Black Caucus responds to AIDS crisis

Black Caucus response to AIDS crisis

Anthony Hollins is a young African American male who said he found out he had full-blown AIDS after getting sick and going to the hospital. He said he felt so weak, he couldn't get out of the bed.

Now he travels around the country performing with his dance troupe, the New Life Performers, choreographing sensitive portrayals of life. His latest stop was a Congressional Black Caucus Town Hall meeting held this week at the University of Illinois Chicago Illini Center, where U.S. Reps. Danny K. Davis (D-7th), Bobby Rush (D-1st), and Jesse Jackson Jr. (D-2nd) talked about the Nia Plan, a comprehensive report which is hoped to deliver and involve a nation affected by AIDS.

It gets its name from the Kwanzaa principle of purpose, and the purpose is to stop AIDS in the African American community. It has definable tasks and goals for community stake holders and identifies recommendations on how HIV/AIDS can be addressed. The Nia Plan also seeks to spark a national dialogue that will increase the number of people treated and reduce the number of African Americans becoming infected.

Stakeholders in the community, such as civil rights groups, religious entities and the media are asked to play a bigger part in HIV prevention by the report. Hollins said his diagnosis changed his outlook on the world.

"I was already doing work in the field when I found out I had full-blown AIDS. I didn't get to hide behind a facade like some who are infected," Hollins said, adding that rumors within his social circle encouraged him to tell family members and friends. Hollins said they were devastated by the news.

His pastor, family nor friends did not turn him away but instead embraced him. Now many who knew him before his diagnosis are now members of his dance troupe.

"People ought to think about what they do before they do it and put God before, not after," Hollins said.

Rush, Davis and Jackson explained to professionals and concerned citizens that the face of AIDS has always been Black and that is was time to involve the community as a whole.

Phil Wilson, director of the African American AIDS Policy and Training Institute, said AIDS has been a Black disease for a long time and Blacks affected by the illness die faster and benefit less than non-Blacks.

"We need to participate in research trials so research can be accurate and have no disparity," Wilson said.

According to the Nia report, when the first AIDS cases were reported in 1981, the disease was believed to affect white gay men almost exclusively. The following year, in 1982, researchers of the report found that African Americans were disproportionately affected by the epidemic. Yet the public perception, media attention and funding continued to focus on gay white men.

"The disease has had a Black face for a long time. I don't believe we've survived the Middle Passage to die from this insipid disease," Wilson said.

The town hall meeting was the first of many to come, according to Rush. He, Davis and Jackson said that the CBC fought hard to get organizations the needed federal dollars, but Davis said that it was up to individual organizations to do the necessary groundwork to get the money.

Jackson told audience members that he would look into such issues as stopping the spread of HIV in jails.

Article Copyright Sengstacke Enterprises, Inc.

Photo (Phil Wilson, Bobby Rush, Jesse Jackson Jr. and Danny K. Davis)