Subject: Article Submission: MMOW Must Focus on AIDS
From: [email-masked]
Date: Wed, 23 Jun 1999 20:14:47 EDT

Millennium March on Washington
Must Focus on the Continuing AIDS Crisis

by Duane Cramer
Co-Chair, Millennium March on Washington for Equality

Bayard Rustin warned us against "behaving as if the truth were not the truth."

But that's exactly what America's fad culture has done to us. And let's face 
it, America is famous for focusing on "fads."  

The media hype the latest diets, the hottest stars, the newest movies, the 
most recent scandals. New fads are pre-sold, mass-sold and oversold. We're 
living in the sound byte era. As a result of 30 second commercials, the 
ability to instantly delete e-mail, cellular phones, pagers, faxes and a 
dizzying array of new technologies, we are bombarded with information. News 
and events have to be sensationalized to hold our attention.

And that's sad, because one of the casualties has been attention to the 
ongoing AIDS crisis.

It's true: The focus on AIDS is waning. There is a new myth -- and it is a 
myth -- that says, "With all the new drugs and combination therapies, the 
AIDS epidemic is over."

Unfortunately, both outside and inside the gay community, too many people no 
longer take the AIDS crisis seriously. Yet, new communities are being 
infected at rapid and alarming rates, especially women, youth and people of 
color in North America and major population groups in Africa, Asia and South 
America.  

As an African American, I'm particularly concerned about what's happening to 
people of color. According to the U.S. Center for Disease Control, African 
Americans now represent more than one-third of all reported cases of AIDS in 
the United States.  African Americans account for over 43% of all new cases, 
though we comprise only 12% of the U.S. population. Latino populations 
account for 20% of new cases of HIV and AIDS and African American women 
represent 60% of all new cases among women. These statistics are staggering.

In spite of these realities, federal funding for resources in people of color 
communities is still scarce. I'm thankful for the commitment of the Black 
Congressional Caucus and encouraged by the recently initiated federal study 
of AIDS in communities of color. But this federal study is not unlike placing 
a Band-Aid on a massive gaping wound. As a result of pervasive and continued 
racism and homophobia, the growing HIV and AIDS epidemic in the African 
American and Latino communities is not given the attention nor the funding it 
would receive if the epidemic were still growing in the white community. 
Witness, for example, the financial condition of some of the largest and most 
established HIV and AIDS organizations.

AIDS is one of the worst mass plagues on a global scale in history. The 
millions of new HIV cases in Africa and Asia are leaving hundreds of 
thousands of children orphaned. In Africa alone, more than 35 million 
children have been orphaned by AIDS. The pervasive poverty that already 
exists in third world countries is exacerbated, and will be for decades, by 
this disease. Drugs are not available in too many places. And where they are 
available, they are often prohibitively expensive.  

But in the United States, AIDS is no longer a 'sound byte'. Somewhere between 
the exciting debates over barebacking, public sex, queer politics, and a slew 
of "issues de jour," we have forgotten that this disease is not over.  AIDS 
funding is dropping, our community has new interests, and we who have carried 
the scars of losing our loved ones, are left with an ache in the pit of our 
stomachs.  

As a Black man living with HIV, I know all too well the need for increased 
awareness. This is one of the main reasons why I am on the Board of Directors 
for the Millennium March on Washington and serving as a Co-Chair of this 4th 
national GLBT March on Washington. The AIDS crisis is a federal issue. Health 
care should not be a luxury. Healthcare, for everyone, should be a right.  
When has it ever been in our best interest to be quiet?

Can our national politicians guarantee that no more cuts to AIDS funding and 
research will be made? Can they guarantee that women, youth and people of 
color will be given national priority? This issue is not just about Pride, 
this issue is about passion.  

This is what I owe to my Brothers and Sisters, to my fellow people of color. 

This is what I owe to everyone who has died of AIDS, and to those of us today 
who are living with HIV and AIDS.

This is what I owe to the children and the families and friends who are left 
with only their panels, and pictures, and memories of their loved ones.  

And this is what I owe to my father, who died of AIDS. His spirit, passion 
and commitment will be with me at the Millennium March on Washington on April 
30, 2000.

It's still true: Silence equals death. And activism equals life.

(END)

Authorization granted to reprint, forward and distribute.

PRESS PHOTOS AVAILABLE UPON REQUEST:
Contact [email-masked] or call 818-891-1748

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Duane Cramer is a resident of San Francisco and an AIDS activist. He brings 
incredible passion and sensitivity to his HIV and AIDS work. His father, a 
professor at Howard University, died of AIDS-related complications in 1986. 
Duane, too, is HIV+.

Out of his commitment for HIV and AIDS awareness, Duane was awarded a social 
service leave-of-absence by his employer, Xerox Corporation in 1998. He 
devoted this special leave to work with the AIDS Memorial Quilt and to HIV 
education among 
communities of color, especially African American and Latino school-aged 
youth.

During his leave of absence from Xerox, Duane met with school 
superintendents, administrators, school nurses and teachers across the United 
States and has spoken to high school groups of up to 1800 students.

He is a member of the Board of Directors of the Millennium March on 
Washington, and one of four national co-chairs of the event. He is also a 
Board Member of the San Francisco Community Center Project.

FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT:
James N. Birkitt, Jr.
MMOW Director of Communications
15842 Chase Street
North Hills, CA  91343

Tel. (818) 891-1748
Fax: (818) 893-1593

E-Mail: [email-masked]

Website: http://www.mmow.org