Out of Control: AIDS in Black America-- ABC special
 

Did anyone see the ABC special: "AIDS in Black America"?

Here's the link on YouTube:
http://www.youtube.com/results?searc...+black+america (if the link doesn't work, search under "AIDS in Black America")

It's split up into 6 very powerful segments.

If you haven't watched this, please do and share your comments.

I'm a medical student and randomly happened to see this the night before I met a Black patient who came for an HIV/AIDS follow-up blood test/counseling. She'd had unprotected sex with her boyfriend, who turned out to be bisexual. She found out he had HIV only by chance (he never told her). This woman is young and is the sole parent of a child. When I asked her why she didn't use condoms with this man (he'd behaved aberrantly for years) she looked at me and said, "I was so tired of being lonely." Basically, she *willed* her relationship to be monogamous, and ignored the glaring signs that her boyfriend was engaging in high-risk behaviors. So she didn't protect herself.

According to this special and the public health data, this is not rare. This case has been stuck in my mind and I've gotten angrier and sadder the more I've thought about it.

Otherwise saying this is a shame, what are the cultural, personal and social steps we all need to take to keep this disease from continuing to ravage the Black community (esp. Black women)?

I saw this when it aired last week and you are correct, it is quite powerful.

As far as suggestions, I don't really know. I once heard a physician on the radio suggest that ALL AfAm women, be they married or single, should use condoms. I don't know how practical that is. I just don't see myself telling my husband that I since I don't trust that he is not sleeping with other people (when in fact I do) that I want to start using condoms. However, I have a little more protection than most women/wives because since my husband is a commisioned officer in the Navy he gets a yearly AIDS/HIV test w/o question. So if ever comes home jobless....I WILL KNOW.

Now clearly that can't protect me from the time in between testings, but as I said I trust my husband so him cheating with anyone, at this point in our marriage, is not a large concern for me.

On the whole, I think we need to stop looking to the church for guidance on this issue and start AfAm focused public health organizations that focus on this issue. Condoms need to be made ABUNDANT, but other than that I can't say I have an intelligent contribution.

I don't think condoms are enough protection against AIDS for married women to worry about it. Unless you're only with your husband once a month or so, the odds of a condom malfunction are high enough that they pretty much nullify use in frequent intercourse. If your husband has AIDS, and you have intercourse with him on a constant basis, you are probably going to get AIDS regardless of use of a condom.

Until they come up with a 100% effective prevention of STDs, with one night stands, you're still tossing a coin, but I would hope those would be less frequent then a monogamous relationship.

I'd like to see the church take on a more proactive stance, but you know how "righteous" some of our churches can be. I STILL get looked at funny when I bring my daughter to some churches.

How about we just get tested more often? I get a test every 6 months, period point blank. We need to stop stigmatizing people who are HIV positive. It's not a punishment from God nor is it a gay disease. I would like for the church to take on safer sex education, but I realize that this is a long shot.

Agreed with nikki- we all need to stop pretending this isn't out there and take precautions. I honestly don't know how to respond to the question though- how do we make everyone more aware. I feel like I grew up knowing this was out there, as did everyone my generation. It's affected the way I carry myself and conduct my relationships my whole adult life. We have been bombarded with the consequences that risky sexual behavior leads to for decades, but a lot people are just not willing to change, or refrain from this behavior.

It's an interesting question though..

Neosoulchild, your point is well-taken, but I think HIV/AIDS transmission falls under the same rubric as teenage parenthood, street violence, and drug abuse-- which many churches do preach about.

It's about respect of your body (and, in this case, your partner's body). One of the most disturbing parts of the special was when two Af-Am men in the panel said that they had given HIV/AIDS to their S.O.'s, and they showed NO REMORSE. People who don't respect themselves tend to engage in high-risk behaviors and put their partners at risk.

I'm not sure if regular HIV/AIDS screening for each person is the way to go... once you've got it, you've got it. Screening won't make all infected people tell the truth to their partners or try to protect their partners.

Where else other than the church in the Black community are we equipped to deal with issues of self-respect, honesty, candor, and safe sexual relationships????? Not our news stations-- we don't have one. Oprah can't do it all. To my thinking, our music videos are the only mainstream outlet that we share, but most artists choose promiscuity and no-consequences sex as topics instead of education and respect...

Just my opinion...

