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

So blessed! · #1 08-29-2006, 07:20 PM

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)?

Exquisite5 · #2 08-30-2006, 10:06 AM

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.

AlphaFrog · #3 08-30-2006, 11:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Exquisite5

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 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.

nikki1920 · #4 08-30-2006, 11:41 AM

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.

lovelyivy84 · #5 08-30-2006, 12:18 PM

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.

nikki1920 · #6 08-30-2006, 02:32 PM

It's an interesting question though..

Neosoulchild · #7 08-31-2006, 12:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nikki1920

I would like for the church to take on safer sex education, but I realize that this is a long shot.

If the Church believes that fornication is a sin, homosexuality is a sin, and adultery is a sin, why would they take on safer sex education? Wouldn't that be hypocritical?

So blessed! · #8 08-31-2006, 09:42 AM

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...

jubilance1922 · #9 08-31-2006, 11:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Neosoulchild

If the Church believes that fornication is a sin, homosexuality is a sin, and adultery is a sin, why would they take on safer sex education? Wouldn't that be hypocritical?

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.

Honeykiss1974 · #10 08-31-2006, 11:51 AM

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.

Neosoulchild · #11 08-31-2006, 07:25 PM

I'm not saying that the church should remain silent on the issue at all. That was one of my biggest problems with the reasons/excuses they gave for AIDS being so rampant amongst blacks. The church should be doing more, and T.D. Jakes' remark about the church not being about to hone in on one issue is a load of crap to me. I know the church has addressed teenage pregnancy and drug use before, but I've never heard the church say the answer to teenage pregnancy is the practice of safer sex or the answer to drug abuse is clean needles. That's not addressing the issue of why those behaviors are taking place. If the church's stance is abstinence, I don't think they should compromise that just because society accepts fornication, homosexuality, or adultery. But that's just my opinion.

neosoul · #12 08-31-2006, 09:16 PM

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

GodlyAspiringDr · #13 09-01-2006, 01:04 PM

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...
...

AKA_Monet · #14 09-01-2006, 06:01 PM

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?

BlessedOne04 · #15 09-01-2006, 08:48 PM

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.