Our History Is Each Other: Lessons from Black Gay Men’s HIV Movement History
WE HAVE ALWAYS BEEN HERE • Black gay men have always been present in the HIV moveme nt. • The community has always been disproportionately impacted. • Patients 1-5 in the first reported cases, that eventually became known as AIDS, were white gay men . • Patients 6 and 7 were both Black. The the seventh patient, specifically, was a Black gay man .
Early Response • In 1983, Gil Gerald met with Civil Rights Leaders, such as Coretta Scott King and Dr. Joseph Lowrey to discuss Black LGBTQ issues. • The goal was to get support for the effect AIDS was having on the Black gay community .
I WILL BE HEARD! • Craig G. Harris disrupts the 1986 APHA meeting. • No POC were a part of the first ever HIV plenary. • He took the stage and proclaimed “I will be heard.”
We Resist: Generation 1986 Black gay men responded to the epidemic by creating institutions : • Other Countries • ADODI • GMAD • National Task Force on AIDS Prevention
We Resist: Generation 1986, cont… • The National Coalition of Black Lesbians and Gays organized the first conference on HIV in the black community . • Craig G. Harris was the Conference Coordinator . • Conference participants such as Gil Gerald, Rev. Carl Bean and Paul Kawata met with Surgeon General C. Everett Koop
We Resist: Generation 1986, cont… ● In opening remarks, Gil Gerald called out organizations like the NAACP for not being present around the issue of AIDS in the Black community .
Key Figures - Marlon Riggs
Marlon Riggs, cont… Clip #1 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=98XIitKlNcY Clip #2 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bX9reaHLwhk Clip #3 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=adkGDqSg91s
Key Figures - Fred Garnett "As a Black person, I often felt a strange isolation in having AIDS. I knew that half the PWAs in the Washington, D.C. area were Black but I rarely saw them-not at the research centers, the clinics, the doctors' offices, or at the support groups."
Key Figures - Essex Hemphill • Essex Hemphill used poetry and prose to talk about homophobia , racism , HIV and how these forces impact the lives of black gay men. • Was an early voice recognizing how HIV was a racial justice issue.
Key Figures - Mario Cooper ● Get Your Black Up! ● Encouraged the Black community to form our own version of ACT UP. ● Nexus of Civil Rights, Democratic politics and HIV
Key Figures - Mario Cooper, cont… • Board Chair of AIDS Action Council. • Organized Leading for Life at the Harvard AIDS Institute. • Worked in the Carter White House.
Key Figures - Mario Cooper, cont… ● Critical of AIDS funding (courageous dissent) ● Leading for Life conference ● AIDS in the black community video at the Harvard AIDS Institute: https://www.c- span.org/video/?102633- 1/aids-black-community
Key Developments in the Late 1990s-Now ● In 1995 and 1996 antiretroviral drugs are approved, and the conversation shifts from more community sustainment to biomedical approaches to HIV. ● Black gay and bisexual men still disproportionately impacted. ● 1998 Congressional Black Caucus declares state of emergency and creates Minority AIDS Initiative. ● 1 in 2 ...
Key Developments, cont… ● Developed by epidemiologists to study the spread of disease among men who sleep with men, regardless of identity. ● Has become demographic category. ● Limits the medical and social research to conversations about disease.
Social Marketing Campaign Renaissance
Black Gay Futures: The Power of Speaking Collectively What would it take for us to build a network to save our lives?
Key Lessons ● We have a rich and vibrant history of HIV activism. ● We have always been disproportionately affected by HIV. ● We have what we need to affect change in our lives and on our community.
Thank You!
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