This is the
second in a series of programs focused on the
devastating impact of HIV/AIDS on the African-American
community. This program, which aired on Manhattan
Neighborhood Network in August 2009, addresses the topic
of routine HIV testing in New York State
Choose Life Awards Gala 2009
National Black Leadership Commission on
AIDS
to
Launch “Call to action” Against Nation’s
HIV/AIDS Epidemic
NEW YORK.
(May 18, 2009) – The National Black Leadership
Commission on AIDS (NBLCA) announced today the launch of
a “National Call to Action” against HIV/AIDS as part of
NBLCA’s annual Choose Life Awards Benefit Gala.
President Bill Clinton, founder of the William J.
Clinton Foundation and 42nd President of the States,
will serve as National Chair of NBLCA’s 2009 benefit
gala, which will be June 3rd at The Lighthouse at
Chelsea Piers on Manhattan’s West Side. The event will
also bring together leaders from clergy, government,
healthcare and other fields to help raise funds and
awareness for NBLCA’s ongoing battle to stem the
devastating impact of the HIV/AIDS epidemic within
African-American communities nationwide.
C. Virginia Fields, NBLCA’s President and CEO, said she
was thrilled by the support of President Clinton and so
many other prominent leaders for the gala.
Former Manhattan Borough President and current
President & CEO of The Black Leadership Commission on
AIDS C. Virginia Fields discusses the public health
crisis, HIV/AIDS, and how it is affecting black women in
New York City and the United States. She and her two
guests, Monica Sweeney, MD, Assistant Commissioner for
the Bureau of HIV/AIDS Prevention and Control of the NYC
Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, and Marvelyn
Brown, EMMY Award AIDS Activist and author of the Naked
Truth: Young, Beautiful and HIV Positive, share their
thoughts on the issue.
The Board, staff, and membership of
the National Black Leadership Commission on AIDS
extend its congratulations to our new President-elect,
Barack Obama, and to all leaders elected or re-elected
to office on Tuesday, November 4, 2008.
Through this historic election, the
American people provided us with a unique opportunity to
address the critical needs of African-American and other
communities of color who continue to be unduly burdened
by our worsening HIV/AIDS epidemic.In a spirit of unity and common resolve, we
appeal to all of our nation’s leaders, whether they be
in the public or private sectors, to join with us to
stop HIV/AIDS, to provide care and compassion for those
in need, and to develop and implement sound public
health policies that benefit our impacted communities.
We urge our new President and the
members of the incoming 111th Congress to develop and
implement a comprehensive national AIDS plan in 2009
that specifically provides resources to support HIV/AIDS
prevention, treatment and care programs in
African-American and other communities of color.
A key component
of that plan must include an enacted
National HIV/AIDS
Elimination Act.
We also urge our nation’s new
leadership to focus national attention and resources on
alleviating the effects of poverty in
America.January 2009 will mark the 45th
anniversary of President Lyndon Johnson’s call to the 88th
Congress to declare “war on poverty.”However, today, millions of Americans,
particularly women and children, continue to bear the
disproportionate burden of poverty on their shoulders.Homelessness, illiteracy, higher rates of
incarceration, and lack of access to quality health
care—all by-products of poverty—continue to add fuel to
a domestic HIV/AIDS epidemic that is raging out of
control in communities of color nationwide.
We know that President Obama and the
Congress will have to deal with multiple foreign and
domestic crises immediately upon assuming office next
January.We
know that sacrifice will be required of all Americans as
we attempt to create a stronger and more secure nation.However, in doing so, we must not forsake our
obligation to meet the urgent unmet needs of the least
among us.
Millions of Americans, mired in hopelessness and
despair, have waited so long for this moment in time!
On March 4, 1933, a nation in crisis
due to The Great Depression, heard its newly-elected
President, Franklin D. Roosevelt, say in his inaugural
address that “…Compared with the perils which our
forefathers conquered because they believed and were not
afraid, we still have much to be thankful for.”We thank God for this new beginning.We know that with God as our guide, with faith in
the future, and with hard work, we will defeat HIV/AIDS.
We pledge our commitment to work with
and support our new President and his administration.
C. Virginia Fields
President/CEO, NBLCA
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