By now you should have heard about the report that one out of two people with AIDS in this country are Black. Well that sounds about right because one out of two people murdered in this country are also Black.
AIDS is the leading cause of death among black women between 25 and 34, and the second-leading cause of death in black men from 35 to 44, according to a report released Tuesday. CNN.comYou can have all of the AIDS prevention awareness programming you want, but what we are fighting here is as much a disease of the mind as one of the body.
"For a lot of young black women, what's putting them at risk is emotion," the 29-year-old iReporter said. "Young women are going to men for security -- you're talking about a fatherless home and a girl looking for approval. That's the kind of thing that puts them at risk." CNN.com
I was horrified and EMBARRASSED sitting in Atlanta's airport at 5:45 in the morning waiting to catch a flight. I was finally forced to watch Soledad O'Brien's "Black PROBLEMS in America" I saw the vignette of the single Black woman who does not use condoms despite the fact that she thinks her "man" is cheating on here. I think every Black person in the boarding areas had their mouth open. One brother looked downright indignant.
I have no solutions to offer on this one, but I doubt that that single Black mother on Soledad's "Black PROBLEMS in America" is likely to change her mind. For some women being without a man, any man is a fate worse than death and it appears that that mentality is costing Black women their lives.
