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NBHAAD Chairperson's Welcome Message

It is my distinct honor and privilege to welcome you to the National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day 2012 official website, we have worked very hard this year to bring you a robust website that is both comprehensive and useful throughout the year. Here we are 30 years into the epidemic and we are about to change course, just a little. The shift now seems to be Treatment as Prevention, which I think is quite helpful, when you realize that the only way an HIV- person can contract HIV sexually is through engaging with an HIV+ person unprotected or in a very risky manner.

I am also excited about the Black AIDS Free Generation concept being launched this year. According to a Switzerland Study, experts say individuals with undetectable viral load and no STI (sexually transmitted infections) cannot transmit HIV during sex. You will probably never hear this being said in the United States, as there is a perception that it will promote risky behavior. The hope is that those living with HIV and newly testing HIV+ begin to consider antiretroviral therapy after consulting a health care provider. Thus, those who are accessing treatment and adhering to their medication regimen and are undetectable are less likely to be transmitting HIV during unprotected and risky sex behavior.

Let me be clear, I am not advocating unprotected sex. I am advocating those living with HIV and newly testing HIV+ to consider accessing treatment and starting antiretroviral therapy after consulting with your health care provider. By accessing treatment and adhering to a medicine regimen, one can almost eliminate being diagnosed with AIDS during their lifetime. While this has been greatly simplified, this is what we mean by a Black AIDS Free Generation. At the end of the day, it is an individual's choice and ultimate decision on whether to start taking medicine and enter treatment.

Our theme this year focuses on the direction we have to take, "Changing the Course of HIV/AIDS, One Black Life at a Time!" It is apparent to me that if we keep on doing what we have always done, we are going to keep on getting what we have always gotten. We have to change the course and consider operating on the edge or outside the norm to see if we can identify additional strategies that work to prevent, educate, and get Black communities involved. I can't underscore this any stronger, we are all we have. With this in mind, we have to remove the barriers within ourselves and externally that prevent us from doing the work we need to do to develop and nurture healthy Black communities. We have to confront the destructive prejudices and misguided fears that have served to prevent us from working together. I heard a friend, Leisha McKinley-Beach say during her 2011 World AIDS Day Speech, that there is a seat at the HIV/AIDS education, prevention, care and treatment table for those who have not been participating.

Now is the time to come to the HIV/AIDS education, testing, involvement and treatment table - we have a seat for you. I can't tell you how sad it is to know that we have lost 240,627 Blacks in the United States alone to AIDS since 2008, and even millions more around the world. How many of these brothers, sisters, and transgender individuals did you know? How many more funerals do you need to attend to come to the table? How many more hospital farewells do you have to do to come to the table? I can hear the voices of my friends screaming at me each and every year that I feel like I need to walk away tell me to remember them, and that ignites the fire within me to stay the course.

Everybody knows our country is in an economic crisis, which trickles down to all those projects, programs and services funded by the US Government, this initiative included. We suffered a great financial loss this year, with the elimination of financial support from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. But, we come from a people who worked 400 years without getting paid, raped, robbed, murdered and denied basic human rights and yet we are still here. Susan Taylor (Essence Magazine) says, we are the people who refuse to die!

With this in mind, we are upscaling our solicitation efforts for financial and in-kind support from corporations, foundations, health departments and companies/organizations who see the value and worth of this initiative. We are asking those who can, to mobilize resources in your local area and consider making a donation to National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day. HBC is also taking a significant role in leading, guiding and rebuilding the leadership of this national initiative and I hope you will consider being a part of it. Go HERE for information on how you can become an NBHAAD Leader.

May the God of your understanding bless you abundantly in 2012 and the work you will embark upon. I send you good energy from Atlanta, Georgia to wherever you are in our Beloved Country or this great world we all share.

With A Servant's Heart, I Am...

LaMont "Montee" Evans, NBHAAD Annual Chairperson
National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day