All too often, the conversations around sexuality and spiritually are polarized, with conservatives dominating and stirring the discourse in unhealthy and oppressive ways to marginalize and punish those of us who identify under the umbrella of queer. All too often, religious leaders use particular sections and passages of the bible as evidence that God hates or condemns non-heterosexuals, without fully understanding the historical context of the passages or sections of the bible. With that being said, I was pleased to hear this story about an Atlanta Pastor of a mega church come out to his congregation. It was sooooo refreshing to me to hear his interview with Don Lemon in which the pastor makes several great points:

1. sexuality is more than sex and that heterosexual people tend to make non-heterosexual identities only about sex. (I wonder what that is about)
2. that "rightly dividing the word" is necessary because the bible is a book with many authors speaking from many different experiences, contexts, and over hundreds of years. In order to "rightly divide", a critical look at what was going on at a particular time, the motivations of the writer, as well trying to understand what the author was trying to accomplish. &
3. that we need not allow people to continue to misuse the bible to punish, condemn, discriminate, or marginalize people. 

The bible is a tool that should help people live the best, most authentic, and healthy lives possible. It is not a tool of hate or oppression and when used as such is a pollution of the larger message, which is that everyone is valuable and should be loved unconditionally. 

To learn more about sexuality and spiritually, please check out SoulForce: http://www.soulforce.org. 

Also, check out the awesome interview with Pastor Jim Swilly by Don Lemon. 
http://www.cnn.com/video/data/2.0/video/living/2010/11/14/nr.pastor.comes.out.cnn.html  

Hey Folks!

Here is our April Sound Bite.

For more information about the topics discussed, check out the links below.

Day of Silence:
http://blog.dayofsilence.org

American University Newspaper Aopologizes for Date-Rape Column:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/03/30/AR2010033003766.html

Bullied to Death:
http://www.fedsmith.com/article/2386/bullied-death-yearold-massachusetts-girl-hangs-herself.html

Anti-Violence Resource Guide:
http://www.feminist.com

Resource: Sexual Assualt Prevention, National Sexual Violence Resource Center:
http://www.nsvrc.org

Men Can Stop Rape:
http://www.mencanstoprape.org

Open Congress, Safe Schools Improvement Act:
http://www.opencongress.org/bill/111-h2262/show

Advocates For Youth- Creating Safe Space for GLBTQ Youth: A Tool Kit: http://www.advocatesforyouth.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=608&Itemid=177

Hey Folks!

Here is our April Sound Bite.

For more information about the topics discussed, check out the links below.

Day of Silence-http://blog.dayofsilence.org

American University Newspaper Aopologizes for Date- Rape Column. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/03/30/AR2010033003766.html


Bullied to Death- http://www.fedsmith.com/article/2386/bullied-death-yearold-massachusetts-girl-hangs-herself.html.

Anti-Violence Resource Guide-www.feminist.com

Resource: 

Sexual Assualt Prevention, National Sexual Violence Resource Center-http://www.nsvrc.org/

Men Can Stop Rape-http://www.mencanstoprape.org/

Open Congress, Safe Schools Improvement Act-http://www.opencongress.org/bill/111-h2262/show.

Advocates For Youth- Creating Safe Space for GLBTQ Youth: A Tool Kit-http://www.advocatesforyouth.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=608&Itemid=177.

I just read the op-ed piece entitled Ending the Slavery Blame-Game written by Henry Louis Gates Jr. and I was completely floored that the op-ed piece did not take into account African-American's contemporary lived experiences nor the vestiges of chattel slavey. In the article he writes, "Many African-Americans, these facts can be difficult to accept. Excuses run the gamut, from 'Africans didn’t know how harsh slavery in America was' and 'Slavery in Africa was, by comparison, humane'or, in a bizarre version of 'The devil made me do it".  It appears that Dr. Gates is blaming the victim  and not addressing the system that has maintained those "excuses". It appears that he is  operating under the assumption that African-Americans should be beyond those "excuses", but how can that be when the majority of public k-12 schools don't teach critical engagement and reflection around race?  Instead, the 28 days that we have been allotted to engage with our Black history is spent in a "show&tell" mode  i.e. this is Rosa Parks and she did xyz. The "show&tell" practice as a tool for teaching Black history is ineffective because without the opportunity to identify with our ancestors, which happens during critical reflection, there can be no connection. Therefore, black people's bodies and experiences are further objectified and only strengthen the legacy of racism within this country.

More...

Today, I had a fantastic time in the session entitled Engaging Prevention Research Advocacy to Address Social Drivers of the Epidemic in the United States. Of course I went to this affinity group because all too often people focus exclusively on behavioral interventions without examining the other issues that fuel the epidemic in this country particularly for communities of color.

My group was introduced to an activity called Open Space Technology. Open Space Technology was fashioned after the exchanges witnessed at African market places. The concept of bartering provides valuable examples of the power that individuals have over seemingly fixed pricing with pricing only being one example. One can also consider the exchanges with patients and health institutions as another example--with the idea behind bartering empowering people to engage with institutions to receive a good based on what they deem appropriate.

Some core principles governing Open Space Technology are:

1. People have power, value, and agency and therefore have the right to set their own agendas, topics, standards, etc.  
2. That people should only stay in a group only as long as they are feeling like they are contributing/gaining knowledge. Once you are done, move on. 
3. It is okay for people not to contribute or be "butterflies" on the wall.

In short, we were polled and asked to think about the various issues that we wanted to talk about related to HIV. We than assembled the topic and once all topics were placed on the board, people had the option to choose which discussion they wanted to participate in. In our case, conversations ranged from talking about oppression at large to more specific issues like advocating for the decriminalization of behaviors of HIV positive persons.

