Photos by Hal Tyler

by Camisha Jones

9 minutes and 30 seconds. That’s how often people in America are being infected by HIV.

It’s not just a statistic. These numbers are about people. People like gospel artist James Cleveland, dance legend Alvin Ailey, rapper Easy-E and Los Angeles Dodgers slugger Glenn Burke. These are just four of over 230,000 African Americans who have died of AIDS-related complications since the first official diagnosis of HIV in 1981.

In this 30th year since that first diagnosis, the 2011 World AIDS Day on December 1st offers an opportunity to reflect on the impact of AIDS on the African American community.

According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), AIDS is the third leading cause of death for African American women, aged 25 – 44, and for African American men, aged 35–44. While blacks are only 14 percent of the U.S. population, the CDC reports that they account for almost half of the people living with HIV in the U.S. (46 percent, or an estimated 510,100 persons), as well as nearly half of new infections each year (45 percent, or an estimated 24,900 infections).

As the first organization to establish a community-based HIV/AIDS outreach program in Virginia and a leader among HIV/AIDS service organizations, the Fan Free Clinic (FFC) sees these national statistics playing out locally. Rodney Loften, FFC Community Case Manager, shares that 68% of the FFC clients are African-Americans. He further states that among the African Americans they serve, they are seeing an increase in HIV infections among young women of color, young men who have sex with men and those 50 years old and older.

Community Case Managers Rodney Lofton and Charlene Brown

“One of the main myths related to HIV disease in the African-American community is HIV is a gay disease,” says Loften. “HIV is a disease of behavior. Anyone who engages in high-risk behavior can place themselves at risk for HIV disease. HIV does not discriminate based on race, gender or sexual orientation.

In a fact sheet titled “HIV and AIDS among African Americans,” the Center for Disease Control says the stigma associated with HIV and homosexuality is one of many factors that may increase African Americans’ risk of contracting HIV. The CDC states, “Fear of disclosing risk behavior or sexual orientation may prevent African Americans from seeking testing, prevention and treatment services, and support from friends and family. As a result, too many African Americans lack critical information about how to prevent infection.”

So why should African Americans (and heterosexual African Americans in particular) care about AIDS awareness? Many of the CDC’s statistics offer good reasons to care. If you’re a man and have sixteen or more friends or family members, the statistical likelihood that AIDS is personally affecting someone you love is almost certain. Also, if you are a heterosexual woman, you are among the predominant group of Black women who are 15 times more likely than white women to be infected by HIV. While the majority of Black men who are infected by HIV have sex with men; statistically, Black men – whether they have sex with men or women – are six times more likely than white men to be infected by HIV.

Given these alarming statistics, it is important to know the facts about HIV/AIDS. Greater than AIDS (http://www.greaterthan.org/), a national media and community outreach campaign responding to the impact of AIDS in the African American community, offers a helpful list of things we should know. First, we should know what HIV and AIDS are. HIV or the Human Immunodeficiency Virus weakens the immune system by attacking the cells that defend the body from illness. The virus is spread through infected body fluids such as semen, pre-cum, vaginal fluids, blood and breast milk. The virus is most frequently spread through unprotected sex but can also be spread through the sharing of needles. There has never been a case of the infection being spread by saliva, tears or sweat. Hand-holding, hugs, sharing drinks, and toilet seats do not spread the virus. The most advanced stage of HIV is AIDS or Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome. Getting treatment early helps to keep HIV from progressing into AIDS.

The CDC offers three options to protect yourself from HIV: 1) not having sex; 2) having sex only within a mutually monogamous relationship with a partner who is not infected; and 3) using a latex condom every time you have sex. These rules apply whether you are having anal, vaginal or oral sex. Getting tested and knowing your status is important as it prevents those you have sex with from being infected and ensures that if you are infected you receive treatment as soon as possible. The CDC also recommends that people talk about HIV and risk behaviors as a way to remove the stigma attached to the disease.

The Fan Free Clinic’s World AIDS Day event, RVA Remembers 2011, is likely to get people talking. At exactly 12 o’clock on December 1, 400 red umbrellas will be lifted into the air on Brown’s Island in the formation of a HIV/AIDS memorial ribbon. People will hold the umbrellas up for 9 minutes and 30 seconds, representing the amount of time it takes for yet another American to become newly-infected with HIV.

This display and World AIDS Day is about remembering – not just those we have lost but also the power we have to prevent ourselves and others from being infected with HIV. On December 1st and every day thereafter, may we not forget to use all the life-saving information available to us.

For more information about RVA Remembers 2011, visit www.rvaremembers.com.