Windy City Media Group Frontpage News

THE VOICE OF CHICAGO'S GAY, LESBIAN, BI, TRANS AND QUEER COMMUNITY SINCE 1985

home search facebook twitter join
Gay News Sponsor Windy City Times 2023-12-13
DOWNLOAD ISSUE
Donate

Sponsor
Sponsor
Sponsor

  WINDY CITY TIMES

Webinar focuses on Blacks and HIV
Special to the online edition of Windy City Times
by Margo Anderson
2015-10-06

This article shared 4979 times since Tue Oct 6, 2015
facebook twitter pin it google +1 reddit email


On Sept. 29, Health HIV and the Black AIDS Institute hosted a webinar on ways to involve the Black community in the discussion of HIV. The webinar consisted largely of questions posed to the Rev. Keron R. Sadler, health programs manager at the NAACP, and Pastor Darren W. Phelps, senior pastor and founder of Bethel Christian Church in Washington, D.C.

Matthew Rose, program coordinator at the Black AIDS Institute, began the conversation with HIV demographics. Rose said, "We know that the epidemic affects Black people from pretty much every risk category." In 2010, Black individuals made up 13 percent of the U.S. population and 44 percent of new HIV infections.

The webinar focused largely on the relationship between the Black community and local churches. Sadler said, "If you think about the civil—rights movement, the NAACP and the Black church have always been a phenomenal partner together."

The speakers noted the importance of working with the entire person. Phelps said, "We are also looking at mental health and … looking at family support and the linkage of care that goes even into relationships. … Balancing all of that with your faith and how you see God and not seeing yourself as an outcry or an outcast, all of that helps us in the Free Indeed ministry."

The speakers also discussed several challenges, including the taboo nature of HIV. Sadler said, "In the Black community, HIV still just doesn't seem to be a topic of discussion … there's so much stigma that is associated with HIV." Phelps said, "You have many of the leadership that are also on the low who have gone without being tested themselves."

And some communities are stigmatized more than others. Said Phelps, "We work with sex workers and we deal with persons who are coming out of prison and sometimes that continuum of care is not there at the level that we would hope it to be."

Another challenge is the general lack of knowledge. Phelps said, "This is not just picking up a packet … but how do you live? How do you deal with it? What's out there for us."

Phelps also talked about teaching by doing. He said, "Not only did we want to talk about it. … We wanted to be about the change." One of the ways that Phelps' leadership achieves this goal is through a fall festival that includes HIV testing. Said Phelps, "All of the folks who serve in leadership along with me in the church, we line up on that day and we're one of the first to get tested. … As people who are walking on the streets see us lined up, they feel encouraged."

Bethel Christian Church also speaks out about HIV daily. Phelps said, "At every convocation, at every place we go, we provide testing and it is spoken about from the pulpit, it is shared, it is not just on World AIDS day in December, but it's something that is built in."

The speakers also mentioned ways to engage in outreach that don't emphasize religion. Sadler said, "The goal is not to change that person's theology. The point is to raise awareness … providing them with the specific information [and] not our own personal opinions." Phelps said, "We do have a nonprofit arm that helps the nonreligious side of the work and so that's one of the ways that we've been able to reach some of the young folks. We do not come to them with waving our Bibles and our faith in the sense of wearing a cross and saying, 'Jesus loves you, come drink the water,' but we certainly come to the folks in giving them hope and understanding."

The speakers also valued diversity. Sadler said, "We do invite to the table those of various faiths. We've had Rabbis. We've had Muslims. … We know that the community is made of all individuals."

If a church wishes to start this conversation, Phelps said, "It may be the smaller steps of even having pamphlets, of having reminders on their bulletins if they do that, of having email blasts, something on your website that says that you want people to be healthy and to be tested. … Host a roundtable, a coffee hour and, then, even if it's only two or three people, at least you've begun that conversation."

Phelps suggested that individuals who want their own churches to start testing respect the leadership without being afraid to make trouble. "If we wait for those people [who are uncomfortable] to come on board before we step and we evolve and educate, we will all be dead and gone," said Phelps.


This article shared 4979 times since Tue Oct 6, 2015
facebook twitter pin it google +1 reddit email

Out and Aging
Presented By

  ARTICLES YOU MIGHT LIKE

Gay News

HIV criminal laws disproportionately impact Black men in Mississippi 2024-02-21
--From a press release - A new report by the Williams Institute at UCLA School of Law finds that at least 43 people in Mississippi were arrested for HIV-related crimes between 2004 and 2021. Half of all arrests in the state ...


Gay News

'West Side Story' gets a sex-positive spin with new burlesque show 2024-02-19
- In partial observance of National Condom Day, which was Feb. 14, Los Angeles-based AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) presented A West Side Story Burlesque at the Harris Theater for two hour-long performances on Feb. 17. The show, ...


Gay News

$200,000+ raised at AIDS Foundation Chicago's World of Chocolate Fundraiser to fight HIV/AIDS 2024-02-13
--From a press release - (Chicago, IL) More than 950 guests gathered at Chicago's famed Union Station (500 W. Jackson) for Chicago's Sweetest Fundraiser, AIDS Foundation Chicago's (AFC), World of Chocolate on Friday, February 9. ...


Gay News

Munar prepares to step away from Howard Brown leadership 2024-02-11
- After 10 years of leadership at Howard Brown Health, President and CEO David Ernesto Munar has decided to step down from his post on Feb. 29. Munar, who'd previously been president and CEO of AIDS Foundation ...


