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"The Source" Profiles Black Gay HIV/AIDS Activists Jonathan Perry, Phill Wilson and Jesse Milan

The Source is normally not required monthly reading—the hip-hop/ebonics/music "journalism" genre is just not our thing, baby—but grab a copy of the December 2008 issue. (PDF) The editors of the hip-hop bible profile four black HIV/AIDS activists and three are black gay men well known to Rod 2.0 readers—Phill Wilson, executive director of the Los Angeles-based Black AIDS Institute; Jesse Milan, chairman of the BAI and co-chair of the Centers for Disease Control; and hottie youth HIV activist and blogger Jonathan Perry.

Perry tells The Source public speaking has allowed him to "put a face" to HIV activism. "People tend to think that when you find out your HIV status that life is over, and initially it is that way in your head. But for some people, it is just the beginning. It's an opportunity to move forward consciously knowing there's more at stake."

Jesse Milan says as a lawyer and chair of numerous boards and committees "many people don't view that as activism, but I certainly do. Activism is not necessarily just marching in the streets, although it could be that. Activists can be active and accomplish their goals in many different ways." Milan has been mentioned as a candidate in the Barack Obama White House as the new "AIDS czar." Let's hope Milan's boardroom activism takes him there.

The photo editorial and interviews are a nice touch, too. Kudos to the editors for profiling black gay men, who are hit the hardest by the HIV epidemic and not going the easy route and finding several straight black women or men who were positive.

December 2008 "Source" [pdf]

More HEALTH
More HIV

Some Background ...
Will An Openly Gay Black Man Become Obama's AIDS "Czar"? [R20]
Jonathan Perry in "The Advocate" [R20]
Phill Wilson: Candidates Must Address HIV/AIDS [R20]
Ending Black Homophobia Will Reduce HIV [R20]
CDC: Young Black Gay Men Hit Hardest by New HIV Infections [R20]
HIV Spreading in NYC at Three Times National Rate Black/Latino Gay Men Hit Hardest [R20]
CDC: "Troubling" Rise in HIV Among Black Gay Men [R20]
GMHC's "I Love My Boo" Campaign [R20]
HIV Rates Rising Among Black NYC Gay Men [R20]
CDC Tracking "Serious" Strain of Syphilis [R20]
The HIV Morning After Pill? [R20]
Black Gay Men and "The Pill" [R20]
Do You Disclose Your HIV Status? [R20]
Primetime Reports Black HIV Epidemic [After Elton]
"Out of Control: AIDS in Black America" [R20]
POZ Examines Race and the Down Low [R20]
HIV Rates Rise Among NYC Black Gay Men [R20]
POZ Examines Race and the “Down Low” [R20]
"Urban Rally Against AIDS" [R20]
The ABCs of Black HIV [R20]

Will An Openly Gay Black Man Become Obama's AIDS "Czar"?

For the second time in as many weeks, HIV/AIDS advocates are calling on President-elect Barack Obama to develop a comprehensive approach to domestic HIV/AIDS policy. The groups want increased federal funding for HIV/AIDS prevention, treatment and research "and a departure from some policies enacted under the Bush administration"—such the ban on federal funding for needle-exchange programs and mandates for abstinence-only sex education.

HIV/AIDS advocates are also urging the new administration to resurrect the White House Office on National AIDS Policy and appoint a new "AIDS czar." According to the Bay Area Reporter, one of the leading contenders is Jesse Milan Jr., chairman of the Los Angeles-based Black AIDS Institute.

The openly gay Milan, 52, who has been HIV-positive for 26 years, is vice president of the Altarum Institute, a nonprofit that focuses on health research. He also chairs the CDC Business and Labor Responds to AIDS Partners Board.

From 2002 until last year, he co-chaired the CDC's and the Health Resources and Services Administration's Advisory Committee on HIV and STD Prevention and Treatments, through which he pushed to see adoption of a national AIDS strategy. Since last spring he has served on the national committee working on developing such a document.

Milan tells the Bay Area Reporter he would be happy to serve in an capacity in the Obama White House and is "hoping to be asked to do something to move the HIV/AIDS agenda forward."

Milan certainly has the credentials to become the nation's next AIDS czar. But his appointment would also crystallize the recent report by the Centers for Disease Controls which found black gay men are the demographic hardest hit by the epidemic. If anyone can tailor programs, policy and common sense to reach this hard-to-reach demographic, that would be Jesse Milan Jr.

Groups Push National AIDS Strategy [BAR]

More HEALTH
More HIV

Some Background ...
1,000+ Rally at WH Urging Obama to Prioritize HIV/AIDS [R20]
CDC: Young Black Gay Men Hit Hardest by New HIV Infections [R20]
HIV Spreading in NYC at Three Times National Rate Black/Latino Gay Men Hit Hardest [R20]
CDC: "Troubling" Rise in HIV Among Black Gay Men [R20]
GMHC's "I Love My Boo" Campaign [R20]
HIV Rates Rising Among Black NYC Gay Men [R20]
CDC Tracking "Serious" Strain of Syphilis [R20]
The HIV Morning After Pill? [R20]
Black Gay Men and "The Pill" [R20]
Jonathan Perry in "The Advocate" [R20]
Ending Black Homophobia Will Reduce HIV [R20]
Do You Disclose Your HIV Status? [R20]
Primetime Reports Black HIV Epidemic [After Elton]
"Out of Control: AIDS in Black America" [R20]
POZ Examines Race and the Down Low [R20]
HIV Rates Rise Among NYC Black Gay Men [R20]
Phill Wilson: Candidates Must Address HIV/AIDS [R20]
POZ Examines Race and the “Down Low” [R20]
"Urban Rally Against AIDS" [R20]
The ABCs of Black HIV [R20]
Suicide Tuesdays [R20]