Showing posts with label culture. Show all posts
Showing posts with label culture. Show all posts

Saturday, December 01, 2007

Aids Rising in the Black Community-World Aids Day

http://www.unaids.org/Resources/UNAIDS/images/feature/stop_aids_wac_1.jpg

Today
is World Aids Awareness Day. This is a day of awareness, Celebration and hope. In recognition of this I am writing today about something that is not often discussed in the black community, that is the increases of the Aids Virus in Black America. This has long been considered a gay white man disease, a disease that only affects men. These are misconceptions that have been stated for the last 20 years since the disease first surfaced. In the 1980's when the epidemic first swept our Nation an estimated 60 percent of around 200,000 HIV infections reported were White Males.The gay community mobilized, however, promoting condom use and early detection to combat the spread of the disease. Their efforts have been quite successful,

However today, with rise of intravenous drug use and the clandestine escapades of "double-dipping" bisexual men for the disproportionately high incidence of HIV infections in the Black community, particularly among Black women. The sharing of dirty needles does account for up to 35 percent of the nation's HIV infections, according to the CDC. And HIV-infected men who have unprotected sex with both men and women (on the downlow syndrome).

The latter group falls in the highest risk group. We have many heterosexual woman who have become "mules." They carry this disease and are not aware they are infected. They are an especially high risk group of heterosexual black women who have been infected by a partner, who may not even know he is carrying the virus.

Whatever the cause, the solutions are clear, We need to spread awareness in the communities, especially about prevention. The aids victims are getting younger and younger. Especially with children being born with the disease. We need a lot of healing and support in the black community. I know this is "WORLD AIDS DAY." however we need to start the knowledge here at home first. We need to put aside the pride, the covering up and recognize that aside from black on black crime that Aids is heading the list for the Genocide of our community.


Sources: Ebony Magazine

Friday, November 30, 2007

Valreca Redden Woman Abused by the Police

Electronic Village: Valreca Redden is Another Pregnant Black Woman Abused by the Police
This is a sad story shared by brother Wayne Hicks over on Electronics Village
It appears in Trotwood Ohio, that another black woman was tasered by the police. How many times do we have to hear these stories before something is done to make sure law enforcement agents are properly trained. I don't mean properly trained to restrain people, but properly trained to follow the procedures they learned at the Academy. The excuse was they did not "know" the woman was pregnant. Would that had made it better? Do we need to have the show "Cops" follow these officers around to guarantee the safety of of people who police are quick to react on? Sad, that is all I can say.