I try hard not to promote TV, unless it is Something that really needs to be seen.
There are two shows that I am promoting this week, Spike Lee's Documentary on HBO on Katrina.It will indeed break your Heart. Maybe some of the Elected Reps will watch it while on "Recess". I can only hope.
The Other Show I am asking people to watch this week is called "Out of Control: AIDS in Black America", it is on tonight at 10pm ABC. This was the last documentary Peter Jennings worked on before he died, and there is a segment in which you can see him at his finest. Terry Moran worked on this Special for over a year, it is about a Hidden
Crisis in this Country. AIDS is Huge in Black America in this Country. It is being ignored and denied on so many levels, yet it is rampant. And it is about Sex..and Lies.
Lies about how we Talk about It...How we Teach about It....We need to find a way to teach our Young and Talk to Our Young...And Protect them. We need to find a way as Men and Women to talk about Sex.
We can not be Treating AIDS and SEX the way it was treated under Reagan,because it is
already causing staggering rise in Numbers in HIV and AIDS in all ages, and male and female....We can talk about AIDS in Africa- but we ignore Here At Home ? WHY? How can that Happen? And why are we letting it ?
And we have hourly Viagra Ads and Cialis WHERE are the CONDOM ads, we should be seeing them on as much as more than the Wonder Drugs. STD and HIV Numbers are up in the 13-23 age group, and that can only be blamed on Abstinence Programs and a lack of Education and a lack of Protection. Leading cause of Death in black women 23-44, AIDS.Black Women HIV infection rate is 14-20 times that of white women. We need to examine Why this is happening. It is not just about Relationships, it is about socieconomic situations, about healthcare, and about Hidden Stigma....When do we talk ? When?
68% newly diagnosed HIV- Black women. Women should matter more than becoming a blaring statistic. If it were a White Women Epidemic would it be getting noticed?
And yes, it is also about the Religous Right and how they have Infected our Government, and it does have effect on Medical Decisions and Care. The Stem Cell Debate and the Right to Die Debate is all effected by these People that have limited Medical Knowledge forcing their beliefs into Policy. It is Wrong, and it is indeed Killing People.
So I am asking you to watch this Special tonight, and ask some hard questions. I also am asking that you watch with your kids, and ask the Questions together, and that you Talk....to each other....about Sex and about Love...about Relationships.
*** Painting by James Gwynne called The Embrace, available on Absolutearts. Go Explore, beautiful art.***
*** Yeah, and for the weekend reading I will post some of my AIDS stories as an old nurse. I think I need to post them***
16 comments:
Explore and think http://www.absolutearts.com/, I believe that Art can help people heal and think...and maybe talk.
and maybe we need to talk...
Beautiful. Did you know that the fastest rising group with AIDS are senior citizens? Yep. It seems that seniors don't think this is applicable to them. The public is shocked as they just can't picture grandma being sexually active, but she is. One small retirement community had a 80% infection rate brought on by one very active grandpa. Holy Rockin chair! I'll record the show. Thanks for the heads up.
Thanks Peacechick- and I did not know about the Older Folks- yet I am not shocked...at all. It is about WHO we choose to educate and protect....
the first one i have waiting for me when i get home to watch - we saved it last night - i got so tired - i had to go to bed and close my eyes...
the second one is doable...
and how about this stats - AIDS and the elderly...
http://www.finalcall.com/artman/publish/article_2010.shtml
thanks for the great reminders!!
I don't have HBO, but I'll definitely watch the AIDS show. I sometimes think there are people who are racists when it comes to withholding help and information. They don't care if large segments of the black, asian or homosexual population die from this disease, although it is not limited to them as was pointed out. I have a feeling if AIDS had originated among the white, upper-class population that the whole thing would have been handled differently.
Kathy: Yup....I agee...kind of like I always wonder if Katrina had hit an affluent white golf community it would not have been the King's Flyover Moment...
and yeah, about AIDS...I took care of the first patients in the NE back in the early 1980's....I have alot of disgust how it has been handled since Day1- it took some "famous" people to die for it to get noticed...abysmal failure on every level...Abstinance my ass....okay I will stop rambling...
People think its over, but the epidemic is still here, even here in the States. Why? Because it's not news anymore. It can' compete with Jon Benet.
SOME NOTES FROM IT:Black women 23 times more likely to get HIV....AIDS LEADING CAUSE OF DEATH 23-44 black women - for eleven years....
we can be ostriches and bury our heads or????
Like Kathy, I'm cable-challenged, but hope to get a chance to see Spike's movie soon. And while I'm on the subject, there is a book just coming out called "It Takes a Nation: How Strangers Became Family" which is definately on my must read list; it's a compilation of first person stories of Katrina...Al Franken said just reading the preface by Barrack Obama brought him to tears.
Thanks for the heads-up about the AIDS documentary tonight. About time this issue was focused upon again. Few people realize what life is really like for persons positive.
And it will be good to see Jennings again.
*m
yeah enigma ... post them ... and let's make them required reading in school ..., and congress for that matter ... this post is so right on ...
Good one. Cheers.
E4E, AIDS has been marginalized for 25 years. Why? Because it was originally labled a "Gay" disease; and at that time, mainstream America didn't give a rat's ass about Gays. Besides, if it was a Gay disease, it wouldn't affect the rest of us. Right? Then it showed up among IV drug users (read also Black America) so rich WHITE America really really didn't give a rat's ass. The only time Right Wing White America cares about HIV/AIDS is when it affects a child (Ryan White, of Indiana), or a CELEBRITY (Elizabeth Glaser, Magic Johnson).
AIDS has created a ZERO population growth in South Africa. It is eradicating Blacks in America. I watched part of the show last night on ABC, but out of absolute exhaustion I had to give up - what I saw was brilliant. But more important than watching that show is action and advocacy.
I wear a virtual red ribbon on my blog, and have personally raised over $15,000 for AIDS care and Vaccine research over several years. Go to my ribbon, click on it, and you can get into the World AIDS foundation, and get active. Find local places to work, to volunteer. Raise money, AND awareness. This is a disease that is NOT GOING AWAY any time soon, and every breakthrough is still an uphill battle against ignorance and prejudice.
E, I'm up to the last hr of Spike Lee's tale of misery, incompetence & noblesse laissez faire. It's brutal. I think it oughta be shown on regular network TV every night for the final 2-wks leading up to the election.
Thanks for the heads-up on Jennings AIDS special. I recorded it. I loved HBO's Angels in America, esp Al Pacino's horribly accurate portrayl of Roy Cohn ("the pole star of evil").
Good work, diva. You are so right about the lack of interest unless a celebrity is struck. But I notice then it's usually blamed on dentalcare, bloodwork, etc, they go overboard NOT mentioning anything sexual.
And YEEEAAAAAAAACCCCCKKKKK!!!!! to Fred B (above) cuz I SWORE I'd scream next time someone mentioned Jon Benet. D.K.
Thanks for the reminder. One of the other major groups being infected are the bible belt teenagers because of a combination of ignorance and the careless assumption of "It can't happen to us". So much for abstinance.
Went to Absolute Arts ... thanks for the lead.
There are so many thoughtful eloquent comments here- that I am merely humbled and awestruck.....you all are WHY the Enigma Cafe is so special.....Coffee on the house....
Have a good weekend...New post later tonight and yes more on Sunday....
Namaste...
I watched the AIDS program last night. Some of it I knew; some I didn't. All of it was heartbreaking.
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