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| People of Color Unite On Marriage Equality by: Herndon L. Davis |
| Fighting HIV Discrimination in Latin America By: Herndon L. Davis |
Imagine suddenly being fired from your job despite many years of
excellent work performance because it was discovered that you’re
HIV+. Or imagine being told that you must take an HIV test as part of
your employment process. Even further, imagine being told that if you
test negative that you’re hired, but if you test positive you’re barred from
working anywhere in the company.
Imagine being harassed daily on the job because of your HIV+ status with
no Human Resources or legal recourse. Now imagine all of this being the
reality of many employees in countries all across Latin America and
Africa.
Sadly, this indeed is the reality for an untold number of individuals
impacted with HIV struggling to work to maintain their livelihoods.
Hence, this shocking and appalling reality became the genesis for the
creation of the AIDS Responsibility Project, founded and headed by
Abner Mason.
Unlike the US which has a rather progressive stance against HIV
discrimination in comparison to many developing countries Abner adds
that “The stigma associated with HIV is really extraordinary and it has a
really negative effect across all aspects of trying to fight this epidemic.
People who are either HIV+ or thought to be positive, in many countries
around the world even today face enormous discrimination.
They face this in the community in which they their live. Frequently
people are kicked out of their homes, frequently their family members
reject them. In many places the church, their religious institutions, and
leaders reject them. It pervades their entire life.”
Yet despite all of the community gossip, workplace harassment and
discrimination, many people indeed are able to endure and to overcome
these obstacles in order to obtain badly needed medical treatment. But
what happens if the means by which you obtain medical treatment and
care for yourself are suddenly shut off??
Mason passionately explains that “If you can imagine yourself having to
feed your family and/or yourself; it’s one thing to be rejected by your
church, by your family, and by your neighbors. But when you are fired
from your job or you are harassed out of your job, you lose the very
basis for survival which is an income to feed yourself or your family. So
workplace discrimination is particularly pernicious and has an incredibly
negative effect on the person involved and also in any effort to work
towards prevention.”
In fact in 2004 ARP established a Stigma Reduction Program which was
designed to establish benchmarks of public information on workplace
protections against HIV/AIDS-related discrimination in Latin America.
The Stigma Reduction Program is a 3-phase, 3-year program model,
developed to bring government and in-country NGO partners together
with leading corporations and industries to form strong, sustainable
national business councils dedicated to fostering corporate policies and
practices that will reduce HIV/AIDS stigma in the national workplace.
“Our program started in Mexico where we created the first business
council on AIDS. We’ve since expanded the program to Jamaica. We
are working and hope to launch a similar activity in Central America this
year which will be a regional program serving countries like Guatemala
and El Salvador and countries in the Central America region.”
A huge but badly needed undertaking; the AIDS Responsibility Project has
crafted distinct formulaic steps to ensure success. “The first thing we do
is we work with companies to join the council. We keep the barriers of
entry very low. We ask companies to sign a pledge that they are
committed to creating a workplace that’s free of discrimination and
stigma based on HIV.”
Abner adds that “it doesn’t cost anything to join because our program is
funded by the US Agency for International Development, which is the
State Department. Once they join we work with them to develop
workplace policies. Then we help to train the people who work at that
company on the policy.”
A trailblazer in the area of HIV stigma reduction, executive director Abner
Mason also has had tremendous experience in corporate and government
policy relations. The Harvard graduate spent several years in
Massachusetts state government where he lastly served as Chief Policy
Adviser for the last two Massachusetts governors, (Celluci and Swift).
During his last years in Massachusetts, Mason served on the Presidential
Advisory Committee on HIV/AIDS. The committee consists of a group of
Americans appointed to give the President advice on the AIDS epidemic
both domestically and internationally.
Abner Mason’s newest goals of HIV stigma reduction are in the areas of
Africa and also in getting more private sector involvement within these
initiatives. He’s also working on a music project with LA based
rapper/producer, Donald XL Robertson to create a 12 track Hip music
CD, now available on the MSN music store under ARP Productions. The
first track is titled “What Are We Living For?”
Mason stresses that the songs promote a non-preachy message which
“educate people on how to take care of themselves, how to prevent
getting infected, how to live with the infection if they have it …and
encouraging people to be honest about their own risk profile.”
