I was living in New York City, single, no children, dating and working as a diagnostic child protective caseworker in the Bronx. It was a fairly warm day for that time of the year in New York and elders would call that Indian summer. I just purchased my first vehicle in July of that year (a white Jeep wrangler). And like most of my contemporaries, I added a number of accessories to the vehicle to make it stand out. My music system was top of the line and you could hear me coming way before I arrived. I left work that day feeling good about who I was and what I was accomplishing overall in my life; and then the pebble hit the water. Ervin “Magic” Johnson announced that he tested positive for HIV; the virus that causes AIDS. MAGIC????? Magic Johnson, who is an African American male, married, and heterosexual, was one of the greatest basketball players of all time.
I almost fainted. I reacted in such an extreme manner because I was in my early twenties, single (as I stated above) and engaging in high risk heterosexual behavior. At the time, many Americans viewed AIDS as a gay white man's disease. A boxer being knocked to the canvas and given an eight count would best describe what most people especially Black men were feeling. Since that announcement, millions of people world wide have died and fallen victim to the virus that causes AIDS. Also, with the advancement of medicine and medical treatment, millions of people are now living “normal” lives while being infected with HIV.
(Please visit: http://www.stopaids.org/resources/std_info/definitions.html for a complete definition on HIV and AIDS)
In 2008, CDC estimated that approximately 56,300 people were newly infected with HIV in 2006 (the most recent year that data are available). Over half (53%) of these new infections occurred in gay and bisexual men. African American men and women were also strongly affected and were estimated to have an incidence rate that was 7 times greater than the incidence rate among whites. HIV is also the health problem with the largest racial disparity; 80% of new AIDS diagnoses and deaths are among African Americans and Hispanics. Statistics show that the increase in HIV among African American men is a result of same sex behavior (MSM, “down low brothers); and those same men have heterosexual patterns also.
HIV doesn’t come with an immediate death sentence. It’s almost fashionable. Our perception of someone withering away is long gone.
HIV is now treated like sugar diabetes or any other chronic disease.
Society has become “bullet proof” to this epidemic and worldwide pandemic. Yes, you can live with HIV but like other chronic illnesses, your quality of life is greatly reduced and is met with constant challenges.
There is so much information on HIV education and prevention available to the public. For instance, abstinence and use of condom greatly reduces your chances of becoming infected. If you are sexually active (with one or 100 partners, single, married, engaged, etc.) know your status by getting tested yearly.
What would you tell a young person who’s about to become sexually active about HIV?
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As a African American Woman, who also was born and raised in the Bronx of New York, and whose father and sister both were infected with the HIV virus, both are now deceased, father in 1989 and sister in 2005. I would strongly advise a man or woman to abstain from sex until they are married. That may sound as though I am being out-of-touch with the promiscuous sexual times that are presently existing in our society. However, I believe that 10 to 20 minutes of physical pleasure from sexual activities isn't worth the risk of possibly becoming infected with a disease that would alter the remainder of your entire life. So often men and women get caught up in the moment of a physical temptation and desire to fulfill the lusts of the flesh. I believe that all choices that a man or woman makes has consequences and repercussions. A choice to be sexually active doesn't exclude one from the potential health risks, even when they use condoms...Nothing is safer than abstinence.
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