As we approach another National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day (NBHAAD) today, we are forced to once again acknowledge the persistent disparities in care, prevention, and treatment for Black people living with or are at risk of HIV. For us, however, every day is a reminder that HIV remains an epidemic driven by racial injustice – one that will not be solved simply through biomedical approaches alone. The prevalence of HIV among Black people is another form of state sanctioned violence, and Black folks deserve a commitment to addressing the root causes of racial inequities everyday until we end it. Not just on February 7th.
Positive Women’s Network – USA (PWN) was pleased to see the White House Office of National AIDS Policy’s recognition of systemic racism as a public health threat in its recently released National HIV/AIDS Strategy (NHAS). It is the first time the NHAS has explicitly acknowledged the direct correlation between racism and health outcomes for Black and brown people living with HIV, and we owe it in part to the many advocates living with HIV demanding this recognition for our federal government to better work with and serve us. But we know there is much more to do to care for, listen to, and support Black people living with HIV to survive, and thrive, wholly and with dignity..
Black people are more than our trauma and HIV burden. We are powerful, creative, brilliant, and resilient beyond measure. This NBHAAD, PWN calls on HIV leadership to elevate and pay homage to the countless Black women who have always been the very backbone of the HIV movement. Those who have been fighting tirelessly against stigma, discrimination, and oppression since the beginning of the epidemic despite being underpaid and systemically undervalued. We must change the narrative on what it means to “celebrate” National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day.
How? By celebrating Black women’s joy and resiliency. We invite everyone in the HIV community—those living with and affected by HIV, and the entire HIV workforce to join us for our 2nd annual Celebrating and Honoring Black Women in the HIV movement on March 12, 2022.
Our demands are simple:
#ListenToBlackWomen
#PayBlackWomen
#RespectBlackWomen
#ProtectBlackWomen
#HonorBlackWomen
Sign on to show your commitment to celebrating and honoring Black women in the HIV Movement
For the second annual Celebrate and Honor Black Women in the HIV Movement Day, PWN will have several activities:
- Honoring our “Movement Mothers” throughout February and March
- Uplifting written and visual artwork by PWN members celebrating Black joy. Members are invited to submit your artwork (poems, blogs, visual works) Deadline to submit your artwork is February 21, 2022 – submit yours today
- A Town Hall on Black Joy and Resiliency on March 15, 2022 at 2pm ET/11am PT (Save the Date!)
