ADVOCATES FOR YOUTH

“Get Up, Stand Up”

By Nicole (Youth Activist)

“Get Up, Stand Up,” he demands over an infectious reggae rhythm and prominent baseline. The steel drums, native to the Islands, usher in his voice which seems to have taken on a powerfully smoky quality. He is at his peak on this record. He sings out understated yet prophetic lyrics he penned himself. You can feel the urgency with which he sings and you are reminded that “Get Up, Stand Up” is more than just a great reggae song; it is an order. It is the music that inspired a movement—a revolution. A song that mobilized a community to demand that they be given the rights that simply being born on this glorious planet entitle them to. Bob Marley is singing about the right to liberty: to uninhibited life.

Thirty-three years after the song appeared on Marley’s album and after countless hours of listening to it on my Ipod, I am captivated by the song’s message. Perhaps my revived revolutionary spirit is due more in part to my time spent here at Advocates for Youth reflecting on and dealing with issues that face young women of color. As many of you probably know, young African American women are the new face of HIV/AIDS. The overwhelming majority of newly diagnosed AIDS cases are young African American women ages 13 to 24. According to the CDC, in 2004 HIV infection was the leading cause of death for African American women ages 24-34. In 2005, African American and Latino women represented 24% of all US women, but accounted for 82% of the estimated total of AIDS diagnoses for women.* These women are our sisters, friends, cousins, and aunts. Many of them are mothers or will soon become mothers or grandmothers. The grim reality is that HIV/AIDS will strip these women of their lives at an early age. Remember, there is still no cure for HIV.

For many years, I have taken this news sitting down. Helplessness is not the reason for my lack of action. Rather, I have always had the feeling that one person can not make that much of a difference. What was I, as a teenager with no letters behind my name, going to do? Sixteen year olds don’t really carry much authority. So for years I moved on with my life, knowledgeable about the crisis around me, but unable to act. As I entered college, I kept my ears and eyes open to find any group or organization on campus that wanted to address HIV and the young African American woman. I was shocked to find that no one was talking about it.

It seems that we don’t want to face our awful reality. Maybe we don’t want to openly talk about sex for fear that we would be reinforcing the negative stereotype that black women, black people in general, are oversexed and promiscuous. Perhaps, we are putting the ability to make change into the hands of people we believe have the power to actually do something. Maybe some of us are not aware of what is really going on or maybe we don’t know what to do. Maybe we are all just lazy and uninspired. Or maybe we are all just waiting for a leader to call us to action.

But, our wait might be in vain for we have no time to waste. Everyday I am reminded that this world does not exactly understand our group’s specific needs and concerns. Furthermore, I am convinced that the lack of understanding that translates to a lack of interest which reads loud and clear as being undervalued, is wounding, downright killing, young women of color just like me all over this country. In just one example of my frustration, Democrats in the House of Representatives, who I am sure we all believed would support comprehensive sex education, proposed an increase in funding for abstinence-only-until marriage education programs. These programs have been proven NOT to work. In addition, abstinence-only programs do not provide information about condoms and other contraceptives. And the fact of the matter is: as our generation comes of age, we will be sexually active, and we will not have the appropriate information to protect ourselves. Clearly, putting the power into someone else’s hands doesn’t work

So where, then, does the power and responsibility lie? How do we make change? I think we may have to do this the old fashioned way. Change starts with you. As women of color, especially African American women, we have a long history of challenging the status quo. The civil rights movement started because people found their reality unacceptable (racism, segregation, white violence) and they were therefore willing and ready to get up, to stand up, to see that things improved. So, do you find the reality acceptable? HIV is preventing our women from living long healthy productive lives, but it doesn’t have to be this way. I assure you, we can make this change.

To start, educate yourself about what is going on in your community. The internet houses a wealth of knowledge about HIV and other STI’s. Take some time to visit the CDC or Advocates’ websites. Once you have the information, find ways to get involved. There are countless organizations doing the hard work necessary to make HIV history. Write a letter to your congressional representative demanding that they stop funding abstinence only education. Talk with your friends about HIV in our community. Talk with your mother or guardian about HIV in our community - most likely they will be impressed with your knowledge and determination. Start a group at your high school or on your college campus. Anyway you see fit to start tackling HIV, do it! Don’t take this news sitting down any longer. Think about your life. Demand better for our beautiful black sisters.

There is no better time and there is no better day than today to start working to contain HIV and make certain that the disease no longer ravages our community. This fight starts with you. HIV is completely preventable. If you are sexually active, use a condom every time you have sex whether it be oral, vaginal, or anal. Get tested. Knowing your status is the best way to prevent the further spread of HIV. A major route of HIV transmission is by people who have no idea they are infected. HIV can have no signs or symptoms for years after a person becomes infected. Don’t wait until you get sick to go to your doctor. Be proactive! Life is your right and there is no better way to spend that life than healthy and happy.

The status quo no longer works for me. I am filled with the sense that I - that we - have the power to make a change. I will “Get Up, Stand Up” to see that AIDS becomes a disease of our past. So, will you join me?

* CDC. HIV/AIDS among women, 2007. Atlanta: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; March 8, 2007. Available at http://www.cdc.gov/hiv/topics/women/resources/factsheets/women.htm. Accessed June 15, 2007