Health care providers, nonprofit representatives, Dallas County employees and state politicians – from Texas and beyond – met Wednesday at Fair Park to discuss ways to combat the high HIV rates that disproportionately affect black communities.
The event was the first summit hosted by the Southern Black Policy and Advocacy Network (SBPAN), a Dallas-based nonprofit founded in 2018. According to SBPAN CEO, state Rep. Venton Jones, this year’s summit was also fully funded by the Dallas County Health and Human Services Department.
He said one goal of the summit is to educate and mobilize leaders to act and help protect black lives.
“We cannot defeat HIV in Dallas County without addressing the needs of the African-American community here,” Jones said.
HIV prevalence disproportionately affects Black communities in Dallas County. Although Black residents make up just over a fifth of the county’s population, more than 43% of all people with HIV living in the county were Black in 2021.
National statistics tell a similar picture. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in the same year of 2021, 40% of people infected with HIV were black.
In a keynote speech on Wednesday, Florida State Senator Shevrin “Shev” Jones said reducing the stigma surrounding HIV is key to driving change at the local and state levels to better meet the needs of those affected. The Florida politician also said the HIV/AIDS epidemic is a humanitarian issue that affects more than just the LGBTQ+ community.
“This is an ongoing dialogue that transcends party lines, state lines and color lines,” he said. “The fact that we are sitting here today having this conversation makes it clear that we understand the importance of having and understanding difficult conversations.”
More than two million people in the United States are living with HIV. Yet knowledge gaps among those who know they are living with HIV tend to be larger in southern states, like Texas. A 2022 CDC report found that out of 100 people living with HIV in the South, 14 were unaware of their HIV infection.
Brandon Huey, who also attended the summit, said social media campaigns are key to reaching those who may not have easy access to information about HIV. Huey is the director of operations for the Freelux Project, a nonprofit organization that aims to end stigma around HIV through social media.
Huey, who lived in North Carolina before moving to Texas, said he had limited access to sexual health information after his HIV diagnosis in 2015.
“I come from a very private family background, raised Christian, so I didn’t have access to information about sexual health and services that cater to certain populations,” he said. “When I was diagnosed, that was definitely a barrier for me.”
Since then, he said, he has wanted to raise awareness about HIV – especially among young black men.
Although Wednesday’s summit was the first for SBPAN, Venton Jones said it won’t be the last. The organization hopes to host it every year, he said.
“We are now in an epidemic that is over 40 years old, and I think a lot of people need to understand that we are still in a state of emergency as far as black communities are concerned.”
