Time for that talk again....Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day

About a year ago, while schlepping around the intrawebs, I got to "know" some people who have irrevocably changed my life.  Good, bad or indifferent... it is what it is.  I put "know" in quotations b/c I have never actually met any of these ladies.  Yet we have shared some pretty deep conversations online.  Have discovered that we hold similar tastes, likes, values, beliefs, pet peeves and humor.  My friendships with these people are every bit as valid and valuable to me as any I have with people in my immediate vicinity.

Because of one of these friendships, I became involved with the Red Pump Project.  Look over on the sidebar... my humble lil' blog with its sporadic readership was one of the first to Rock the Red Pump, last March for National Women's and Girl's HIV/AIDS Awareness Day.  And I'm rockin' it again, and again, and again....

Today is Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day.  And I personally think that it's the most important of the awareness campaigns going.  Why?  Because, demographically, Black Americans are unbelievably over represented as far as HIV/AIDS is concerned.  Now, my girl Luvvie has covered the stats in her post over at the RPP website.  And I believe if it ain't broke, don't fix it... so I'm gonna trust y'all will click the daggone links!

One stat that I came across deals with the disparity between pediatric AIDS among different ethnic/racial demographics.  The following tables come straight from the CDC website and they make me want to vomit.

FIGURE 2. Racial/ethnic distribution in total population and among infants aged ≤1 year, persons aged ≥13 years with diagnosed HIV* infection, and children aged <13 years with diagnosed perinatal HIV infection --- 34 states, 2004--2007^†

* Human immunodeficiency virus.

^† Data adjusted for reporting delays.

^§ Hispanics/Latinos might be of any race.

Alternative Text: The figure above shows racial/ethnic distribution in total population and among infants aged less than1 year and persons aged greater than 13 years with diagnosed HIV infection, and children with diagnosed perinatal HIV infection in 34 U.S. states from 2004-2007. During 2004-2007, among all children with diagnoses of perinatal HIV infection in the 34 states, 69% were black, 16% were Hispanic, 11% were white, and 4% were of other or multiple races. In contrast, 15% of infants in the 34 states aged less than1 year were black, 22% were Hispanic, 56% were white, and 7% were of other or multiple races. The percentages of black and Hispanic females aged >13 years with HIV infection were similar to those for children with diagnoses of perinatal HIV infection; 67% were black, and 14% were Hispanic.

FIGURE 1. Annual rate of diagnoses of perinatal HIV* infection per 100,000 infants aged ≤1 year, by race/ethnicity --- 34 states, 2004--2007^†

* Human immunodeficiency virus.

^† Data adjusted for reporting delays.

^§ Hispanics/Latinos might be of any race.

Alternative Text: The figure above shows the annual rate of diagnoses of perinatal HIV infection per 100,000 infants aged less than1 year, by race/ethnicity in 34 U.S. states from 2004-2007. From 2004 to 2007, the annual rate of diagnoses of perinatal HIV infection for black children decreased from 14.8 to 10.2 per 100,000 (p = 0.003), and the rate for Hispanic children decreased from 2.9 to 1.7 per 100,000 (p = 0.04). The rates for white children and for children of other or multiple races did not change significantly.

source

Yep, you read those stats right.  Disgusting.... 

At one point in the HIV/AIDS story, an infected mother automatically meant an infected infant.  But there are meds now, that when taken during pregnancy, can prevent the transmission of HIV from mother to child across the placenta.  And these tables are showing clearly that those meds are not getting to Black expectant mothers.  

And why?  Poor access to prenatal diagnosis and care?  Lack of information?  Lack of availability of meds that could prevent those infections?  Lack of caring?  Yeah, all that.  And more. 

So, what do we do about it?  We talk, yell, scream!  We get involved.  We start conversations about prevention.  We make this a priority topic again!  

I refuse to let the conversation die as long as I'm drawing breath.  Please get involved.  Use condoms.  Know your status.  Share information.  If we keep rowing the boat in the same direction, we can get those lines going in the right direction people!

By the way, the RPP has a brother organization, The Red Tie Project, with a focus on issues relating to men and HIV/AIDS.  Check them out!

Also check out this link... Pediatric AIDS Chicago Prevention Initiative for more info on perinatal transmission prevention.

Hold it down, lil' man!!

I got seriously irritated in my attempts at figuring out my Christmas present..... so being me, I said screw this I'll come back to it later. Then I went over to one of my fave blogs, Oh, Hell Nawl to catch up on what I missed. And I came across this seriously funny vid.  I've said it before, and I'll say it again... little boys LOVE their Mommas! I can see Eli pullin' some stuff like this. That's ok. Lil' man just settin' the ground rules!

