Black women and Black gay men have historic meeting about HIV/AIDS

Black women and Black gay men had a historic meeting in Charlotte, North Carolina, to discuss HIV/AIDS.  The weekend meeting consisted of participants who were invited by the National Black Gay Men’s Advocacy Coalition and the Black Women’s HIV/AIDS Network.  As the numbers of Black gay men and Black women living with HIV has increased and resources for prevention, care and treatment have been cut or remained stagnant, tensions between the two groups over prioritizations of resources have surfaced and threatened their ability to work constructively together. Additionally, at times in the past few years, Black gay men and Black women have been pitted against each in ways that have laid blame and not solutions to the HIV/AIDS crisis.  It became clear that a new dialogue was needed among Black gay men and Black women on how to respond to the impacts of HIV disease individually and collectively.  While not all participants were members of the Coalition or the Network, each invitee was a demonstrated leader in the HIV epidemic. The meeting was designed to promote frank discussions between Black gay men and Black women about the current state of the HIV prevention movement. The meeting was designed as a model that can hopefully be replicated in communities across the country.  By confronting many long-standing issues, participants were able to break through and commit to moving forward with a sense of unity while respecting the unique aspects of each community’s agenda. Read joint statement.

OTHER NEWS...

Mayor declares World AIDS Day as "Us Helping Us Day"

On World AIDS Day, December 1, 2005, Us Helping Us, People Into Living, Inc. (UHU), held the grand opening of its new headquarters and service facility at 3636 Georgia Avenue, NW. With over a hundred guests in attendance, the morning event began with a tour of the facility and a program in the lobby. City Administrator, Robert Bobb, presented a Proclamation from Mayor Anthony Williams declaring December 1st 2005 as "Us Helping Us, People Into Living, Inc. Day." The proclamation noted that UHU was the first gay-identified black AIDS service organization in the history of the District of Columbia, and the nation, to purchase a building.
Read more in our Winter 2006 Newsletter

CDC Study finds 46% of black gay men infected

The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) announced that a study of gay men in five cities from found that 46% of the Black gay and same-gender-loving (gay/sgl) men were HIV-infected. The five cities: New York City, Baltimore, Miami, Los Angeles and San Francisco were part of the National HIV Behavioral Surveillance system (NHBS), a 17-cities study, that surveys the behavior of persons at high risk for acquiring HIV, including gay/sgl men, injection-drug users and high-risk heterosexuals.
Read more in our Fall 2005 Newsletter

UHU moves to new headquarters

Four years after becoming the first Black gay AIDS organization to purchase a building, Us Helping Us (UHU) has moved to its new headquarters and service facility at 3636 Georgia Avenue, NW. "In southeast, our programs were scattered in six different buildings within a four block area," said Dr. Alvin Williams, the chairman of the Board of UHU, "Now all of our programs are in one building."
Read more on our 2005 Spring Newsletter