Lorenzo Robertson, a 42-year-old black man with AIDS, hoped his one-man show, me, myself & i, would spark more open dialogue among black Americans and help stop the disease's spread.
But when Robinson performed in a Tampa church this month, only 14 people showed up. And most of them knew a pastor there.
"AIDS is a word that causes fear," Robertson said during the show. "AIDS is a word that is not used a lot in the black community."
But AIDS is exacting a devastating toll upon it. The disease many still associate with gay men is rising at epidemic rates among black men and women - and Florida blacks are among those most at risk.
HIV infection rates among blacks doubled nationwide over a decade, scientists announced last month at a national meeting on AIDS, while rates among whites held steady. The result: With 2 percent of black Americans now infected, they are 10 times as likely to be HIV positive as whites.
In Florida, that stark disparity is already clear. More than half the HIV/AIDS patients in Florida - which has the third-highest number of AIDS patients in the country - are black, even though blacks make up only 15 percent of the population.
That means 1 in 346 Florida whites are HIV positive, as are 1 in 176 Hispanics.
The HIV infection rate for Florida blacks: 1 in 46....
HIV hitting blacks the hardest (MLive.com/Ann Arbor News)
Saturday, March 12, 2005
BY JO COLLINS MATHIS
News Staff Reporter
[...] "HIV is affecting African Americans disproportionately, and we need to do everything we can to provide access to prevention and care services for those at risk of getting HIV, and those who are already infected with HIV," said Nicole Adelman, director of prevention programs at the HIV/AIDS Resource Center, or HARC, in Ypsilanti Township.
[...] Incidents of both HIV infection and full-blown AIDS are increasing slightly, with an increasing proportion of younger and younger blacks becoming infected, said Dr. Stan Reedy, Washtenaw County medical director. "HIV is not something that has gone away. It's still with us, and it's still devastating," Reedy said. "And there is no cure, even after all the years of research and medication to slow it down."
[...] According to the Michigan Department of Community Health, black males have the highest HIV rate and second highest estimated number of HIV/AIDS cases in Michigan, making them the population most impacted by HIV in the state. Black females have the second highest HIV rate and the third highest estimated number of HIV/AIDS cases in Michigan. In Washtenaw County alone, it is estimated that 530 people are currently living with HIV or AIDS, about one third of whom are unknowingly infected with the human immunodeficiency virus.
While about 12 percent of Washtenaw County residents are black, 35-50 percent of the newly diagnosed HIV cases in Washtenaw County the last six years have been in blacks, said Laura Bauman, epidemiologist for Washtenaw County Public Health.
Silence on sex cited in blacks’ AIDS rates
By Sarah A. Meisch
The Journal Gazette
Of the 315 people in Allen County who are known to be HIV-positive, 92 are black.
That means blacks account for 29.2 percent of the cases, although they make up only about 11 percent of the county’s population.
“It’s not just a bunch of numbers and statistics,” said Kathy Thornson, director of HIV/STD prevention for the Allen County Health Department. “It’s people, people in our community.”
Of those people, blacks are disproportionately affected, said Kandace Kelly, director of outreach services for Fort Wayne’s AIDS Task Force.
The number of new AIDS cases statewide reflects that disparity to a greater degree. According to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, blacks made up 38.9 percent of Indiana’s new cases in 2003. U.S. Census 2000 data lists the state’s black population as 8.4 percent. Nationally, the figure for new AIDS cases among blacks is 48.2 percent; 12.3 percent of the U.S. population is black.
A number of reasons account for higher rate of infection, in the black community and others, Kelly said.
“There’s a lot of stigma,” she said. “A lot of people think it can’t happen to them; they think it’s a gay white male disease or an IV drug user disease. There’s a lack of education.”
Thornson said: “A lot of it is perception, who’s at risk. The community has to embrace knowledge.”
