National Event

BLACK CELEBRITIES AND CIVIC LEADERS JOIN 'TEST 1 MILLION' CAMPAIGN

June 23, 2008 (Los Angeles) – In preparation for National HIV Testing Day, Black celebrities on Friday, June 27th, at 8:30AM (PST) are teaming up with the Black AIDS Institute, the Los Angeles Sentinel newspaper, KJLH 102.3 FM, Southern Christian Leadership Council, the Brotherhood Crusade, National Coalition of 100 Black Women, and the Beverly Hills/Hollywood branch of the NAACP for the 2nd Annual “Test 1 Million” HIV/AIDS awareness campaign. Community members and celebrities will host a free HIV screening event and press conference where they will be tested for HIV in front of the cameras. The group will announce the “Test 1 Million” HIV/AIDS campaign, a call-to-action for 1 million Black Americans to get screened for HIV by December 1, 2009 (World AIDS Day). AIDS is the leading cause of death for Black women aged 25-34 years , and it is estimated that up to 46% of Black gay men may already be HIV-positive, and according to the CDC, there are over 260,000 people in the U.S. infected with HIV who don't know they are infected.

Celebrities including " Eric "Lil E" Wright ," Jimmy Jean-Louis ("Heroes"), rapper Coolio , Harold Perrineau ("Lost"), Al Reynolds , Darius McCrary ("Family Matters"), Erica Hubbard ("Lincoln Heights"), Oren Williams ("Lincoln Heights"), Zachary Williams ("Roswell," "The Parkers"), Nicole Lyons (first female to race professionally in the NHRA Pro Stock and NASCAR Busch Series), recording artist Bobby Tinsley , Brian White ("The Family Stone", "Stomp the Yard" and "The Game Plan"), NBA veteran Doug Christie & his wife Jackie, Terrel Tilford , Victoria Platt-Tilford , singer Jody Watley , Tasha Smith (“Tyler Perry's Why Did I Get Married”) have agreed to participate in the unprecedented event, being held at the Los Angeles Sentinel newspaper (3800 Crenshaw Boulevard), to illustrate their personal commitments to ending the AIDS epidemic in Black America (Full list of participants below) . Black Americans can find testing sites in their local communities by logging on to www.blackaids.org and entering their zip code.

“AIDS in America today is a Black disease. Nobody wants to talk about that, and nobody wants to own that. That silence is killing us,” said Black AIDS Institute Executive Director and Founder Phill Wilson . “That's why we're calling for 1 million Black Americans to get tested for HIV in the next year – Knowing your HIV status can save your life, and every one of us has a responsibility to ourselves and our communities to know our status and to talk with our family members and loved ones about their status.”

This event is part of a national Mass Black Response to the AIDS epidemic sponsored by the Black AIDS Institute, The Balm in Gilead , the National Black Leadership Commission on AIDS and leading national Black Institutions. This Black AIDS Mobilization (BAM) is committed to ending the AIDS epidemic in Black America by 2012 by:

• Cutting HIV rates in Black America by 50%
• Increasing the number of Black Americans who know their HIV status by 50%
• Increasing the number of Black Americans in appropriate early care/treatment by 50%
• Reducing HIV/AIDS stigma In Black America by 50%

"As a 14-year-old Black kid growing up in Paris, I was the only student forced to take an AIDS test to be able to go to London on a school trip because I was from Haiti,” said Jimmy Jean-Louis , star of the hit TV show “Heroes.” “That experience brought awareness to me about the epidemic, and since then it became a lifestyle for me to fight the disease. To take an AIDS test can cause you to be fearful, but it is extremely liberating to know your HIV status. I know my status – I'm number 1 in a million."

Celebrity participants include : Eric "Lil E" Wright ," Jimmy Jean-Louis ("Heroes"), rapper Coolio , Harold Perrineau ("Lost"), Al Reynolds , Darius McCrary ("Family Matters"), Erica Hubbard ("Lincoln Heights"), Oren Williams ("Lincoln Heights"), Zachary Williams ("Roswell," "The Parkers"), Nicole Lyons (first female to race professionally in the NHRA Pro Stock and NASCAR Busch Series), recording artist Bobby Tinsley , Brian White ("The Family Stone", "Stomp the Yard" and "The Game Plan"), NBA veteran Doug Christie & his wife Jackie, Terrel Tilford , Victoria Platt-Tilford , singer Jody Watley , Tasha Smith (“Tyler Perry's Why Did I Get Married”).

Elected officials and community participants include: Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA), Rep. Diane Watson (D-CA), Danny Bakewell Sr ., the Bakewell Company, Danny Bakewell Jr ., publisher, Los Angeles Sentinel, Charisse Bremond Weaver , the Brotherhood Crusade, State Sen. (elect) Rob Wright , 25th District, Eric Perrodin , Mayor of Compton, Roosevelt Dorn , Mayor of Inglewood, Ron Hanson , NAACP, Willis Edwards , NAACP, Rev. Eric Lee , SCLC, Marva Smith , Coalition of 100 Black Women, Dove Pinkney , Coalition of 100 Black Women , K.W. Tullis , National Action Network.

HIV and AIDS disproportionately affect Black America:

• HIV infection is the leading cause of death for Black women aged 25-34 years.
• In 2005, Blacks accounted for 48% of new HIV infections (in the 33 states where data was available) even though they made up only 13% of the U.S. population.
• The CDC says 65% of the infants who were perinatally infected with HIV in 2006 were Black.
• We account for 50% of AIDS cases diagnosed in the 50 states and the District of Columbia in 2005.
• The rate of AIDS diagnoses for Black adults and adolescents is 10 times the rate for whites and nearly three times the rate for Latinos.