To read more about AIDS Responsibility Project or to contact Abner
Mason, access his website at:
http://aidsresponsiblityproject.org
excellent work performance because it was discovered that you’re
HIV+. Or imagine being told that you must take an HIV test as part of
your employment process. Even further, imagine being told that if you
test negative that you’re hired, but if you test positive you’re barred from
working anywhere in the company.
Imagine being harassed daily on the job because of your HIV+ status with
no Human Resources or legal recourse. Now imagine all of this being the
reality of many employees in countries all across Latin America and
Africa.
Sadly, this indeed is the reality for an untold number of individuals
impacted with HIV struggling to work to maintain their livelihoods.
Hence, this shocking and appalling reality became the genesis for the
creation of the AIDS Responsibility Project, founded and headed by
Abner Mason.
Unlike the US which has a rather progressive stance against HIV
discrimination in comparison to many developing countries Abner adds
that “The stigma associated with HIV is really extraordinary and it has a
really negative effect across all aspects of trying to fight this epidemic.
People who are either HIV+ or thought to be positive, in many countries
around the world even today face enormous discrimination.
They face this in the community in which they their live. Frequently
people are kicked out of their homes, frequently their family members
reject them. In many places the church, their religious institutions, and
leaders reject them. It pervades their entire life.”
Yet despite all of the community gossip, workplace harassment and
discrimination, many people indeed are able to endure and to overcome
these obstacles in order to obtain badly needed medical treatment. But
what happens if the means by which you obtain medical treatment and
care for yourself are suddenly shut off??
Mason passionately explains that “If you can imagine yourself having to
feed your family and/or yourself; it’s one thing to be rejected by your
church, by your family, and by your neighbors. But when you are fired
from your job or you are harassed out of your job, you lose the very
basis for survival which is an income to feed yourself or your family. So
workplace discrimination is particularly pernicious and has an incredibly
negative effect on the person involved and also in any effort to work
towards prevention.”
In fact in 2004 ARP established a Stigma Reduction Program which was
designed to establish benchmarks of public information on workplace
protections against HIV/AIDS-related discrimination in Latin America.
The Stigma Reduction Program is a 3-phase, 3-year program model,
developed to bring government and in-country NGO partners together
with leading corporations and industries to form strong, sustainable
national business councils dedicated to fostering corporate policies and
practices that will reduce HIV/AIDS stigma in the national workplace.
“Our program started in Mexico where we created the first business
council on AIDS. We’ve since expanded the program to Jamaica. We
are working and hope to launch a similar activity in Central America this
year which will be a regional program serving countries like Guatemala
and El Salvador and countries in the Central America region.”
A huge but badly needed undertaking; the AIDS Responsibility Project has
crafted distinct formulaic steps to ensure success. “The first thing we do
is we work with companies to join the council. We keep the barriers of
entry very low. We ask companies to sign a pledge that they are
committed to creating a workplace that’s free of discrimination and
stigma based on HIV.”
Abner adds that “it doesn’t cost anything to join because our program is
funded by the US Agency for International Development, which is the
State Department. Once they join we work with them to develop
workplace policies. Then we help to train the people who work at that
company on the policy.”
A trailblazer in the area of HIV stigma reduction, executive director Abner
Mason also has had tremendous experience in corporate and government
policy relations. The Harvard graduate spent several years in
Massachusetts state government where he lastly served as Chief Policy
Adviser for the last two Massachusetts governors, (Celluci and Swift).
During his last years in Massachusetts, Mason served on the Presidential
Advisory Committee on HIV/AIDS. The committee consists of a group of
Americans appointed to give the President advice on the AIDS epidemic
both domestically and internationally.
Abner Mason’s newest goals of HIV stigma reduction are in the areas of
Africa and also in getting more private sector involvement within these
initiatives. He’s also working on a music project with LA based
rapper/producer, Donald XL Robertson to create a 12 track Hip music
CD, now available on the MSN music store under ARP Productions. The
first track is titled “What Are We Living For?”
Mason stresses that the songs promote a non-preachy message which
“educate people on how to take care of themselves, how to prevent
getting infected, how to live with the infection if they have it …and
encouraging people to be honest about their own risk profile.”
To read more about AIDS Responsibility Project or to contact Abner
Mason, access his website at:
http://aidsresponsiblityproject.org
What exactly would happen if Latino, Asian, and African-
American citizens all came together on various political and
socioeconomic issues? Just how would America be politically
moved or transformed and on which issues? To be more
specific, which major issues of today would promptly become
non-issues of tomorrow? And which non-issues today would
become tomorrow’s political hot potatoes?
