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Racial Disparities Increase HIV/AIDS Impact in South

Published

12 years ago

April 16, 2014

It’s a shocking fact: nine of the 10 states with the highest AIDS fatalities are now in the South.

In North Carolina, with the eighth highest percentage of Blacks in the nation, 22 percent of the state’s residents live below the federal poverty level, and 42 percent are considered low income.

As can be expected from that kind of poverty, Blacks show higher rates of death from heart disease, cancer, diabetes, homicide, strokes and HIV.

Those who work at the grassroots in the South doing HIV prevention face many challenges. Poverty, lack of education, continued racial segregation, discrimination and incarceration contribute substantially to the persistence of the racial disparities found in the spread of Sexually Transmitted Diseases and HIV.

In the face of racism and religious condemnation, southern HIV advocates are doing amazing work to save Black lives.

I had a chance to see firsthand what is taking place in the South when I was invited to speak at the Southern Regional Area Health Education Center and Williams Chapel Church in Spring Lake, NC.

Over 100 positive clients from the Fayetteville, Cumberland County area turned out for the Annual Prevention for Positives program.

Prevention for Positives events serve individuals who have already tested positive for HIV and who may be at risk of transmitting the disease to someone else. The events are meant to help people feel better about themselves, decrease stigma associated with HIV and encourage them to take responsibility for their own lives.

The clinic and the church have been collaborating since 2006. Art Jackson, bridge counselor and care coordinator for the center, and the team that consists of members of the church each year coordinate a program filled with education, medical updates and facts, and dynamic positive speakers that are working in their communities.

“Situated in the Bible-belt of our nation, many churches still perceive and preach that HIV is a result of sin,” said Jackson. “This belief stops people from being honest, seeking care and disclosing their status to others.”

Churches like Williams Chapel, where the event was held, are the exception. The chapel is known throughout North Carolina as a leader in AIDS ministry and education.

Apostle Kimberly Nixon, who has been a great supporter of the partnership, continues to be a blessing to people living with the virus.

Jackson says the norm for southerners finding out their status or finally having to address something they already knew is through emergency rooms, usually when the disease has already taken a major toll. “The fear that once recognized they will be outed and face stigma stops many from seeking early care,” he said.

This year’s program included Dr. John Hogan, the keynote speaker. He is well known in the Washington metropolitan medical community, serving on local and national committees.

Other speakers included HIV positive advocates, like Eva Fields from Atlanta GA, who told of her story of having three HIV negative children since her diagnosis at 17, while she was pregnant.

Author Khafre Abif showcased his latest anthology, “Cornbread, Fish and Collard Greens,” a collection of short stories and poems and affirmations from the infected and affected of HIV

It is sad to see the increased numbers of infections in the Black community in the South made worse by racism and oppression. Instead of seeking to help, the governor of North Carolina rejected The Affordable Care Act (Obama care) in his state, even though many African Americans tin North Caroline are without health insurance.

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Poll Shows Support for Policies That Help Families Afford Child Care

BLACKPRESSUSA NEWSWIRE — New national polling shows persistent voter concern about the affordability and availability of child care for working parents, alongside broad support across key demographic groups for federal child care policies that help families afford care.

Published

19 hours ago

March 2, 2026

Oakland Post

By First Five Years Fund

New national polling shows persistent voter concern about the affordability and availability of child care for working parents, alongside broad support across key demographic groups for federal child care policies that help families afford care.

The national survey was conducted by UpOne Insight on behalf of the First Five Years Fund from January 13–18, 2026.

Key findings include:

• Parents need help: 80% of voters say the ability of working parents to find and afford child care is either in a state of crisis or a major problem.

• This is an affordability issue: 82% believe federal child care funding will help lower costs for working families — including 69% of Republicans, 84% of Independents, and 94% of Democrats.

• And there continues to be strong support (62%) for the Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG), a federal program that makes it possible for hundreds of thousands of families to afford safe, quality care for their children while parents work or go to school, including a majority of Republicans, 63% of Independents and 72% of Democrats.

• Support for funding child care programs remains strong: 75% believe child care funding should be increased or kept at current levels — including 75% of Republicans, 85% of Independents, and 97% of Democrats.