You can love someone and try to help them and keep them healthy without condoning their behavior. Its more than likely that folks are going to have sex, and so it is better for the church (who has a significant amount of influence) to remain silent, or to go out and try to educate people so that they continue to be healthy?

Not to mention, part of the education process can be a religious decision on why its important to wait until marriage, not only as part of your duty to yourself and your faith, but also because of XYZ health risks.

Well I do not think we can blame "the church" for the HIV/AIDS crisis within our community because their stance/support is one clearly of abstinence. I think first and foremost, many in our community still think HIV/AIDS is a "gay white man" disease and it won't happen to him/her, plain and simple. Think about it. I mean, condoms are easily and readily available. In stores, at schools, health clinics, etc. most of the time for a small fee if not the majority of the time FREE. So the means of protection is there and has been. The question is why aren't people using it because the message that condoms help prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS is out there, everywhere.

ETA: I saw the special when it aired last week and it was very good. I liked how it addressed all areas of potential causes and not just the same old "condoms will fix it" solutions.

^^^ in total agreement
 

I concur... Churches are suposed to deal with the issues facing the community... As a church elder you dont need to know how I got HIV, what you need to be worrying about is my physical, emotional, mental and spiritual well being.

I dedicate my community service hours to helping PLWA (Persons Living With AIDS) and the way black folks are treated is APALLING! (sp) they are the ones coming in to the clinic I volunteer with for housing, legal and financial help. I am trying to get certifed so I can give the HIV Oral test... I can count on my two hands how many black women have come in to get tested for HIV (which btw is free), and I've been with this clinic for about a year now...

p.s. I'm loving your name Neosoulchild :D

My mom's church was having this same discussion recently and thus decided to read All I ever did was love a man by Sharon Denise Allison-Ottey, as a way to broach the topic within the christian women's book club...

If you haven't read the book - pick it up...

Here is the author's homepage...
http://www.allieverdidwasloveaman.com/book.htm

Be safe everyone... We all are at risk regardless of our marital status, sexual preference, and morality...
...

Then, I am unclear why folks tend to gravitate toward the church when they are in the most dire of circumstances...

I guess folks have a strong faith and believe that because Christ did miracles for those in need of health, that the church, especially the Black church will do the same.

IMHO, one of the most powerful "health-related miracle" of Christ out there is the one after crucifixion when the blood of Christ seeped down onto the leper colony and cured them.

IMHO, the second most powerful "health-related miracle" is the pool at Bethesda.

In fact there are many "health-related miracles" that Christ did in healing the sick.

With our new Westernized medical society, where proof of concept is key for the treatment of all diseases, folks afflicted with HIV/AIDS, especially the health disparity of African Americans, particularly women, it is no great wonder why folks always tend to gravitate toward the Black Church to find absolution.

So the key question is given the sordid causes how one actually gets infected with HIV, will they have salvation in their life or after they die?

Moreover, the other issue is that relatively younger African American women are becoming infected by HIV. I doubt the number is high due to IV drug use, which means that they probably getting it by unprotected sex. Moreover, the teenage pregnancy rate has been high in our community for awhile. It is not often that a girl becomes impregnated at first sexual intercourse encounter, although it happens. So essentially are we willing to agree that self-esteem is absent in our young ladies (meaning 9 years old)???

African American women's groups, including our sororities, have addressed these issues for over 20 years, and now we have the complexity of HIV/AIDS...

I think there does need a multi-prong attack to end this devestation in the United States of America.

And I think some groups are going to have to take some open-minded stances...

That includes the Church and its moral adjudication on people.

Because when you alienate people based on moral reprehension, groups of them start to die off like flies... And is that very Christian?

We are all our brother's and sister's keeper... That is what we call humanity... If we believe in a higher power, then we need to help others even when we abhor their livelihood. But "right action", folks less that able learn and build from that. Why should the Church be used as a destructive tool rather than to build up His kingdom?

Aside from the statistics, the Presidential debate really angered me because of the lack of knowledge of political leaders to the AIDS epidemic in THIS country. We talk about other countries but people are dying right here and IMO it is just another way the government (Both Democrat and Republican) don't care about the African Americans unless it is election time.