Gay News

National Black Justice Coalition commemorates National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day 2024-02-07
--From a press release - WASHINGTON — Today, Feb. 7, marks National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day (NBHAAD). In commemoration, Dr. David J. Johns, CEO of the National Black Justice Coalition (NBJC), a leading Black LGBTQ+/same-gender ...


Gay News

NATIONAL Wis. report, gender dysphoria, HIV research, Stonewall exhibit, gay CEOs 2024-01-19
- A new annual report from Wisconsin's Office of Children's Mental Health shows that the state's minors—especially girls, children of color and LGBTQ+ youth—continue to struggle with anxiety, depression and thoughts ...


Gay News

WORLD Activist honored, marriages in Estonia, Madrid law, trans sports item 2024-01-05
Video below - The National AIDS Commission (NAC) recently honored Caleb Orozco—a leading figure in the fight for LGBTQ+ rights in Belize—for his instrumental contributions to the national HIV response, BNN reported. According ...


Gay News

SAVOR World of Chocolate, Jaleo and 'Superhot' 2023-12-31
- World of wonder: I am excited to announce that I will be a judge at AIDS Foundation Chicago's World of Chocolate fundraiser! Join me in sampling delicious chocolate from local chefs and help support a great ...


Gay News

PASSAGES Frankie Franklin-Foxx 2023-12-18
- Frankie Franklin-Foxx (born Waverlynn Franklin), a resident of Chicago's North Side, passed away peacefully Dec. 13 at St. Francis Hospital in Evanston. She was 68. Born at Cook County Hospital, Frankie graduated from South Shore High ...


Gay News

NATIONAL Dr. Rachel Levine, World AIDS Day, trans deaths, Philly bar art 2023-12-08
- United States District Court for the Northern District of Alabama Liles C. Burke ruled that emails and other records from U.S. Assistant Secretary for Health Dr. Rachel Levine are relevant to a lawsuit challenging Alabama's ban ...


Gay News

STRUT marks World AIDS Day with 14th Annual Fashion Show 2023-12-05
- On Dec. 3, John Fleming and Madman Productions presented the 14th annual STRUT fashion show at Joe's on Weed Street, 940 W. Weed St. As in previous years, the standing room only show was a fundraiser, ...


Gay News

World AIDS Day commemorated at AIDS Garden Chicago 2023-12-03
- On the rainy morning of Dec. 1, Chicago Parks Foundation and the AIDS Garden Chicago Board of Directors hosted a World AIDS Day commemoration at AIDS Garden Chicago, just south of Belmont Harbor on the Lakefront. ...


Gay News

GLAAD marks World AIDS Day with launch of global resource hub, new HIV report 2023-12-01
--From a press release - New York, New York — Friday, Dec. 1 — GLAAD marked World AIDS Day this year by sharing the results of its fourth annual State of HIV Stigma Report, a national survey among U.S. adults measuring ...


Gay News

Wrightwood 659 to present 'Daniel Goldstein: The Marks We Leave Behind' on World AIDS Day 2023-11-29
- (CHICAGO, Nov. 29, 2023) —Alphawood Exhibitions will present Daniel Goldstein: The Marks We Leave Behind, an exhibition of works from the San Francisco-based artist & HIV/AIDS activist's iconic "Icarian Series," ...


Gay News

WTTW doc chronicles the activism of Danny Sotomayor 2023-11-03
- Practically everything the late Chicago AIDS activist Danny Sotomayor did was "a fight." So says fellow activist Victor Salvo in the new WTTW documentary The Outrage of Danny Sotomayor, which is part of the station's Chicago ...


 


Copyright © 2024 Windy City Media Group. All rights reserved.
Reprint by permission only. PDFs for back issues are downloadable from
our online archives.

Return postage must accompany all manuscripts, drawings, and
photographs submitted if they are to be returned, and no
responsibility may be assumed for unsolicited materials.

All rights to letters, art and photos sent to Nightspots
(Chicago GLBT Nightlife News) and Windy City Times (a Chicago
Gay and Lesbian News and Feature Publication) will be treated
as unconditionally assigned for publication purposes and as such,
subject to editing and comment. The opinions expressed by the
columnists, cartoonists, letter writers, and commentators are
their own and do not necessarily reflect the position of Nightspots
(Chicago GLBT Nightlife News) and Windy City Times (a Chicago Gay,
Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender News and Feature Publication).

The appearance of a name, image or photo of a person or group in
Nightspots (Chicago GLBT Nightlife News) and Windy City Times
(a Chicago Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender News and Feature
Publication) does not indicate the sexual orientation of such
individuals or groups. While we encourage readers to support the
advertisers who make this newspaper possible, Nightspots (Chicago
GLBT Nightlife News) and Windy City Times (a Chicago Gay, Lesbian
News and Feature Publication) cannot accept responsibility for
any advertising claims or promotions.

 
 

TRENDINGBREAKINGPHOTOS







Sponsor


 



Donate


About WCMG      Contact Us      Online Front  Page      Windy City  Times      Nightspots
Identity      BLACKlines      En La Vida      Archives      Advanced Search     
Windy City Queercast      Queercast Archives     
Press  Releases      Join WCMG  Email List      Email Blast      Blogs     
Upcoming Events      Todays Events      Ongoing Events      Bar Guide      Community Groups      In Memoriam     
Privacy Policy     

Windy City Media Group publishes Windy City Times,
The Bi-Weekly Voice of the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Trans Community.
5315 N. Clark St. #192, Chicago, IL 60640-2113 • PH (773) 871-7610 • FAX (773) 871-7609.