I thought this was a great activity particularly because it allowed for a physical representation of the various complex and intersecting issues related to HIV. Often times when we meet, there are very singular conversations that occurs. This process allowed us to hold a multitude of issues in one space without marginalizing other issues that are equally important to preventing the spread of HIV. The ability to hold up the spectrum of issues becomes ever more imperative as we try to confront HIV in communities of color that experience compounding issues like racism, minimal access to health services, lack of health insurance, violence, homophobia, etc.

So for all of those who have traditionally thought that we can only address one issue at a time, i'm here to tell you to get real. The issues affecting all of us are multiple, complex, and intersecting and anything that does not address that dynamism will never create the changes that we need in this society.

Major thanks to HIV Prevention Justice Alliance for sharing that great tool! 

For more information, check them out at: http://www.champnetwork.org/hiv-prevention-justice-alliance.

Peace.

I must say that I have been completely floored (both positive and negative) by the goings-on at the HIV Research Catalyst Forum. The amount of information that has been provided has literally changed my way of thinking and understanding of the field of HIV.

I attended the Prevention Symposium 1: Confronting the social drivers of HIV incidence in the U.S. and man was I conceptually challenged. I was challenged within that setting to really look closely at the various modes of HIV prevention. As I mentioned in my previous post, I was looking for more new ways of thinking about HIV and I found it. I was amazed by the level of integrative approaches that activist and researchers are taking to try to address the high rates of HIV infection.

The gist of the symposium was that there needs to be more strategies employed to address that high rates of HIV infection among communities of color. Understanding the casual pathways that lead to HIV transmission can provide a variety of new and creative opportunities to intervene. For example, if a project can provide housing and job opportunities for homeless HIV positive persons and link them to care, then getting treatment decreases viral load and therefore risk of transmission. This type of creativity really elucidates the social, cultural, and structural issues that directly or indirectly impact a person's access to HIV information and services.

The housing project was just one example of how people are thinking differently about trying to address the high rates of HIV infection. This thrills my heart soooooo much-- that at least some scholars, researchers, and activist are starting to think more critically about complex and intersecting factors that impact people of color and their access.

So, round one goes to HIV Research Catalyst Forum for meeting my expectations!

crossposted at http://ayotunde4real.wordpress.com

I am extremely excited about what the HIV Research Catalyst Forum conference represents! For me, this conference really marks the beginning of my journey into the vast and extensive field of HIV Research. As a person who received bare bones prevention information and little to no information as to how the HIV virus actually effects the body-- this gathering of activists, health educators, medical providers, and researchers will provide me with a more holistic view of HIV.

I am particularly interested in hearing whether or not there are new ways of thinking and talking about the HIV virus. If discourse reflects worldviews, than how is our talking and thinking informing the type of research and treatment strategies people are embarking on? From my perspective, the search and destroy method has not yielded the results that we would have hoped. So theoretically, are there other strategies that might prove more fruitful moving forward than those that have traditionally relied upon search and destroy methods? I am not sure, but I am hopeful that some of my questions will be answered at the HIV Research Catalyst Forum.

For more information: http://www.hivresearchcatalystforum.org/

Just a few days ago, it came to my attention that South Carolina's House Ways and Means Committee approved a measure that would make cuts to HIV/AIDS funding for South Carolina. Explicitly, the measure would completely remove funds for South Carolina's AIDS Drug Assistance Program (ADAP), which is a program that provides  low-income, uninsured, or underinsured people living with HIV/AIDS access to antiretroviral drugs.

To cut ADAP is problematic on so many levels, but i'll just cover a few from my perspective.

1. The removal of funds for ADAP is very clearly saying to me LET THE POOR PEOPLE LIVING WITH HIV/AIDS DIE! I wish I was being melodramatic, but i'm really not. We know that the immune system of a person living with HIV/AIDS not being treated with antiretroviral therapy decreases more rapidly than an a person living with HIV/AIDS who is receiving antiretroviral therapy . The reality is that the HIV virus will overwhelm the immune system, lower the T-cell count, and will increases a persons susceptibility to opportunistic infections-- which will ultimately lead to death.

2. With South Carolina ranking 8th in the nation for AIDS rates, you would think that saving people's lives would be the primary mission of the House Ways and Means committee in SC and not saving a few dollars. What this cut says to me is that there are people in powerful positions, who set policy that affect millions, saying that certain populations of people are expendable. Based on the numbers, let's see who are expendable. According to the South Carolina Health Department:

• More than eight out of 10 S.C. women with HIV are African-American
• African-American women have a HIV/AIDS case rate 12 times greater than that of white women in South Carolina.
• In 2007, African-American women comprised 30 percent of persons who died from AIDS in S.C.
• Men who have sex with men (53 percent) represent the largest
  proportion of recent infections, followed by men who have sex with women (MSW) and
  women who have sex with men (WSM) (39 percent). Seventy-eight people (eight
  percent of total) were infected through injecting drug use (IDU).

So, let me get this right. Black/African-Americans, gay and lesbians, and injection drug users. Got it. No surprise there. This country has a history of strategically propagating attitudes and polices that target and attempt to cripple those deemed socially undesirable or those who are unwilling to continue to pick cotton.

All in all, to cut ADAP is a crime against humanity. It is gross negligence on the part of those representatives who passed the measure and they should be held accountable for attempting to deprive people of life saving treatments. To even consider this measure is a blatant disregard of this country's history of exploitation and discrimination of POC, LGBT people, and Women and Children. We can pretend that racism, sexism, and homophobia don't exist, but let me assure that a bill that would cut ADAP is operating at the intersection of all those issues and more. Structural violence is real! We must not allow this to happen! This tomfoolery needs to end today.