Event Response Post #2: CCE Brown Bag: RVAIDS: The AIDS Epidemic in Richmond

On Friday, October 18th, I attended the Bonner Center for Civic Engagement’s Weekly Brown Bag Discussion that was titled “RVAIDS: The AIDS Impact in Richmond” from 12:30-1:30 PM. It was led by panelists Dr. Patricia Herrera, Dr. Laura Browder, Lindsay Bryant, and Dr. Eric King. Dr. Herrera and Dr. Browder teach a class that has started a project called RVAIDS with the mission to share the voices of those suffering from “Richmond’s hidden epidemic” of HIV and AIDS. HIV/AIDS positivity disproportionately impacts people of color, immigrants, young people, and LGBTQ+ folks. The virus infects the African American community– specifically black women– due to disparities in healthcare and education. We talked about in Thursday’s class how healthcare access and research are so unequal because research has largely been done on white men. HIV/AIDS was only thought to infect gay white men, but in actuality, women of color are the largest group living with the virus. 

 

While this talk may not have explicitly related to leadership itself, the speakers highlighted the discrepancies in healthcare policy that are embedded in racism and sexism as well as ways to become an advocate for the cause. Dr. Eric King was diagnosed with HIV/AIDS in 1985 at the age of 36, and he has lived with the virus ever since; his personal perspective on the issue brings to light the hardships of living with such a stigmatized virus. Additionally, the panelists added a segment on what it means to be an advocate for a cause and how to become a leader on a micro or macro scale. Specifically to HIV/AIDS due to the stigma against it, the first step to bringing rates down is to talk about it– about safe sex, about HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases, and about the stigma. It is impossible to be a leader for a cause or to attempt to bring awareness to an issue without talking about it and serving the community to make a change. I would say that Lindsay Bryant, the program coordinator of Nia, Inc. through her church, is a servant leader because she is putting the needs of victims of HIV/AIDS first to evoke change in the community. She utilizes “education, love, empowerment, and compassion” to serve as a leader with the goal to end to the HIV/AIDS epidemic through support groups (building community), expertise on the issue (awareness), and providing her service to others (stewardship).

 

Anna Marston