According to a study by the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health (DPH), Black and African Americans make up less than 13 percent of the general population but account for more than 49 percent of newly reported HIV/AIDS cases compared to Whites and Hispanics.
I know you’re wondering what I’m talking about. I’m talking about Joseph Abiodun Ladapo. Ladapo is the Surgeon General of Florida and Governor Ronald Dion DeSantis’ handpicked negro.
Whether it is other philanthropists, local or regional health centers, or state and federal officials, there is a desperate need for creative solutions to getting more people screened and saving more lives. Smith’s initiative is an innovative approach, but there are other ways to spread awareness and boost screenings in the Black community.
Those of us who have worked in the community since the inception of the HIV/AIDS pandemic are raising our voices today to honor the memory of the thousands of African Americans/Blacks who have died due to HIV/AIDS-related complications in the past 40 years in Los Angeles County.
Are you worried about the long-term side effects of the vaccine? Are you afraid that it came out too soon for scientists to fully test? Are you worried that you’re going to have to get a booster a year from now?
This year’s celebration of Black History Month II: Women’s Focus comes at a time of the pandemic COVID-19 and the continuing pathology of oppression. It is also a time of resistance, rising up and raising the battle cries: Black Women Rising; Black Men Rising; Black People Rising; No Justice, No Peace; and Liberation’s Coming From A Black and Beautiful Thing.
The emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic harkens back to another pandemic that began with the movement of a virus from animal into human populations and is still very much with us – HIV/AIDS. Like COVID-19, HIV affects Black populations at increased rates for reasons related to racism, segregation, and poverty, presenting a serious ongoing threat to our health. However, it is critical that COVID-19 does not distract us completely from efforts to end the HIV epidemic once and for all – a goal that many believe is in sight. HIV.gov provides the specific metric for reaching this goal, “to reduce the number of new HIV infections, in the United States, by 75 percent within five years, and then by at least 90 percent within 10 years.”
The Rev. Paul A. Hill is the new interim pastor of Holman United Methodist Church, the largest African American UMC congregation in Southern California. A retired elder in the UMC denomination, Hill brings significant expertise in the areas of pastoral care, church administration, creative ministries for children, youth and seniors, and innovative HIV/AIDS outreach. Hill has served in senior-level capacities at many churches and universities in Texas, the east coast and Southern California, including seven years as associate pastor at Holman UMC. Most recently, he was the pastor at Grace UMC in Los Angeles. He also headed congregations at Bowen
Schumer noted that African American gains under the health care legislation, commonly known as Obamacare, are threatened by Trump and Attorney General William Barr as the Justice Department has argued in federal court that the law is unconstitutional and should be struck down – “Not just vital insurance reforms like protections for individuals with pre-existing conditions, as they had first argued last year,” Schumer said.
Leon W. Russell, Chairman of the NAACP National Board of Directors, will present Congresswoman Waters with the award at the 50th NAACP Image Awards on March 30, 2019 live at 9pm/8c on TV One.
“Jimi Hendrix is one of the most important figures in American pop culture, not just American music,” said Dr. Steven Lewis, curator at NMAAM. “This guitar provides a physical reminder of the power of his music, his personality and his brand of self-expression that was as influential in the 1960s as it is today.”
This year as we again observe the days set aside to mark and remind us of both the tragic passing and praiseworthy endurance of victims of HIV/AIDS among us, we, of necessity, continue to search for solutions, i.e., how to increase prevention, ensure treatment and care, expand education, reduce and end high risk and reckless behavior, and encourage everyone to engage in practices to save lives, promote health and secure well-being and flourishing for us all.
Improving Black/Latino relations was never really a major political priority in Los Angeles but should have been. Why? Sustainable collaboration between the two groups, based on mutual respect and an explicit commitment to honor the terms of any agreement to work together, is really the only way to strengthen their relationship and respective goals.
Some healthcare providers say African Americans have never been healthier, while others claim they have never been more at risk. Still others marvel over African Americans having been able to survive at all.
Thirty L.A.-area churches will host the 7th Annual Walgreens-sponsored First Ladies Health Day on Sunday, April 8.