In This Issue

On Thursday July 3rd, Essence Communications will open the 20th Annual Essence Festival in New Orleans, and like we have done for the last ten years, The Black AIDS Institute (The Institute) will be there, working with Essence to engage Black women in efforts to confront HIV/AIDS in their communities. Essence has been a remarkable leader in the fight against HIV/AIDS, supporting efforts to provide vital services to Black women every year at the Festival itself and delivering lifesaving HIV information to their readers year round in the magazine's pages and on Essence.com.

This year, as a part of our Greater than AIDS (GTA) partnership with The Kaiser Family Foundation, we are excited to be working with Alicia Keys, who will be speaking on Friday, July 4th at 1:10 p.m. at the Convention Center as a part of the Essence Empowerment Experience conference series. In partnership with the Louisiana State Office on AIDS, we will be providing free HIV testing at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center on July 4-6 from 10 am until 4 pm. Our celebrity HIV testing host will be Vanessa Williams. Ms. Williams and a number of surprise celebrities will be available for autographs and photos with people who stop by the booth and get tested.

As Grazell Howard, The Institute's Board Chair, always reminds us, "As Black women go, so go Black families and the Black community." Black women have the highest HIV rates among American women and the 3rd highest rates of new HIV infections of any demographic group, following only gay and bisexual men. HIV is the 7th leading cause of death for Black women ages 25 to 44—higher than women in any other racial or ethnic group. We have to do everything in our power to protect our grandmothers, our mothers, our sisters, and our daughters. We have to make sure they know their HIV status, they have the tools to protect themselves, and, if infected, they have access to the care and treatment they need and deserve free from stigma and discrimination.

The Essence Festival is the perfect venue to communicate that message. For 20 years Essence has chronicled Black women's lives as they've unfolded—taking on whatever issues were affecting their lives, including HIV/AIDS.

If you're in New Orleans for the Essence Music Festival, stop by our booth in the Convention Center, where you can see Alicia during the conference series, meet Vanessa Williams and other celebrities as they get tested for HIV and make sure you get tested as well. If you can't make it to NOLA this weekend, follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

In this issue you will learn more about Alicia Keys' presentation at the Essence Festival. We also tell you about the Black Treatment Advocate Network's work to end Louisiana's HIV/AIDS epidemic. Blogger Verneda White shares why she recently decided to get HIV tested again—and a disturbing encounter with a gynecologist who she believes tried to talk her out of it. We explore whether we can leverage digital technology to usher in an AIDS-free generation. And our friends at Kaiser Health News investigate an important prescription drug pricing issue that may impact people living with HIV/AIDS.

Yours in the struggle,

Phill