In This Issue

In the Wizard of Oz, Dorothy's house literally lands on the Wicked Witch of the East, after which the Munchkins break out in song, "Ding-dong, the Witch is dead". All seems to be well in Munchkin land except, that it's not. There is a more powerful, more evil, Wicked Witch of the West and she is determined to kill Dorothy "and her little dog too."

Last week, the South Carolina legislature passed, and the governor signed into law, a bill to remove the Confederate battle flag from the state capital. All of the Sunday morning talk shows hailed what a remarkable breakthrough this was for race relations in America. The only problem is that it is not a breakthrough, remarkable or otherwise. Though removing the Confederate flag from government buildings is a good thing, it is not a sign of a new day. Instead, it is a classic example of how we always deal with race in this country: style of over substance. It is the old shell game. South Carolina leaders remove the flag and by doing so get to claim that they are not racist and that racism is an artifact of a bygone era.

But here's the deal: The lives of Black people in South Carolina did not change last week. The real manifestations of racial disparities that existed at the beginning of last week are still in place this week. The Black unemployment rate in South Carolina is still 8.7 percent versus an unemployment rate of 5.3 percent for whites in the State. Sixty four percent of the prison population in South Carolina is still Black. The incarceration rate for Blacks in South Carolina is still nearly 5 times that of Whites. Blacks in South Carolina are still nearly three times more likely to live below the federal poverty threshold than Whites, and nearly 45 percent of Black children in South Carolina live in poverty—the equivalent of less than $64 per day for a family of four. And South Carolina still remains a non-Medicaid expansion state, denying tens of thousands of Black and other poor South Carolinians access to healthcare.

It's an old trick: Distract us with the ruby red slippers, while the good ole boys maneuver the machinery. If we really want to address race and racial disparities in this country, we have to pay attention to the man behind the curtain.

In this issue The Black AIDS Institute is excited to announce the addition of three new members to its Board of Directors: actor Jussie Smollett, Dallas-based activist Kym Johnson and former Planned Parenthood executive, Peter Brownlie. Here, we introduce you to these new members of our leadership team.

We continue our series about the results of the U.S. HIV Workforce Knowledge, Attitudes and Beliefs Survey, this week speaking with AAHU Fellow and New York City-based PrEP expert Brandon Harrison about why HIV science and treatment knowledge is essential for the non-medical workforce.

In spite of the advances in HIV/AIDS treatment, many PLWA in the United States die of opportunistic infections. The main cause? Stopping treatment entirely. Our friends at the National Library of Medicine report.

The Centers for Disease Control and prevention shares testing stories and advice from PLWHA and activists.

Actor and activist Laverne Cox of the Netflix hit Orange Is The New Black talks about the challenges of transgender dating.

Finally, in two weeks we will mark both National African American Hepatitis C Action Day and World Hepatitis Day by running an issue that focuses exclusively on Hep C. We encourage you to keep your eyes open for it.

Yours in the struggle,

Phill