Special to the Atlanta Daily World

Until there is a cure...

The African American community has AIDS.  This is not an overstatement given the reality of this incredible pandemic.  For too long black communities have been silent, and therefore culpable, amid the crisis that impacts our loved ones.   Particularly, our great Black institutions – The Black Church, politicians, mass media, entertainers -- for too long have moved slowly in response to a rapidly infectious disease that has ravished black people.  We need a strategic and sustained call to action!  And given the historic power and mobilizing force of the church, we need a call to worship during this pivotal time.

Recently the Black AIDS Institute released We’re the Ones We’ve Been Waiting For: The State of AIDS in Black America…And What We are Doing About it.  The report rightly indicates that the face of AIDS in America is Black (dare we look at the international milieu, specifically in the African Diaspora, we could easily conclude the face of AIDS around the globe is Black).  While we have come along way in dealing with this epidemic, we have monumental challenges before us.  These challenges include: the rising infection rates among black and brown people, the rising cost of HIV medications for the uninsured or underinsured, moral and cultural obstacles related to the tired cliché of stigma, access and adherence to good medical treatment, the lack of critical HIV testing among communities that need it most, and high morbidity rates.

Even with some movement among our great institutions and our spheres of influence, we still have high waters to tread.  In response particularly to the visible and vocal attention health care reform and religious faith and practice are receiving in the national presidential election, together with the renewed emphasis theology and public policy are receiving in our Nation’s public discourse, AIDS Survival Project will host both a Call to Action (Dec 1) and a Call to Worship (Dec 2) to commemorate WORLD AIDS DAY 2007.

The Call to Action, “A Sustaining Presence, A Sustainable Platform,” will publicly introduce AIDS Survival Project’s statewide health advocacy agenda, and the Call to Worship, “A Sustaining Presence, A Sustaining Promise,” will draw faith communities together in public worship, urging faith communities to continue to assist and support those living with HIV/AIDS.

It is my hope and prayer that we tread those high waters with urgency and resilience – until there is a cure.

—The Reverend Shonda Jones

Shonda Jones is an ordained elder in The United Methodist Church and Assistant Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid at Emory University’s Candler School of Theology. She is a board member of AIDS Survival Project and chairperson of the Human Resources and Board Development Committee. She can be reached by email.

AIDS Survival Project’s Mission:  We are diverse people living with HIV, united to promote self-empowerment and enhanced quality of life for HIV-affected individuals through advocacy, education, peer support, and treatment activism. For more information about a Call to Action and A Call to Worship, visit us online.