National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day - February 7, 2013 | "Our ancestors fought that we might be free - even from HIV!"

National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day will launch a Black AIDS Free Generation website project that focuses on mobilizing individuals living with HIV and those putting themselves at high risk of contracting HIV developed and managed by Healthy Black Communities, Inc. Healthy Black Communities, Inc. (HBC) is a 501(c)3 tax exempt international nonprofit organization founded in August 2001 and located in Atlanta, Georgia whose mission is to protect and promote healthy Black communities, both domestically and internationally - through program, organization and community development.

In November 2011, US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton spoke at the National Institute of Health about creating an AIDS Free Generation (View Video | Read Transcript) and how possible it is for us to do it within our lifetime. In December 2011, for World AIDS Day, President Barack H. Obama, Jr. reiterated the possibility for how an AIDS Free Generation could be possible via the National HIV/AIDS Strategy (View Video | Read Transcript). He also spoke about misguided prejudices and unfounded fears that have prevented different communities from working together.

HBC CEO LaMont “Montee” Evans listened to both speeches and a light bulb went off in regards to how Black communities could also participate in having an AIDS Free Generation, with a specific focus on Black communities. “Nobody living with HIV should ever be diagnosed with AIDS given the advent of medicine, information, and technology. We have to go into those areas where Black folks meet up, hook up, and possibly serve as a platform for HIV transmission if we really want to turn this epidemic around.” says LaMont “Montee” Evans.

To get those living with HIV and AIDS into treatment and care;
Identify and reconnect those who are out of care with local resources;
Retain those currently in HIV/AIDS Care and encourage treatment adherence as well as provide check sheets or a list of questions to ask during doctor visits;
Reduce HIV infection amongst Black Men who have Sex with men and High-Risk Heterosexual Women by offering HIV testing, partnering with testing sites, and promoting regularly testing;
Mobilize Black Men who have Sex with men and High-Risk Heterosexual Women via social media websites, adult sites included, to get educated about HIV and provide links to where to get tested;
To partner with social events, activities, and functions where Black Men who have Sex with men and High-Risk Heterosexual Women have great representation and could benefit from the information being shared; and
Advocate for ADAP Funding and other resources, with a specific focus on the Southern Region of the United States.

We recognize that a large part of those contracting HIV do so by putting themselves at risk sexually or via sharing unclean needles for intravenous drug use. By capitalizing on the technological platforms that have been created to connect individuals and communities, this initiative will be most effective and useful in changing the course of HIV infection and AIDS diagnoses in Black communities.

There’s not a single corner of Black America that has not been affected by this epidemic, and the time calls for new ideas and new initiatives that step outside the box of traditional community mobilization, and test the perimeters of how to educate and encourage testing.

Creating a Black AIDS Free Generation