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I know firsthand how an unhealthy culture becomes contagious in our communities, leaving us defenseless it. Leadership Councils are imperative to educating our communities about the harsh realities of HIV/AIDS.

My passion for education far supersedes anything else to which I am dedicated. It’s one of the few spaces in my life that is static. When I enrolled in college in the fall of 2003, there was a sense of urgency concerning change. I knew that my urge to create change for people with whom I shared similar experiences was undeniable.

Social change was an unrelenting personal calling. As a student, I began to explore the breadth and depth of inequity and marginalization through my classes and personal run-ins with privileged populations on my campus. Consequently, I became angry, really angry; but I refused to let my anger be a reason to discredit the issues I brought to the table. As a result, I funneled my anger into the social justice issues that were a priority to me, ones concerning race, sexuality, gender, and class. When I evaluated my body of work pertaining to social justice, women of color were the pivotal point. What I gleaned from most of the issues I encountered was that women of color were always hit the hardest and fastest.

I truly believe that women of color carry a burden larger than most. Because of this heavy load, we are subjected and fall victim to issues that result in disparate impact. In other words, negative social trends exist and they affect women of color exponentially and communally. I became interested in this dynamic because I have witnessed it in my personal life. I see how my grandmother, mother and aunt work tremendously hard but are unable to achieve the success that their white counterparts have already obtained. I know firsthand how an unhealthy culture becomes contagious in our communities, leaving us defenseless it.

Leadership Councils like this are imperative to educating our communities about the harsh realities of HIV/AIDS. Despite the horrendous statistics recently compiled by the Black Aids Institute, Black women are continually infected, undiagnosed, living with, or dying from HIV/AIDS at astronomical rates. More shockingly, the rates among black female teens are rising. The CDC states that 70 percent of the new HIV/AIDS cases among teens in 2004 were black. Crazy. Statistics like such these should be sufficient to get everyone involved. At that rate, anyone could end up as a statistic.

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