The silly things some Black folks say
The 'Positive' Contributions Of HIV/AIDS
By George E. Curry | SACOBSERVER WIRE SERVICES
BANGKOK, Thailand (NNPA) – Africa is home to only 10 percent of the world’s population, but accounts for 83 percent of all AIDS deaths. The virus has killed 10 times more people in Africa than war. In the United States, Blacks make up 12 percent of the population but 54 percent of the 40,000 new HIV infections reported each year and approximately half of newly-reported AIDS cases.
Pernessa C. Seele, founder of a New York grassroots organization that mobilizes the faith community on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean, sees some positive news in those gloomy statistics.
“The good thing about AIDS is that it has provided a bridge for the African Diaspora to come back together again,” says Seele. “It’s a destructive force, but I think it’s also important for us to also realize this is a moment that we have in time to bring us back together. When we all come back together, people will learn that we are so much alike.”
When asked to amplify, the Lincolnville, S.C. native responds: “AIDS is like when everybody had to sit in the back of the bus in the segregated South. It didn’t matter if you were a doctor, lawyer or cook. Everybody sat at the back of the bus. And that was our strength. I think our strength today is coming together as a people around HIV – We all got it. It’s devastating to every Black community everywhere.”
