What can I do to fight for the AIDS epidemic in the black community?

Last night I watched the special they had on HIV & AIDS in the black community and how it is out of control. It sadden and devastated me. I'm upset at how it has been somewhat ignored by the government and how we as blacks are somewhat oblivious to it. Other than protecting myself, what can I do to take a stand a fight for the cause to stop the rapid spread of the disease?

Answers:
Fight drugs. The efficacy of transmission of the virus is much greater through shared needles than through sex (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AIDS#Transmission_and_prevention) . Get involved with your local public school and volunteer your time to talk to kids. You should also spread awareness of treatments which prevent transmission from mother to child (during childbirth), etc - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AIDS#Treatment. Finally, approach your local baptist church (or another church with primarily black congregation). They are bound to have resources and suggestions and will be happy for you to get involved.

Volunteer for an AIDS-related cause or church ministry. That would really help.
become a spokesperson in your community on awareness..people do listen when you show them the truth
Make other people aware that this is a very serious matter that should not be taken lightly
Make it known about places that offer free condoms like clinics and stuff. Even some schools have them!
Get as much publicity as possible for the cause, try and engage prominent black citizens to join the fight. Lobby as many black politicians as you can.
Hiv/Aids has no borders, sexuality or race.
Good luck.
Get involved with an advocacy group. Help hand out free condoms with information pamphlets. Remind your friends to get checked regularly (meaning every time they are with someone new) and to use protection. Get involved with the schools, push them to stop teaching just abstinance - talk to students about condoms, and MAKE THEM AVAILABLE.

Making AIDS ok to talk to about is the first step. So many different communities out there, but the one thing they all have in common is no one wants to talk about AIDS because no one wants to talk about sex. Personally I'd rather talk about sex with teenagers than talk to them after about abortions, adoptions, HIV or other STDs.
Educate anyone who will listen. Learn as much as you can about HIV and tell everyone that will listen what you have learned. Let everybody know that there is a crisis and that we all have to do something about it. Join an organization that helps to stop the spread of AIDS. If you are scientifically talented, or know someone who is, go to school for medicine and learn as much as you can about how it works and what can be done on a scientific basis to fight it. For some really "hard core" information (very advanced - meant for doctors and scientists) go to the Entrez Life Sciences Search Engine and type in "human immunodeficiency virus" in the search window and look at the articles. The good news is that the program last night has got the word out, so people like you will do something about it. For further information feel free to contact me - I study retroviruses, and HIV is one of them. You can also recruit people to volunteer for clinical trials of vaccines and medicines used to fight AIDS. There is a lot you can do, but you have done the most important thing of all and that is to start asking questions - lots of them!
Ok, first, I think your quest is noble to say the least. But please don't make it the governments fault that the black community has the problem you speak of. Our government isn't responsible for your decision to have unprotected sex or use illegal drugs. Unprotected sex and sharing needles for IV drug use are huge. So I would suggest you try and help educate your neighborhood on the precautions. Such as condoms, and only using a syringe for ones self and not using a "community" needle to get high. I'm not advocating illegal drug useage, but if your going to do it, take precautions, or better yet get clean.
I saw that also. Did you see Jesse Jackson. What a waste of time!!

TALK TO EVERYONE YOU KNOW ABOUT AIDS!! Do the research and speak out to those around you.

Look into civic groups in your community. If you go to church, bring it up with your church leader.

See what BLACK colleges are doing to address this issue and tell them you want to help.

EDUCATE EVERY (BLACK) PERSON YOU KNOW!
Be very vocal, but make your target audience members of your community, formally and informally. And please don't preach the idea that the government should be responsible for the sexual practices of people, when the information is already so readily available. Don't take the attitude that the "man" is somehow responsible for this phenomenon. That attitude has not gotten any of the current black leaders much of anywhere in this current culture. Poverty and lifestyle associated with poverty are largely responsible. THAT part of it you CAN blame on the history and culture of this country. But playing the blame game is not going to get on top of this epidemic.

You won't see it in the mass media either, (politically incorrect to say) but another disease that is found pretty exclusively in American Blacks is syphilis. I know that because I was involved in collecting the data, and the study was not published because it was simply too sensitive, and that was a decade ago. It would have been too "racist" to publish. Now it is "racist" not to have said something. Can't have it both ways. Simply, it is unprotected sex, and lots of it that is the culprit in both diseases.

We need someone like MLK, Jr. on the horizon to really *lead* people with concepts and a plan that will work.
many of the black women i work with say that their black boyfriends will just NOT wear condoms. i got the sense it was a cultural thing, like the men thought it would make them less manly. so it seems like if you could talk openly to all the black women and men you know about the importance of condom use, maybe someone would listen. good luck to you
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