I'm a Certified HIV Tester and Prevention Counselor, and I would have to disagree regarding your statement about condoms not being effective enough for individuals engaged in frequent sex with one another. If you use a condom correctly, even if you have sex a lot, the odds of your condom malfunctioning don't increase. Studies have shown that individuals who use condoms while engaging in vaginal intercourse with an infected partner are not very likely to contract the virus. It's much easier to get pregnant or become infected with Hepatitis than it is to contract HIV, which is why using a condom is more effective at staving off HIV than it is for preventing pregnancy or Hepatitis. Of course, no method of protection is 100% fail proof. However, its very dangerous to give people the impression that condom use is ineffective at preventing HIV transmission. If more people used condoms all the time, the rate of transmission would drop drastically.

I was waiting on someone to speak on that because I totally disagreed too. I just didn't want to do any research to locate the facts.

Pertaining to the question at hand, I feel that sex education should be more detailed. I feel that people with HIV/AIDS should speak in these sessions and state their view including how/why they got it, how it effects everyday life, etc. I think people put too much trust in their partners. Testing should be done every six months, and paper work should always be requested for proof of the results. Partners should ask for paperwork and still take into consideration the time frame it takes for the virus to show up in the body. There are many things that can be done. People just get caught up in the moment and are too trusting.

I'm working on that righ' now... church!

Soblessed already posted a beginning to the REAL reason why this disease is rampant in our communities and here it is.....


Don't get me wrong. I think education of the disease is important, but that has been going on for years and yet in still our infection rates are climbing. Everyone has heard the medical information, they've heard the Rae Lewis Thortons speak on what it's like to live with the disease, they've seen the Girlfriends episode, but yet and still we are dying at alarming rates and the answer (IMO) isn't as simple as throwing blame at the church or more phamlets at it.

Call me old fashioned, but I really believe that destruction of the black family is the root of MANY problems that disproportionately affect the black community today. I really do. Within the confines of a family, there is so much to learn. The way we deal with the opposite sex begins with the relationships that we have with our father. And if he is absent, there is nothing there to fill that void so we are left to fill it with something or someone else, regardless of the consequences. Take the example above, you have a woman that is willing to overlook behavior that SHE KNOW may be putting her in danger all for the temporary sense of feeling loved. It is feeling (of being wanted, to belong, to feel loved) that causes many otherwise sounded minded people to do crazy things.

If you are a person that work or interact with young women today, you can see this. Way to many young women are willing to do ANYTHING in order to get some young knuckle head boy to like them (or because he said that the loved her). In today's world, having a baby by some boy is the equivalent (during out time) of wearing his letter jacket or class ring. Somehow, someway we need to instill in us (women) a sense of self worth and self love. That our lives are worth so much more than a temporary pleasure or a false sense of security or love.

I don't know. I'm sure there isn't necessarily just ONE answer to this epidemic, but I do know that people are educated about the disease.....so why are we ignoring that information? I think that's where we need to start...with the why.

Be blessed yall! :)

Yes I agree with the previous poster-the lack of stability and father figures in the home, play an important part in both young women and men's lives. However, I believe it goes deeper than that- we are facing a moral crisis in our country. We are inundated with sex in society and this carries over into the behavior that we see in society today. Sex is advertised from soda pop to music videos. Is it any wonder that most young people and some older can't escape the hype? Whatever happened to abstincence and celibacy? Old fashioned values, I know -but somehow it seemed to be working in previous generations and we didn't have the rash of unwanted pregnacies, and stds. So I think another message needs to be conveyed to both young and old alike before its too late-or is it?

The moral crisis begins at home...
 

I agree with Lady of Pearl.

My thinking:
1) anyone with children needs to get BET and MTV off of their cable (even if you don't let them watch it, they're sneaking it in)
2) restrict TV watching in the home
3) kick their kids off the Internet unless they are sitting next to them (all kids say they're doing their homework online, but then when they disappear with some man they met online, you find out what the real deal is)
4) turn off the radio... when parents are in the car with their kids, why do I hear so many playing rap and R&B with lyrics that I assume they wouldn't want their children to repeat?
5) talk about sexual responsibility *AND* consequences from an early age so the first time children hear about it isn't from their classmates or their little boyfriends/girlfriends, it's from their parents.

Fractured families, absent fathers, whirlwinds of stand-in daddies, and poor choices have also not helped our young women learn self-pride and independence, or our young men to learn responsibility and respect of women.

Since society won't do it for us, we need to individually and familially find the strength to make a moral stand so that our children grow up with a strong sense of values. It's not impossible, but maybe I'm too idealistic.

I'm going to have to disagree with you on that one--parents should WATCH TV with their kids, even BET and MTV, to start a dialogue about self-esteem and proper behaviors.

