National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day

Jackson State University will mark National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day with two events to encourage everyone to “get educated, get tested, get involved and get treated.”  The events include a Praise and Prayer Service in partnership with RUF on Thursday, Feb. 6 and a NBHAAD Teen Dating Violence Forum and Movie Night on Friday, Feb. 7.   Both events will be held in the JSU Student Center Theatre and are open to the public.

The RUF Praise Team along with Rev. Elbert McGowen will include HIV/AIDS awareness information and prayers in their weekly Thursday night campus ministry service, beginning at 7:30 p.m.  On Friday, from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m., free and confidential Rapid HIV Testing will be available on the third floor of the JSU Student Center.

Beginning at 6:30 p.m., Feb. 7, a panel of health educators will speak to dating violence, prevention and treatment of HIV/AIDS in the African American community, and answer questions about  the disease.  Panelists include:  Keisha Varnell, Prevention/Intervention Specialist, Mississippi Coalition Against Domestic Violence; Mauda L. Monger, Program Director, Mississippi AIDS Education Training Center; and Keith Bush, Trainer with the University of Mississippi CDC Training Center and Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity’s wellness initiative.

The movie, “Precious, directed by Lee Daniels, will be shown following the panel discussion.

National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day is a grassroots effort founded by five national organizations funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in 1999 to provide capacity-building assistance to Black communities and organizations: Concerned Black Men, Inc. of Philadelphia; Health Watch Information and Promotion Services, Inc.; Jackson State University – Mississippi Urban Research Center, under the leadership of the late Researcher, Dr. Mark Colomb; National Black Alcoholism and Addictions Council; and National Black Leadership Commission on AIDS.

The first NBHAAD initiative was launched on Feb. 7, 2000 amid alarming statistics that nearly 20,000 Blacks in the United States tested positive for HIV each annually. Fourteen years later the focus of NBHAAD  remains on national HIV testing and the spread of knowledge amongst black communities. The four specific focal points are education, testing, involvement, and treatment.

Sponsors include the JSU Division of Student Life, Health Services, Latasha Norman Center, Project S.A.F.E, JSU Student Government Association, RUF and Alpha Beta Chapter, Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc.

For information on National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day, contact Victoria Coleman at the JSU Health Center at 601-979-2260.