Not a damn thing… (laugh) but they are not alone. Today is the day the entire black community for the most part goes on with our day as if it is any other day with little significance. I have not gotten one single press release about Radio One or Clear Channel doing one single solitary event or making one single concerted effort for this major problem in the black community. I sincerely doubt any of the pussy trades on line will write one thing about it either. It’s the stigma the black church has worked for decades to implant in the minds of the black community so that we can sit idly by and watch men, women and teenagers suffer and die and ignore it even when it’s in our own families. Lives that could have been saved with a simply PSA are irrelevant in our community. THIS is another reason I do not believe in the black church and I don’t support Cathy Hughes’ performance tax Effort.
Radio One wants the support of the community on the performance tax but is missing this great opportunity to shine as a beacon of the black community on a real issue and once again… we fail. Here are some of the most recent stats from 2007…
AIDS in 2007
- Blacks accounted for 49% of the estimated 35,962 AIDS cases diagnosed in the 50 states and the District of Columbia
- In 2007, the rates of AIDS diagnoses decreased among blacks but were still higher than the rates of any other race/ethnicity. The rate of AIDS diagnoses for black adults/adolescents were 10 times the rate for whites and nearly 3 times the rate for Hispanics. The rate of AIDS diagnoses for black women was 22 times the rate for white women. The rate of AIDS diagnoses for black men was almost 8 times the rate for white men.
- Blacks accounted for 44% of the 455,636 people living with AIDS in the 50 states and District of Columbia
- By the end of 2007, 40% of the 562,793 persons with AIDS who died were black
The black community continues to ignore these stats year after year. It’s no wonder other races are not as affected, they have massive support efforts and THEY will be the ones all over the news tonight in support of World AIDS Day while black ministers, instead of encouraging black church parishioners to support this issue, will be planning next week’s sermon to attack Jewquisha Yoplait Shante on her poor choices in men and her 29 baby daddies, totally ignoring the fact that one of the “baby daddies” might be her own father or uncle. Surface issues are easier to deal with because the exploration of what caused them might make black people do what we have not been allowed to do in decades… THINK. If Black ministers are going to talk about irrelevant things, then opt out and simply advise the sea of parishioners with horrific multi-colored weaves, clown hats, gum chewing old ladies with grills and the supremely bloated obese ass ticking time bombs taking up 10 seats in the pew. Stop attacking Jewquisha when you don’t know her history.
This IS NOW a BLACK ISSUE and the church and corporate black media like Radio One AND Clear Channel urban has failed the black community miserably. Not just on this issue but on metal illness, addiction, child abuse, bad black mothers, crime, molestation and MANY other issues we JUST continue to pussy out on when the shit hits the fan cause we’d just rather hear music. The only issue we have been consistent on attacking is racism and absentee fathers… while both issues are still relevant look at where we are with them today. We have a black president and black men are now hung out to dry by the legal system for child support, unlike it was when I was growing up when all a black man had to do was deny he was the child’s father and get away based on just that alone, this includes my own father. So you see, something does happen when we have dialogue. Wonder what would happen if we addressed the other issues in the black community? Gimme me a minute to think about this and figure it out (scratching my head and saying “hmmm”) DING DING DING! BLACK ALERT: things will change!!! As we can sit idly by each day in urban radio worrying about the Performance Tax and keeping our jobs… men, women and teenagers DIE that could have been saved with some sort of awareness or campaign or guidance. You can sit there all day and say ‘As long as it ain’t me’ and it may or may not be you NOW… but in the future it very well may affect you or someone that you know and love. Be an individual and support SOMETHING do NOT let the black church determine who YOU are, especially when you want to help others.
