Two Youth-Focused Groups Leading the Fight Against HIV/AIDS in the Black Community
(Pictured: Members of WE SPEAK, a program of Young Women of Color HIV/AIDS Coalition. Kymsha Henry (bottom left) is the Co-Director of YWCHAC, and Claire Simon (middle) is the chair of the YWCHAC steering committee)
February 7th is National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day (NBHAAD), a national effort to encourage more HIV testing in the Black community, education about how HIV is spread, and advocacy around developing sound interventions that encourage more Blacks to get tested for HIV. National organizations, researchers, academic institutions, and local social service programs continue to provide more ways to encourage the Black community to not only get tested for HIV, but to also become more knowledgeable about ways to reduce HIV transmission, and where to go for treatment if one receives a positive test for HIV.
The biggest focus of NBHAAD is on testing. In many communities, along with the Black community, we often see individuals get tested, via blood testing or through testing the saliva using rapid tests like Oral Quick. While testing is always a bigger component to preventing the spread of HIV, it’s nothing if it’s not paired with education (including how the virus is spread as well as how it’s not spread, when someone as an AIDS diagnosis, and universal precautions to prevent infection) that empowers others to get tested, decrease the stigma of getting testing, and seeking treatment.
Many of these efforts are being led by young people, and especially young women of color, who care enough about their communities to make sure that their peers do not fall victim to HIV/AIDS. Through creative workshops, campus and community advocacy, social media, and entertainment, many young people are becoming the face of HIV activism.
Here are two youth-focused groups that hold a special place in my heart and are changing the way we look at HIV activism. Learn more about their effect in their communities and school campuses, and find out how you can support their efforts: (more…)