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sorors and friends,
i have to say that the AIDS/HIV epidemic is very close to my heart as one of my parents is dying of the disease as I type this now...
i cannot express to you all the importance of making good CONSCIOUS decisions--- i actually hosted our chapter's annual retreat this past weekend and i made sure that we had numerous community health educators come and discuss it because AIDS/HIV is serious. making sure to get tested is SERIOUS. knowing the consequences of irresponsible behavior is SERIOUS. this is something that we need to talk more about and help raise our awareness of. when i talked to a soror in my chapter about my dad, i was shocked at her response. she said, "for some reason, i cannot picture a black man as having AIDS". THIS is WHY we need to become more EDUCATED so that we can combat people's not knowing and being adequately informed. it's not a black thing, it's not a white thing-- it's an ALL OF US thing. here in florida, last year, 1 in 50 blacks had HIV or AID--
this year, it's one in 46. in the cities of jacksonville and miami, the number is even lower than that. we need to start remembering that if we can't talk about AIDS with our partners, then we shouldn't be sleeping with them! a LOT of people slept on national black AID/HIV awareness day this year (feb. 7th), but we need to make it our business to get the word out, since WORLD AIDS day is coming up in JUNE.
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"Men often become what they believe themselves to be. If I believe I cannot do something, it makes me incapable of doing it. But when I believe I can, then I acquire the ability to do it even if I didn't have it in the beginning."-Gandhi
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