What’s it like to be a young black gay man in a big metropolitan city like Philadelphia? It depends on whom you ask.
On the one hand, it’s not easy to be a young black man in America. Even in 2014 our society is too often sending the message that young black men are a threat to others (see Trayvon Martin or Ferguson, MO). At other times, the message is that we are under threat — from crime, from violence, from the HIV epidemic. With regard to HIV, the sad reality is that among all gay and bisexual men, African-Americans are still the racial/ethnic group most affected by HIV. In recent years, young men of color have accounted for an alarming percentage of new HIV infections in the United States.
But that’s only one part of the picture.
On the positive side: Mainstream media and pop culture are embracing the LGBTQ African-American community in an unprecedented way. We are seeing the emergence of an incredibly rich and diverse range of role models for young gay/bi/trans-identified people of color, such as B. Scott, Laverne Cox, Big Freedia, Frank Ocean and Michael Sam, just to name a few. These individuals are creating a more diversified definition of what black culture, and black gay culture, might include. And they are empowering others to develop their own unique definitions and identities along the way.
Thanks to these individuals and many others, young gay and trans people of color are able to embrace and relate to a range of potential models, spokespeople and voices that look like them and give them a strong sense of culture and pride.
So what does all of this have to do with our health?
We believe that it’s all connected. The Real Impact Project, or T.R.I.P., is a program of Mazzoni Center that we’ve been developing from the ground-up, with the goal of engaging young black men and trans people of color in a social movement aimed at reducing the impact of HIV in our communities, and creating real change. As young black gay men ourselves, we have a strong personal commitment to the community, and an appreciation for how rich and powerful our culture truly is.
Although the message of HIV prevention in and of itself is nothing new, what we hope will make T.R.I.P. stand out is the soul inside the program. We developed our Triangle logo to represent the mind, body and soul — each of which must be acknowledged for real change to occur in a person. This is T.R.I.P.’s philosophy. In order to revitalize the body, you must start with the mind and soul. We believe the messages about testing have to be presented in a language that black gay society can relate to — otherwise the importance of testing gets lost, or comes across as a chore or nuisance rather than a call to action.
Our own vision of battling HIV starts in layers. We need to take on the root issues, to acknowledge our behaviors, to see the cause and effects of the choices we make. We also need to remind ourselves and each other how great we are. We need to celebrate our excellence, and to be vocal and determined agents for change. We know there are so many young leaders within our communities. They just need a place to start.
Our goal with the T.R.I.P. program is not only to have someone come in and know their own HIV status, but to offer them a portal of sorts into a community of other activists, artists, leaders who care about the issues that impact our health and culture. Through unique events, community involvement and an innovative membership program that not only allows you to test for HIV but to become part of a growing network of change-makers, we want to help make HIV a distant memory for our communities.
We want to offer a sense of belonging and engagement with Mazzoni Center as a health and wellness organization — while acknowledging that it’s not just health organizations that can defeat HIV, it is the involvement of every one of us. Our voices, our actions and our every move count. We believe that every individual has the potential to help create change, and to make a Real Impact.
We are proud of the foundation we’ve built with T.R.I.P., but in many ways we are just getting started. We have a lot of ambitious goals for the program — and we’ll be going into more detail in next month’s column, so stay tuned.
If you were to ask someone the question we started with — “What’s it like to be a young black gay man in a big metropolitan city?” — chances are they would weigh the issue of HIV, and how to defeat it, in their thoughts. We believe The Real Impact Project is a place to start.
To get involved, or learn more about T.R.I.P., stop by Mazzoni’s office at 21 S. 12th St., or the Washington West Project, 1201 Locust St., today. You can pick up a T.R.I.P. card, get free confidential HIV/STD screening and affirm your commitment to defeating HIV. You can also contact Vernon Brown at [email protected] or 215-563-0652 ext. 204.