Let’s Talk…
This week is National Condom Week, a perfect time to discuss the continuing problem of HIV/AIDS in the African American community. We can say this discussion started last week for National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day (NBHAAD) and will continue next month for National Women and Girls HIV/AIDS Awareness Day (NWGHAAD). And this conversation is not new. An article in the Salon magazine posed the question of HIV/AIDS among African American women back in 2004 entitled “A Silent Epidemic“. So why all the talk? It’s because in most communities, especially in our major cities and the South, African Americans represent more than half of all HIV/AIDS cases. In fact, it is the number one cause of death for African American women between the ages of 25-34. So you would think with all this talk, something would have changed. But it hasn’t. So maybe the wrong people are talking. Or maybe we are talking in the wrong places. We should be outraged and we ready to open up dialogue with our sons and daughters, friends and co-workers to try and do something to reduce these numbers. We need to wake up and realize how destructive this virus is to our people as a whole and realize that no one is immune. We need to do everything in our power to stress the importance of practicing safe sex. Let’s not just use this week to talk about condoms but every time we talk about boyfriends/girlfriends, significant others, “cut buddies”, “booty calls” or how ever we want to title our sex partners.
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Tags: condoms, HIV/AIDS, National Condom Week, safe sex