Granted, it's been at least 10 years since I've watched anything on BET, but a major part of TV during my adolescence was watching "The Real World." Today, it seems that the show is terrible and completely trashy, but the third season, when Pedro was on, ended showing people--especially people of color--that HIV/AIDS is something that happens to people who are smart, educated, comes from a good family, or good-looking. My mother watched the episodes with us, and we usually talked afterwards. My schools certainly weren't talking about it, and when it was discussed, it was alluded to as an issue that only affected deviants. But now, 12 years or so later, I believe that watching that show, followed by healthy dialogue, impacted the way I carry myself today.

There's really no excuse for not getting tested, other than not wanting to know.

[QUOTE=Munchkin03;1326212]I'm going to have to disagree with you on that one--parents should WATCH TV with their kids, even BET and MTV, to start a dialogue about self-esteem and proper behaviors."

You note a good exception with Pedro's case, but most of the stuff that I've seen on BET and MTV isn't educational-- it's addicting! And it's garbage. Now, I'm a grown woman so I can choose to watch the garbage if I want to. (let's be real, it's often entertaining.) Children are more impressionable, though, and I think we have to set limits on what they have access to.

So I disagree that a major source of dialogue about self esteem and proper behaviors should be MTV or BET, or TV in general. Why do you have to watch women running around in bikinis or shaking their stuff in the video camera to prompt a discussion about how to carry oneself like a lady? How does Cribs promote hard work and family values?

There are more positive and less-damaging guides for proper conduct. Go to a spelling bee, see a play, demand manners in public and private...

[QUOTE=So blessed!;1326332]Note how I said "parents should WATCH TV with their kids." Nowhere did I say that MTV/BET should be a major source of dialogue about anything--it's one hell of a jumping-off point, however. OF COURSE I know that there are other vehicles for discussing life issues; but with the barrage of media that this generation faces, we have to at least consider that a lot of kids watch this stuff, often unsupervised. It is our role as adults to at least find out what they're watching so we can discuss how this clashes with our own value system.

There were very few channels that I was allowed to watch unsupervised until maybe middle school or so...among them Disney Channel and PBS. If there was something that we wanted to watch, my parents usually watched it with us, and if there were questions/concerns, they were brought up then. I think that if watching cable TV had been verboten in our household, I would have found other ways to see what I wanted--without the post-viewing dialogue. That to me would have been far more harmful.

This month's Essence (with Sanaa on the cover) has the 1st of a 2-part series about HIV/AIDS in the Black community. I thought it was an interesting and pretty powerful article.

Pre-marital sex and promiscuity should be made taboo (AGAIN) in our community. I don't believe it is "a given" that people are going to have sex with people they've known for a brief time, no more than it is "a given" that people are going to smoke. The Sex-in-the-City/Desperate-Housewives society in which we live would like us to believe this behavior is normal, routine... but "the devil is a lie" and our falling for said lie has led to the high rates of AIDS, divorce, and illegitimates ( :rolleyes: ), just to name a few.

While I DO agree that parents and the church, young adults and older adults alike, have a responsibility to instill values of self-respect, self-worth and self-love (and respect and love for our community) in each generation, I believe "safe sex" education leads only to confusion, compromise, and consequences fatal to our future.

Tomorrow Oprah is having a show about AIDS. I think her show is about women and AIDS. I think it's Oprah will be speaking to a panel of six women infected with the disease.

I know . .and I really want to see this episode, but I have class at that time. Good thing NY replays Oprah @ 1am

Off topic a little, but as for watching MTV and BET with your kids, thats a good idea...I plan on sitting with them and watching it, and any time they express something like "thats cool" or they laugh at something, I'm gonna hit them in the forehead with a rolled up newspaper and say "No." Hopefully this will work.

Quote:

Originally Posted by southernelle25 (Post 1343301) Pre-marital sex and promiscuity should be made taboo (AGAIN) in our community.... I believe "safe sex" education leads only to confusion, compromise, and consequences fatal to our future.

I need further clarification on the above statements before I go off the deep end...

It's time to go off the deep end, if you ask me. In any case, I am not sure what further clarification you need. Where there is no sex before marriage, there is NO chance of an unwanted pregnancy or the acquisition of a sexually transmitted disease. Besides that, abstinence for a teen, in particular, teaches independence, responsibility, discipline, morality, and self respect, promotes respect for parental authority, and is a critical step toward having "real" relationships and a stable relationship in marriage as an adult.