• 74% say funding for child care is an important and good use of tax dollars, including a majority of Republicans, three-quarters of Independents, and nine in ten Democrats.

FFYF Executive Director Sarah Rittling said, “Voters across the country are sending a clear message: federal child care and early learning programs work. These investments help parents stay in the workforce, strengthen families, and support healthy child development. They have also long had strong bipartisan support in Congress. At a time when affordability is top of mind for families, continued federal funding is essential to ensure child care remains accessible and within reach.”

First Five Years Fund works to protect, prioritize, and build bipartisan support for quality child care and early learning programs at the federal level. Reliable, affordable, and high-quality early learning and child care can be transformative, not only enhancing a child’s prospects for a brighter future but also bolstering working parents and fostering economic stability nationwide.

We work with Congress and the Administration to identify federal solutions that work for families with young children, as well as states and communities. We work with policymakers to identify ways to increase access to affordable, high-quality child care and early learning programs for children. And we collaborate with advocacy groups to help align best practices with the best possible policies. http://www.ffyf.org

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Oakland Post: Week of February 25 – March 3, 2026

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of – February 25 – March 3, 2026

Published

2 days ago

March 1, 2026

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Trump’s MAGA Allies are Creating Executive Order Plan to Steal the 2026 Midterms

NNPA NEWSWIRE — The document that could lead to an executive order proposes using the claim that China interfered with the 2020 elections as grounds to “declare a national emergency.” The move would be an unprecedented step that would grant Trump new authority over the voting systems in the U.S.

Published

4 days ago

February 27, 2026

Oakland Post

By Lauren Victoria Burke, NNPA Newswire Correspondent

A group of MAGA pro-Trump activists, who say they are working in coordination with the White House, are circulating a 17-page draft executive order that would claim without evidence that China interfered with the 2020 presidential election. Donald Trump lost the 2020 presidential to President Joe Biden by over 7 million votes. Since Trump lost to Biden in 2020, he has repeatedly claimed that the election was “stolen” without evidence. The report of a group of “Trump allies” preparing an executive order to give Trump power over elections was first reported by The Washington Post.

The lies around the right-wing campaign that pushed falsehoods that the 2020 election was stolen was trafficked through right-wing media, particularly Fox News. Fox News was then sued for defamation for the claims by Dominion Voting Systems. Fox lost the case and had to settle for the largest defamation amount on record of $787.5 million in April 2023.

The document that could lead to an executive order proposes using the claim that China interfered with the 2020 elections as grounds to “declare a national emergency.” The move would be an unprecedented step that would grant Trump new authority over the voting systems in the U.S.

The story in The Washington Post arrives as Trump increasingly signals that he may take actions that would alter the result of the 2026 midterms. The Republicans are widely expected to lose as their approval ratings plummet as a result of a failing economy under Trump. Over 50 members of Congress have announced they will retire this year and not return in 2027.

The Trump Department of Justice, which now has a large image of Trump on the side of it, “sued five new states Thursday [Feb. 26, 2026] demanding access to their unredacted voter rolls — escalating a campaign that has been rejected by multiple federal courts and faces resistance from Republican-led states as well,” according to Democracy Docket, a group that works to protect voting rights.

Trump claimed back in late 2020, the last year of his first term, that he had the authority to issue an executive order related to mail-in voting for the 2020 elections — which he would then lose. But the Constitution states that control of elections lies with the states. As the GOP works to place hurdles in front of voting, Democrats worked to make voting easier.

In March 2021, President Biden signed an executive order calling on federal agencies to expand voting access as part of the Biden Administration’s effort “to promote and defend the right to vote for all Americans who are legally entitled to participate in elections.”

Trump’s focus is clearly on altering the November 2026 midterm elections. Trump’s polling numbers and the elections and special elections that have taken place around the U.S. over the last year clearly indicate that Republicans are about to be hit by a blue wave of Democratic victories.

Lauren Victoria Burke is an independent investigative journalist and the founder of Black Virginia News. She is a political analyst who appears on #RolandMartinUnfiltered and hosts the show LAUREN LIVE on YouTube @LaurenVictoriaBurke. She can be contacted at LBurke007@gmail.com and on twitter at @LVBurke