AIDS 2012 Hubs Come to Los Angeles

African-American HIV/AIDS activists came together in the City of Angels to share knowledge about the International AIDS Conference, which was held in Washington, D.C., back in July.

These HIV Post-Conference Updates, sponsored by the Black Treatment Advocates Network (BTAN) and the Black AIDS Institute, consisted of two days of gatherings, one held on Sept. 18 at Centennial High School in Compton and another at the offices of the Los Angeles County Supervisor on Sept.19.

Entitled "Ending the HIV/AIDS Epidemic: Do We Really Have All the Tools?" the event had two goals in mind: bringing the latest HIV/AIDS science presented at AIDS 2012 to the members of the community who could not attend the conference and engaging African American youths.

"We talked about the history of AIDS from a Black perspective, not to mention the false belief that this disease is just a gay disease," said Precious Jackson, a BTAN delegate and a women's-health educator at the Center for Health Justice. "And what we saw is that our young people are more knowledgeable and more open-minded than some of the older Black population. This reminds me that our work in not in vain."

Other speakers included BTAN members Alfred Brown, program consultant at the Center for Health Justice; Trevor Daniels, Psy.D., president of Teaching Professional Advocates; Kieta Mutepfa, senior community health program representative of the UCLA CARE Center; and Tiffany Wright, mobilization coordinator of the Black AIDS Institute. Topics included the importance of knowing one's status, the test-and-treat approach, reducing stigma, creating culturally competent messages and inspiring the next crop of leaders.

This emphasis on leadership and active engagement on both a local and a national level is what Phill Wilson, president and CEO of the Black AIDS Institute, has been calling for since the epidemic first hit.

"Words are not enough now; we are beyond the meetings and the conversations," Wilson said. "We can end AIDS in Los Angeles if we act decisively, boldly and locally."

Los Angeles, like many other cities around the U.S., has an HIV/AIDS crisis on its hands--a crisis that disproportionately affects the Black and Latino communities.

In 2011 the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Annual HIV Surveillance Report (pdf) showed that 43,936 people were living with HIV in Los Angeles--approximately one-fourth of the 112,550 people in California living with HIV. In 2010 the highest proportion of reported HIV/AIDS cases was among Latinos, at 39 percent; however, African Americans had the highest rate, at 1,025 per 100,000 people.

And while these AIDS 2012 hubs in the L.A. area have ended, the delegates are clear that the work has not.

"The L.A. hub was just the beginning. Our work as delegates does not end after the hub is over. I am anticipating our impact a year from now and the lives we will touch post-AIDS 2012," Mutepfa said.

Kellee Terrell is an award-winning Chicago-based freelance writer who writes about race, gender, health and pop culture. Her work has been featured in Essence, The Advocate, The Root, The Huffington Post and The Body.