prime time

One blogger noted that a recently published report by the Chicago Health Department reported a cluster of HIV and related STD infections at a rate of 47% among the then residents at the dorm. He then goes on to state that the number was consistent with a national average stated in another report by the Gay Men’s Health Crisis, thus negating the finding that this was a “cluster”. This is where I became unglued. I couldn’t care less if it’s a cluster, a grouping, or gaggle. 46% is unacceptable – and it’s THIS that we as Black Gay Men should be having the conversation about. It’s this that we should be SCREAMING about, and it’s this, that we should be united about.

We can argue, debate, and “conversate” about all sorts of surface things ‘till the cows come home’, but when it comes to discussing the health of our brothers, we fall silent. We are silent in the sense that we feel powerless to hold each other, and more importantly ourselves, accountable for our own health and safety. Silent in the sense that at times, we seek to defend the institutions that are damaging to us a whole out of a sense of misplaced loyalty or scarier yet, in an attempt to escape from having to place blame where it truly belongs.

As a “community” we readily toss countless resources into throwing the hottest party with the flashiest flyers, the hottest R&B diva of the hour, or the celebrity of the moment in attendance. We’ll spend upwards of $50 to get into THE party at a pride event because hell, everyone else is doing it. We will spend countless hours working to have the fanciest blog with the most traffic and the highest Google ranking. We can even stoop to producing a campy video show that does absolutely nothing to uplift our community. But when it comes to putting our resources, money, and talents to something that makes a measurable and repeatable impact, once again, we fall silent.

I know this will ruffle some feathers, because it should. However, before you hit me up with your list of accomplishments, down in the trench stories, and demands for ME to disclose what have I done, re-read this post and note my liberal use of the possessive pronoun ‘we’. Black Gay men are angry. We are angry at each other and we should be. But not for the reasons we verbalize. Jealousy, prejudice (you probably call it preference in your Adam4Adam profile), homophobia, and depression rule the lives of many of our brothers. We have got to start here, at the core and work our way up.

I can make a difference - so can you!