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THEJOURNAL OF AID ATLANTA Vo. 1 No. 5 May 1986 AIDS IN THE- BLACK COMMUNITY SCLC TO CONDUCT SEMINAR ON AIDS by Richard Bono The Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) is conducting a national seminar on AIDS May 31, in Atlanta, marking the first time a major black organization has made such an effort. And, there is a growing body of information that SCLC's efforts are none too soon. It is estimated that blackAmericans account for 25 percent of AIDS cases in a country where they make up 12 percent of the population. This disproportionate percentage points to the need for immediate educational efforts in the black community, according to officials, who say risk reduction and AIDS education campaigns are particularly necessary for heterosexual black men. In an anyalysis called "AIDS Risk for Minorities," Drs. Roger Bakeman, Judith Lumb and Donald Smith, report that 42 percent of the black men who have gotten AIDS are heterosexual, 37 percent are homosexual and 16 percent are bisexual. Risk reduction' campaigns to combat the spread of AIDS are particularly important for hetero- and bisexual black men, the analysis reveals, because of their contact with women. Fifty-two percent of the women and 67 percent of the childrten who have gotten AIDS are black, said co-author Dr. Roger Bakeman, who’s study analyzes the reporting of AIDS cases in the black community to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). Bakeman blames "non-deliberate institutional racism" on the part of the American media for ignoring the severity of AIDS for blacks in its reporting and its coverage of the disease. Intravenous needle use in the black community is as major a cause of the spread of AIDS as sexual contact, say officials, who report that 56 percent of the black women and 41 percent of the black men who have gotten AIDS use IV needles. (AIDS is spread from blood to blood as in the. sharing of needles and from semen to blood as in sexual intercourse.) Rev. Ken South, executive director of AID Atlanta, said plans are being made for an educational campaign targeted to the IV needle user, a campaign that will be especially directed to black heterosexuals. "It’s synonymous," said South. "IfyousayIV drug user in Georgia, you’re talking about straight black men and women." South applauds the efforts of the SCLC in sponsoring the May 31 seminar on AIDS, but wonders why more has not been done. "We welcome input from the organized black community," said the AID Atlanta director. "The SCLC conference is the first ray of hope we’ve seen. But what's the Urban League’s agenda for AIDS? What’s the NAACP’s agenda for AIDS? What about black churches? The SCLC is taking the lead, but there are other black groups that can reach the black community better than AID Atlanta and we need them." Future SCLC health care conferences will focus on hypertension, cancer, sickle cell anemia and infant mortality. A lot of people think AIDS is a disease restricted to white homosexuals. We want to clarify that it is a disease affecting black people," said SCLC President Rev. Joseph Lowery. "We want to dissiminate information and give people guidance on how to respond to this tragic disease. The conference on AIDS is the result of a series of health care seminars SCLC conducted across the country during the past two years. "SCLC has for some time been concerned about health care for black and poor Americans," said Evelyn Lowery, national convener and founder of SCLC/WOMEN. "We have recently launched a poor people’s campaign and have included health care as a very importnat thing for the black community, particularly when poor people often have to choose between food and medicine," she said. Rev. Lowery said SCLC made AIDS the subject of its first national health care seminar feeling a "sense of urgency" about the problem for black people. "We have received information that AIDS has been spreading in the black community among heterosexuals and children at a disproportionate rate and that gave it a sense of urgency," he said. Also, "I guess one of the reasons is that it’s such a current topic and we wanted to deal with the ignorance and the fear surrounding this crisis." The AIDS conference, being conducted at Paschal’s Hotel/Ramada Capital Inn, is sponsored by the SCLC/WOMEN Coordinating Committee, whose membership includes such member organizations as the Centers for Disease Control, Fulton County Health Department, AID Atlanta and three area medical colleges. Conference coordinator Sandra McDonald said she hopes the health care professionals and educators attending the conference will be able to to assist SCLC in taking information about AIDS to the grassroots black community. "That’s what SCLC does real well," she said, "getting the message to the grassroots folks in their community, so that they can easily relate to it." From this meeting, McDonald said, SCLC hopes to branch out to other levels like tenent association meetings, church meetings and the like. Participants at the day-long conference include Dr. Ronald Hopkins, deputy director of the Centers for Disease Control, Louis Sullivan, president of Morehouse Medical College and Walter Dowdie, acting AIDS coordinator for the U.S. Public Health Service. SCLC President Lowery will speak on 'Socio-Economic Rights Implication of Adoption of Gay Lifestyles.* Worshop presentations at the conference will focus on AIDS issues relating to the school system, employment and the status of medical research. Special dialogues will be conducted on promoting awareness of AIDS in the black community, risk reduction and the challenges that lie ahead. In addition to the SCLC conference, AID Atlanta Director South says "other rays of hope* for educating the- black community about AIDS involve recent commitments from the Georgia Department of Human Resources Methodone Clinic and from the City of Atlanta. DHR’s Drug and Alcohol Department, said South, has agreed to train its Methodone Clinic Staff on risk reduction. Statewide, he said, the staff employs some 500 people, many of whom are black. And, the city of Atlanta, with some 8,000 employees, has contracted with AID Atlanta for risk reduction classes and AIDS education. South estimates that 60 percent of city of Atlanta employees are black. "We have received information that AIDS has been spreading in the black community among heterosexuals and children at a disproportionate rate and that gave it a sense of Ur9ency " Rev. Joseph Lowery President, SCLC