Enjoy.

It's called FLAG football for a reason, son!!

The little corner of the Cornfield where my son and I live is a town called Du Quoin, Illinois. It's mostly "famous" for the Du Quoin State Fair (which is totally the shyznitt!! ummmm...fair food!) and for high school football. The Du Quoin Indians are known in Southern Illinois for always fielding a powerhouse team. Twenty-five straight years in post-season playoffs ain't no joke!! This includes more than one trip to the "Big Show" that is the State Championship game. They lost a heartbreaker in the final last year.... I was soooooo bummed about that one...

But I digress....

Part of the fielding consistently good teams is that they start 'em young here. Which brings me (finally) to my topic... my son is playing flag football. But it's really "flag" football in name only. I mean, they all wear the little belts with the tear away flags. And they do grab the flags....eventually. However, those lil' beasts were straight up tackling each other! I stood in utter amazement as I watched these 6 and 7 year olds T-boning, bodyslamming and clotheslining one another. These children, who will whine and cry at a moment's notice when they are with mommy, were knocking the dog poop outta each other! Then there they were, poppin' up to their feet for more like they had springs in their butts!!

The teams are all coached by players from the high school team. I guess to build responsibility and leadership skills... Anyhoo...the parents lining the field were conversing about the positions these munchkins were destined for in 7, 8, 9 years when it is finally their turn to be high school football heroes... And please believe me when I say, these people meant that ish!! It wasn't just idle chit chat about some vague future team... these folks gots plans for the kiddos! Training regiments and the whole banana. They practically have the 2017 team roster finalized!

All the while, these kids are just knockin' the crap outta each other!! On the bright side, I've been assured by several people that Eli is a beast on defense and has a bright future as a defensive back coming down the road!!

I Better Never Hear "I Can't" from My Son....

I came across this story on another blog I follow. This young lady has been homeless all her life. And yet somehow managed to keep herself on track, graduate high school, and not only be accepted at some of the top universities in the nation (most of the Ivy League schools, matter of fact), but earned herself a FULL RIDE at Harvard. So the next time I hear Eli telling me he can't do something.....

KA-POW!!

I'mma whip out this story and tell him "ION'T WANNA HEAR IT!! Now get that homework done and clean your room.... and while you're at it, you best be praising the Lord you got it so good!"

Thanks for the inspiration, Khadijah Williams! Read the story on the link or go to the LA Times online and check it out.

gratitude inducing television

so i stayed up waayyy too late last nite watching intervention on A & E and twittering (like that's something new). anyway, this morning, i woke up profoundly grateful that i have a relatively decent family--aside from my fathead brother and one profoundly psycho cousin of my dad's. i also found myself really glad that i don't think twice about makin' an ass of myself in kroger if it means that my son will take me at my word and straighten his narra ass out!

which leads me to this random mental chunklet, why are we as parents so embarassed about having to correct our children? i mean, everybody's kids show their butts from time to time, and it's usually in a place or at a time when they think mama's not gonna correct them. but you see, i was raised by a woman who regularly threatened to "beat the sleeves offa" me. and she meant that shit. and she didn't care where we were when she did it. granted, that was back in the day when all the teachers at my school had an "enforcer" and corporal punishment was not only accepted, but expected. now, i'm not sayin' i'm in favor of beatin' chilluns, but back then, everybody understood that 1.) children would push their limits, and 2.)adults were responsible for reigning them back in. there was no shame in it.

now people are worried about hurting their kids' self esteem and their wee lil feelins--well, honey, ya gotta get the little darlin's used to it, because it will happen sooner or later. and if they haven't learned how to deal with it, they're gonna be in trouble. giving your child an honest appreciation for his strengths and weaknesses is a lot kinder than promoting an unrealistic overinflated over indulged ego. discipline, limits, rules--kids need that shit, desperately. there's no shame in a child's misbehavior. that's how they test their boundaries. parents, there's no shame in enforcing those boundaries. it's ok to loudly tell your child, "you need to act like you have some sense!! you just lost your psp for a week and bought yourself 10 minutes with your nose in a corner!!" for some reason, my six year old HATES the corner. i admit, i have found corners in walmart and put the boy in check in the store.

no shame in it people, check ya kids before you find yourself on A & E cryin' ya eyes out like ol' Tammy.

peace and blessings!!