Spring Break
Divas raise AIDS awareness with concert giveaway
OUT OF THE SHELL
Tammy Krikorian
Spartan Daily Executive Editor
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However, those looking to win tickets for the Ladies First concert this Tuesday in Oakland will be doing something smart: getting tested for HIV.
The tour, featuring Missy Elliot, Alicia Keys and Beyonce, has received press in the New York Times, ABC News and many other outlets for its association with Rhythms for Health.
According to a press release, Rhythms for Health "is a nationwide community outreach program coordinated by (the) Black AIDS Institute to stimulate dialogue about safer sex, using music to encourage African Americans and other(s) in urban populations to get tested and, if positive, get treated for HIV."
AIDS Project East Bay, Allen Temple Baptist Church, the Oakland Department of Health and Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority have teamed up with the institute to give away tickets to the Oakland performance at an AIDS town hall meeting from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. on Monday at the Allen Temple Church at 8501 International Blvd. in Oakland.
Those who take an HIV test will be entered to win a free ticket to the concert. They will also receive information about AIDS prevention and treatment at the meeting.
"African Americans make up just 12 percent of the U.S. population but account for more than half of all new HIV diagnoses," Black AIDS Institute executive director Phill Wilson said in the press release. "Almost three quarters of new HIV diagnoses among women are in black women. And more than half of HIV-positive teenagers are black."
These data are supported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which says that approximately 185,000 blacks in the United States had died of AIDS as of Dec. 31, 2002.
Furthermore, black women are 23 times more likely to have AIDS than white women.
"Testing and prevention remain key to stopping the spread of HIV, and being tested is an essential first step for persons to obtain treatment and take steps to protect their partners from infection. ... However, blacks are more likely than whites to test late in their illness, when life-extending antiretroviral treatments might no longer be as effective," according to the CDC.
A March 14 New York Times article reported that "organizers of the (Rhythms for Health) promotion believe that linking testing to the Ladies First concerts - shows heavy on girl power that draw young, predominantly African American hip-hop fans - is a sure way to reach a few major at-risk groups."
"What this is about is integrating HIV awareness into the fabric of our social, cultural and political lives," Wilson said in the article. "It's about reaching black people where they are, as opposed to asking them to go somewhere else."
According to the New York Times, in the past year the Black AIDS Institute has also held HIV screenings at the Six Flags amusement park in Dallas and "at the annual conventions of the National Urban League, the NAACP and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference."
Alicia, Missy, Beyonce and everyone else involved in AIDS activism should be applauded for bringing light to this serious topic.
However, it doesn't matter how many celebrities promote causes if nobody is listening.
AIDS is a global killer affecting millions of people. The only way to prevent it is to be educated, be tested, and encourage others to be tested and (if necessary) treated and counseled.
Events like this are a great way to get young people involved in the cause. The names of individuals who get tested and test results are confidential.
But if the Ladies First concert is not your cup of tea, there are other ways to get tested for free in the South Bay.
There is free and anonymous testing from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. every other Wednesday (including tonight) at the Billy DeFrank LGBT Community Center at 938 The Alameda in San Jose. Look for the mobile testing bus - it may be parked around the corner.
The Crane Center, open from 8:15 a.m. to 4:15 p.m. Monday through Wednesday, 11 a.m. to 7:15 p.m. Thursday and 8:15 a.m. to 2:15 p.m. Friday, also offers free testing and is located at 105 N. Bascom Ave., Suite 101, in San Jose.
HIV testing is also available at the Health Center at San Jose State University for $10 with physician's orders and a signed release from the patient. Results are usually available within 24 hours.
If you truly care about your loved ones, you'll get tested - and encourage them to do the same.
Tammy Krikorian is the Spartan Daily executive editor.
"Out of the Shell" appears every Wednesday.