Well a broad-based coalition of similar design has come together
on the issue of Marriage Equality. The organizations of Lambda
Legal, National Black Justice Coalition, Asian Equality, National
Latina/o Coalition for Justice, and Freedom to Marry have teamed
up to spearhead a campaign that reaches out not only to
communities of color, but also to white audiences as well.
“The right-wing has perpetuated the idea that people of color are
overwhelmingly against marriage for same-sex couples --- it is
important that people see this for what it is --- a half-baked myth
that needs correcting,” interjects Kevin Cathcart, Executive
Director of Lambda Legal. “We are very pleased to have such
strong coalition partners in this effort --- together we can reach
many communities who need to see that Marriage Equality
Matters to people of color” Cathcart adds.
The details behind this historic partnership is a perfect example of
how many different people can come together on one accord in
order to affect change on common issues of interest.
According to Renee Hill, Community Organizer at Lamda Legal
for the state of New Jersey; the story began when she started
experiencing difficulty drumming up support for Marriage
Equality within African-American communities, especially as a
crucial court case was making its way through the New Jersey
court system.
Renee explains in detail that “This particular project came about
because some of us were doing work in communities, particular
communities of color trying to raise awareness of Marriage
Equality [and] what that means for people of color…both straight
and gay and our families. We found out that there was not any
really good solid material that was focusing on communities of
color”
To be more specific, Hill suddenly found herself without any
literature that could culturally identify with the people with whom
she was asking for support. “I went back to Lambda Legal and I
said it would be wonderful if we could have material that would
reflect people of color communities and that we could have actual
images and words and ideas and present a forum for people of
color [with] voices and images to talk abut support for Marriage
Equality.
So we got together with some partner organizations… and we
said why don’t we work together to produce material that we
could use in our organizing work to raise awareness to help
promote our education and work?”
The result is Lambda Legal’s partnership with the National Black
Justice Coalition, Asian Equality, National Latina/o Coalition for
Justice, and Freedom to Marry organizations all which are
fighting for Marriage Equality, mostly within communities of
color.
The joint collaboration was launched in February of this year
during the “Freedom To Marry Week,” but Hill adds that
collaboration is ongoing and will continue to grow as needed.
The joint-collaboration also kicked off its campaign with a
widespread web presence featuring online banner ads appearing
on websites such as www.essence.com, www.AsianAvenue.
com, www.MiGente.com, and www.ChopBlock.com.
The banner ads feature a diverse array of “people of color”
wearing a t-shirt which read "Marriage Equality Matters," and
depicts the wide-ranging support marriage equality has across the
country. The group-coalition is also planning a photo exhibit
appearing in venues across the country that will be in full swing
during lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender Pride month in June.
“Same-gender-loving, black families have more to lose if /when
we are denied the responsibilities and protections of marriage,”
adds H. Alexander Robinson, Chief Executive Officer of the
National Black Justice Coalition.
“The most important thing Latinas/os can do is to be vocal and
open about our support for justice and equality,” says Lisbeth
Melendez Rivera, National Convener for the National Latina/o
Coalition for Justice.
“Marriage equality matters to Asian Pacific Americans (APA)
because it confers important protections for our families, and
nothing is more important to our community than making sure
our families are safe, healthy and intact,” interjects Andy Shie Kee
Wong, Coalition Manager of Asian Equality.
“This is an exciting time in our growing civil rights movement for
marriage equality,” confirms Samiya Bashir, communications
director of Freedom to Marry.
If the issue of Marriage Equality can bring together such diverse
groups of people, it leaves the door open to ponder what other
socioeconomic and political/platforms that communities of color
can come together on in order to impact change across their
individual communities and across America.
Resource Websites:
Lambda Legal, National Black Justice Coalition
National Latina/o Coalition for Justice,
Asian Equality, Freedom to Marry
American citizens all came together on various political and
socioeconomic issues? Just how would America be politically
moved or transformed and on which issues? To be more
specific, which major issues of today would promptly become
non-issues of tomorrow? And which non-issues today would
become tomorrow’s political hot potatoes?