As for "safe sex" education, it presumes that teenagers will have sex and that they are capable of making decisions about who with and whether the physical and emotional consequences are worth it. The truth is, they don't have to have sex, they won't necessarily have it, and they are not ready to make decisions about sex in the first place, especially not in a society in which sex is treated as a leisurely activity no different from tennis or golf. They will (and do) make poor decisions, compromising their self respect and personal values - and risking their lives, for some "gf" or "bf" they hardly know, just because they think its "safe".

The consequences to our community in this permissive society in which we live speak for themselves - sexually transmitted diseases, abortion, divorce, unwed moms, deadbeat dads, child abuse, etc., problems we didn't suffer at such high rates in the past - when the chance of some guy just assuming he could "hit it" with a black girl was slim to none. She would look at him like :rolleyes: and be on her way, until he came correct and ringed; when a guy wouldn't think of actually bringing home some girl who had "been around the block" and back, because his parents would look at them both like :rolleyes: , and toss her tail back out onto the street. We need to return to them days, or expand that mentality across our community.

The Oprah episode is really interesting. I think that many of our young people, up to about age 30, don't realize that they are at risk for HIV. People are more concerned with pregnancy or other STDs. HIV is often overlooked as something that we can contract as young, heterosexual people.

This was a very informative and powerful episode. But I wonder, how many more times does it have to be aired, how many more times must the message be delivered, in how many ways, for people to get it?

Professional Healthcare Provider Opinion
 

I don't even have to watch Oprah to know what goes on with HIV in women...

After having planned 2 Health Forums where HIV/AIDS is discussed often, I really think our options are limited.

Sexual libido is an extreme strong "feeling" and very difficult "overcome". Some people are strong willed, but most people are sex-crazed maniacs who get busy with a tree if they could.

Having illicit sex with multiple sex partners not only increases one's HIV and STI risk, it also misaligns the neural pathways in the brain. Sex is just as addictive as heroin, crack cocaine and ecstasy...

So in someways, illicit sex with multiple partners has to addressed from an addiction medicine/mental healthcare perspective...

Sincerely,

GC Hospital Chief Medical Officer
Dr. AKA_Monet

:eek: I wasn't aware of the misalignment, but I figured there was a psychiatric component. Is there a connection between this type of addiction and early childhood abuse?

Think about the errogenous zones in the body and those being highly stimulated.

Now think about how "kids" are still developing these zones and what happens if there is inappropriate stimulation.

How does the body know it's being "touched"?

There are either chemicals or electric-like impulses that are transmitted to the brain. They are either interpreted as pleasure or pain. The ability to be emotionally mature (Emotional Quotient), which is a learned behavior, how does a sexually abused child properly make the pleasure and pain distinction? They don't usually if there is no therapy...

Same thing happens to rape victims...

I am reading a lot of scientific articles in top-tiered journals (Science and Nature, as well as JAMA and NEJM), that are only beginning to elucidate the mechanisms of this process.

Dr. AKA_Monet

I read this in the book store yesterday. It very was interesting. I can't wait to read part two.

Quote:

Originally Posted by AKA_Monet (Post 1346763) Having illicit sex with multiple sex partners not only increases one's HIV and STI risk, it also misaligns the neural pathways in the brain. Sex is just as addictive as heroin, crack cocaine and ecstasy...So in someways, illicit sex with multiple partners has to addressed from an addiction medicine/mental healthcare perspective...

The med student had to come out for this one! AKA_Monet is right... childhood trauma may affect brain function and size of certain areas of the brain-- particularly those that affect memory (e.g., hippocampus) and emotional reactivity (amygdala). The clearest associations have been made with physical and sexual abuse.

My point is that the workings of the brain can be altered over time and with trauma to perform differently than the brains of people who did not undergo trauma. Research seems to support the idea that some individuals who
have undergone childhood abuse may have blunted emotional reactivity and memory development, etc. due to the abuse. This may affect sexual behaviors and prompt high-risk behaviors in general.

Those people who engage in sex with multiple partners and with apparent recklessness (but who haven't undergone childhood trauma) may still have neural alterations in response to this behavior. The behavior itself may be considered a form of self-abuse, and perhaps feeds back to the brain in a way that's similar to childhood abuse. Perhaps it even lowers their ability to have a "normal" emotional reaction in subsequent encounters (which is why they can continue to have high-risk sex over and over again).

Interesting idea...