SILENT PRESS RELEASE ABOUT “SILENT KILLER”

I’ve been thinking about what I wanted my first blog entry to be about. I’m a writer and usually thoughts just flow from my brain to white space freely. But when I sat down to write about my experiences here in Miami, I hit a brick wall. Sure I could talk about the predictable like the differences in weather, nightlife etc. But I came across something last week that got under my skin so badly that I just HAD to put it on blast so to speak.

I was reading e-mails and I came across one from a volunteer organization that I sometimes help out with some events. I scrolled through the e-mail, taking time to read the synopsis of each event because I didn’t want to miss a thing. I almost did miss something- though it wasn’t my fault. Buried in between Black Beach & Bluegrass was a little blurb about a health fair. I clicked the link that accompanied the text because it seemed interesting. Imagine my shock to find a website about an Aids Prevention event that already passed. In fact, the 2nd Annual Silence is Death Community March took place on February 8, 2008.

Where was the press release about this event that is so crucial to our community? Where was the sound byte on the local news? Did I miss it? I am actually praying that it was only I under my solitary rock and the rest of Miami was out in force- marching and creating awareness about this deadly disease that is plaguing our community.

Silence is death. So why was this kept silent? I’ve heard promos for every event under the sun on the radio for the past few weeks. Who doesn’t know that Virginia Key Beach Park (Black Beach) is reopening? You’d have to be living in a vacuum not to know that the Miami International Film Festival will descend upon the city in the coming weeks. But why is something so relevant to our community kept on the hush?

I could spend the next few paragraphs creating bullet points and graphs. But by now we all know the most important fact of them all. AIDS is killing off African American’s at an alarming rate. We need to educate ourselves, know our status, and practice safe sex. Seems easy, but for some reason we just aren’t connecting the dots. That’s why movements like Black Aids Day are invaluable. But the information has to get into the hands of the masses. It doesn’t do us a bit of good when it’s under promoted, ignored and pushed under the rug in favor of more glamorous events, that, though important in their own way, don’t affect our health and well being.

I want a do-over. Let’s try again- once more with feeling. Maybe Black Aids Day should be semi-annual. This deserves a PR blitz of epic proportions. Check out http://www.blackaidsday.org/ . There are a ton of events taking place in Miami that are way under the radar. Let’s get involved with some worthwhile for a change.