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7.2.25 via NBC 4 Washington

https://youtube.com/watch?v=9oZc5Sz0jQQ&feature=oembed

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Congressional Black Caucus Challenges Target on Diversity

BLACKPRESSUSA NEWSWIRE — we found that the explanations offered by the leadership of the Target Corporation fell woefully short of what our communities deserve and of the values of inclusion that Target once touted

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By Stacy M. Brown
Black Press USA Senior National Correspondent

Target is grappling with worsening financial and reputational fallout as the national selective buying and public education program launched by the Black Press of America and other national and local leaders continues to erode the retailer’s sales and foot traffic. But a recent meeting that the retailer intended to keep quiet between CEO Brian Cornell and members of the Congressional Black Caucus Diversity Task Force was publicly reported after the Black Press discovered the session, and the CBC later put Target on blast.

“The Congressional Black Caucus met with the leadership of the Target Corporation on Capitol Hill to directly address deep concerns about the impact of the company’s unconscionable decision to end a number of its diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts,” CBC Chair Yvette Clarke stated. “Like many of the coalition leaders and partner organizations that have chosen to boycott their stores across the country, we found that the explanations offered by the leadership of the Target Corporation fell woefully short of what our communities deserve and of the values of inclusion that Target once touted,” Congresswoman emphasized.  “Black consumers contribute overwhelmingly to our economy and the Target Corporation’s bottom line. Our communities deserve to shop at businesses that publicly share our values without sacrificing our dignity. It is no longer acceptable to deliver promises to our communities in private without also demonstrating those values publicly.”

Lauren Burke, Capitol Hill correspondent for Black Press of America, was present when Target CEO Cornell and a contingent of Target officials arrived at the U.S. Capitol last month. “It’s always helpful to have meetings like this and get some candid feedback and continue to evolve our thinking,” Cornell told Burke as he exited the meeting. And walked down a long hallway in the Cannon House Office Building. “We look forward to follow-up conversations,” he stated. When asked if the issue of the ongoing boycott was discussed, Cornell’s response was, “That was not a big area of focus — we’re focused on running a great business each and every day. Take care of our teams. Take care of the guests who shop with us and do the right things in our communities.”

A national public education campaign on Target, spearheaded by Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis Jr., president and CEO of the National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA), the NNPA’s board of directors, and with other national African American leaders, has combined consumer education efforts with a call for selective buying. The NNPA is a trade association that represents the more than 220 African American-owned newspapers and media companies known as the Black Press of America, the voice of 50 million African Americans across the nation. The coalition has requested that Target restore and expand its stated commitment to do business with local community-owned businesses inclusive of the Black Press of  America, and to significantly increase investment in Black-owned businesses and media, Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU, Black-owned Banks, national Black Church denominations, and grassroots and local organizations committed to improving the quality of life of all Americans, and especially those from underserved communities. According to Target’s latest earnings report, net sales for the first quarter of 2025 fell 2.8 percent to $23.85 billion compared to the same period last year. Comparable store sales dropped 3.8 percent, and in-store foot traffic slid 5.7 percent.

Shares of Target have also struggled under the pressure. The company’s stock traded around $103.85 early Wednesday afternoon, down significantly from roughly $145 before the controversy escalated. Analysts note that Target has lost more than $12 billion in market value since the beginning of the year. “We will continue to inform and to mobilize Black consumers in every state in the United States,” Chavis said. “Target today has a profound opportunity to respond with respect and restorative commitment.”

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