HEADLINES: “Kim Kardashian spotted in a fly bikini,” “Lindsay Lohan (need I say more),” Nicki Minaj photo shoot for Men’s Magazine is hot,’ “Rihanna’s new red hair color, love it or leave it!’
Everyday our lives are bombarded with breaking news stories about people, places and events that have very little impact on our lives.
My question is simple; where are these HEADLINES: “AIDS is the no. 1 killer of black women between ages 24-35,” “Two-thirds (66%) of all new HIV infections are among African American Women,” “HIV/AIDS is the fourth leading cause of death for African American Women between 45-54?’
An entire race is silently being wiped out while we consume ourselves with news that is no more relevant than Miley Cyrus kissing a girl.
Last year I had an opportunity to meet a very beautiful spirit who had contracted the HIV virus from her husband of 10 years, my life was immediately transformed. Why? Because she looked like me. She didn’t fall into the statistic of the drug abusing, sexually promiscuous, irresponsible woman.
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She was a wife, a mother, a sister, a co-worker, a daughter; she was ME. And hearing her story with her husband by her side made me realize a few things about this silent pandemic in our community.
First, this disease is real and only by the grace of God go I. It doesn’t take much to stop and think about the monogamous relationships we all have been in where we allowed ourselves to relax a little and think we didn’t need protection. Well, that theory quickly went out the window because I decided that I will never leave my life in the hands of another man by not requiring not only protection but RECENT proof of status. No exceptions.
Secondly, it struck me that not only do we rank high in new cases but we also rank high being divorced, single and unmarried. We are uncovered and are allowing a race to become extinct because of this killer disease. You kill a woman, you kill a race, point blank. We are the bearers of LIFE! And in such a sexually charged society, we have remained silent.
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Lastly, with who does the ultimate responsibility rest? As women, sure we should demand that our men use protection; BUT, the stats don’t lie. Women contract HIV/AIDS in heterosexual relationships!! We are being infected my our MEN who either choose not to give full disclosure or simply don’t take responsibility to know their status. Where are our brothers, both HIV positive and negative who will dare stand up and take responsibility for spreading this disease. Where are the men in our community cries of outrage? Do you not care about your sister, mother, daughter, niece who is walking around with the scarlet letter that will affect not just her, but every generation that comes after her?
Men, we need you. We need your voice, your protection and most importantly, your honesty. We no longer need you to respect us, we need you to now cherish us.
-Beautifully Human
