AIDS AWARENESS & AFRICAN AMERICANS

AfroCentric New's Portal ---Time Capsule reports......................

I am proud to say that preventive measures have steped up , that many in the African American community are being tested more regualarly for the Aid's virus.

'In The Continuum'

"I think as African-Americans, one of the reasons we're opposed to ending the silence is because we're already a stigmatized group of people," says actress Nikkole Salter. Salter (left), plays opposite Danai Gurira in 'In The Continuum,' the story of two black women dealing with the issue of HIV and AIDS in Zimbabwe and South Central Los Angeles.
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Malcolm X once remarked that when white America has a cold, blacks have pneumonia. His metaphor for illness rings especially true as it relates to the current AIDS crisis in the black community, one increasingly dire for black women. The stats are grim: black women in America accounted for 68 percent of all new HIV infections in 2004 -- the overwhelming majority through unprotected heterosexual sex. Young black women (aged 13 to 24) accounted for 68 percent of all new infections in that age group. AIDS remains the leading cause of death for black women ages 25 to 34.Our sisters in Africa are being touched as well. Last year, 3.2 million Africans were infected with HIV. Sub-Saharan or "black" Africa, though only 10 percent of the world's population, makes up 60 percent of people living with AIDS; an estimated 4.6 percent of young women ages 15-24 are infected, compared to only 1.7 percent of men. AIDS has robbed some nine million African children of their mothers Reuters reported earlier this week.More than statistics, though, this is us. Mothers, daughters, sisters, lovers, wives, doctors, teachers, preachers, actors, writers … and the beat goes on. Being that women in both the African and the African-American community tend to be caregivers, when a woman tests HIV positive or dies from AIDS, the whole community is adversely affected.And still we rise: As women the world over become more active in the fight against HIV and the stigma of HIV, demand that women take part in clinical trials, and take more responsibility for their health and well being, the tides will turn. In June, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported a six percent drop in infection rates among Black women between the years of 2000 and 2003."The exciting thing I see, not only in Nigeria, but across the African continent," says Nigerian HIV-positive activist Rolake Odetoyinbo, "is the women are taking leadership where HIV and AIDS is concerned. The most vocal, and the strongest activists and advocates right now are women."The following are profiles of six black women who war against the scourge of HIV and AIDS. Whether in America or on the continent of Africa, they use their skills and gifts to affect a positive change. They are Type A personalities.The Artists:Nikkole Salter & Danai Gurira, New York, NYActresses of 'In The Continuum'The first play to present HIV and AIDS from the perspective of African and African American women, 'In the Continuum' is so strong that its Pulitzer buzz is palpable. Thoughtful actors Danai Gurira, and Nikkole Salter, who met as graduate students at NYU's Tisch School of the Arts, merged their final project into a two-woman play that juxtaposes the very specific lives of two black women -- one from Africa, the other from America -- and their searing trauma as they struggle with a sudden HIV-diagnosis. Gurira, who plays a plethora of characters from the Southern African country of Zimbabwe (where she grew up) and Salter, allowing a sophisticated nuance to working class black women, give subtle, funny and heartbreaking performances. "I consider myself a storyteller with purpose," says Salter. "I try to use my craft to reveal some kind of insight to things that are important to me and my community whether that's AIDS or dating." 'In the Continuum' will show at the Harare International Festival of the Arts in Harare, Zimbabwe April 26-30 and tour nationally through the fall.

Dr. Cheryl Smith, MD

"I think it's important that we protect ourselves because we generally are the protectors of everyone else in the family."
HIV/AIDS at North General
The Advocate:Dr. Cheryl Smith, MD, Harlem, NYChair, Department HIV/AIDS, North General HospitalDr. Cheryl Smith, 42, services about 750 community residents and oversees a staff of 33. Not only providing medical care, Smith's Harlem-based department runs support groups for HIV positive clients with information on the latest medication and clinical trials, as well as an interventional group for women called The Sister Project. "There really is not a lot of information out there specifically looking at HIV in women," says Smith, noting that only two large clinical trials have been conducted for women thus far. The good news is Smith estimates that by June, there will be the simplest medication regimen available yet -- one pill, once a day -- and that in two years, microbicides will be on the market, impacting the rates of HIV transmission here and in developing countries. "Microbicides are going to be gels that you use prior to sex," Dr. Smith explains. "We wouldn't tell women not to use condoms, but, say, her husband doesn't want to use condoms, she can still protect herself."