Well a broad-based coalition of similar design has come together
on the issue of Marriage Equality. The organizations of Lambda
Legal, National Black Justice Coalition, Asian Equality, National
Latina/o Coalition for Justice, and Freedom to Marry have teamed
up to spearhead a campaign that reaches out not only to
communities of color, but also to white audiences as well.
“The right-wing has perpetuated the idea that people of color are
overwhelmingly against marriage for same-sex couples --- it is
important that people see this for what it is --- a half-baked myth
that needs correcting,” interjects Kevin Cathcart, Executive
Director of Lambda Legal. “We are very pleased to have such
strong coalition partners in this effort --- together we can reach
many communities who need to see that Marriage Equality
Matters to people of color” Cathcart adds.
The details behind this historic partnership is a perfect example of
how many different people can come together on one accord in
order to affect change on common issues of interest.
According to Renee Hill, Community Organizer at Lamda Legal
for the state of New Jersey; the story began when she started
experiencing difficulty drumming up support for Marriage
Equality within African-American communities, especially as a
crucial court case was making its way through the New Jersey
court system.
Renee explains in detail that “This particular project came about
because some of us were doing work in communities, particular
communities of color trying to raise awareness of Marriage
Equality [and] what that means for people of color…both straight
and gay and our families. We found out that there was not any
really good solid material that was focusing on communities of
color”
To be more specific, Hill suddenly found herself without any
literature that could culturally identify with the people with whom
she was asking for support. “I went back to Lambda Legal and I
said it would be wonderful if we could have material that would
reflect people of color communities and that we could have actual
images and words and ideas and present a forum for people of
color [with] voices and images to talk abut support for Marriage
Equality.
So we got together with some partner organizations… and we
said why don’t we work together to produce material that we
could use in our organizing work to raise awareness to help
promote our education and work?”
The result is Lambda Legal’s partnership with the National Black
Justice Coalition, Asian Equality, National Latina/o Coalition for
Justice, and Freedom to Marry organizations all which are
fighting for Marriage Equality, mostly within communities of
color.
The joint collaboration was launched in February of this year
during the “Freedom To Marry Week,” but Hill adds that
collaboration is ongoing and will continue to grow as needed.
The joint-collaboration also kicked off its campaign with a
widespread web presence featuring online banner ads appearing
on websites such as www.essence.com, www.AsianAvenue.
com, www.MiGente.com, and www.ChopBlock.com.
The banner ads feature a diverse array of “people of color”
wearing a t-shirt which read "Marriage Equality Matters," and
depicts the wide-ranging support marriage equality has across the
country. The group-coalition is also planning a photo exhibit
appearing in venues across the country that will be in full swing
during lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender Pride month in June.
“Same-gender-loving, black families have more to lose if /when
we are denied the responsibilities and protections of marriage,”
adds H. Alexander Robinson, Chief Executive Officer of the
National Black Justice Coalition.
“The most important thing Latinas/os can do is to be vocal and
open about our support for justice and equality,” says Lisbeth
Melendez Rivera, National Convener for the National Latina/o
Coalition for Justice.
“Marriage equality matters to Asian Pacific Americans (APA)
because it confers important protections for our families, and
nothing is more important to our community than making sure
our families are safe, healthy and intact,” interjects Andy Shie Kee
Wong, Coalition Manager of Asian Equality.
“This is an exciting time in our growing civil rights movement for
marriage equality,” confirms Samiya Bashir, communications
director of Freedom to Marry.
If the issue of Marriage Equality can bring together such diverse
groups of people, it leaves the door open to ponder what other
socioeconomic and political/platforms that communities of color
can come together on in order to impact change across their
individual communities and across America.
Resource Websites:
Lambda Legal, National Black Justice Coalition
National Latina/o Coalition for Justice,
Asian Equality, Freedom to Marry
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Copyrighted 2006
Herndon Davis is an author, lecturer, and TV/Radio Host of
The Herndon Davis Reports. He can be reached directly at
http://herndondavis.com
Herndon Davis is an author, lecturer, and TV/Radio Host of
The Herndon Davis Reports. He can be reached directly at
http://herndondavis.com
Copyrighted 2006
Herndon Davis is an author, lecturer, and TV/Radio Host of The Herndon Davis
Reports. He can be reached directly at http://herndondavis.com
Herndon Davis is an author, lecturer, and TV/Radio Host of The Herndon Davis
Reports. He can be reached directly at http://herndondavis.com
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