February 22, 2008
RAUCUS CAUCUS
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Fields and Bailey |
Last weekend was "Caucus Weekend"—the annual conference of New York State black and Latino legislators in Albany—and at the Weekend's eighth-annual "town hall" on AIDS, everyone was talking about the AIDS Institute, or more specifically, the lack of black leadership at the AIDS Institute.
"The AIDS Institute has been striking in its lack of black leadership and there's no explanation as to why. No one accepts that there are no good black candidates," said Tracie M. Gardner, Director of New York State Policy for the Legal Action Center, who is also on the AIDS Advisory Council. "The AIDS Institute is singular in its expertise. The city department of health has Monica Sweeney, a high-profile black woman who is out there in the community. Why not the state?"
The AIDS Institute coordinates the state health department's HIV/AIDS health care, prevention and outreach, and has a budget of more than $400 million. It has made strides in appointing Latinos in prominent roles, including new executive director Humberto Cruz, but has lagged when it comes to African-Americans.
The issue boiled over at the weekend's main "State of HIV/AIDS in New York" event Saturday, where more than 100 people crowded into a standing-room-only sprawling corridor of the Legislative Office Building in Albany to discuss fighting the HIV/AIDS crisis in New York, particularly among African-Americans. Panelists included Assemblyman Darryl C. Towns, incoming National Black Leadership Coalition on AIDS (NBLCA) president C. Virginia Fields; Gay Men's Health Crisis CEO Dr. Marjorie Hill; Dr. Dexter McKenzie, President of the Provident Clinical Society; Robert Waterman, pastor of the Antioch Baptist Church; Dr. James A. Lewis III, chairman of BLCA of Buffalo; Claire Simon, interim executive director of the Women's HIV Collaborative; the Honorable Rodger Corbin, a Nassau County legislator; and Gardner.
According to Dee Bailey, executive director of BLCA's New York City Operations, Towns is in talks with Health Commissioner Richard Daines about adding black leadership, and Bailey "believes the matter will be resolved." Bailey said this call to action is not meant to criticize new AIDS Institute Executive Director Humberto Cruz. "The community needs to be represented," she said. Almost fifty percent of new infections in New York are among African-Americans, and 25 percent of people don't know their status. Towns was one of the town hall's cosponsors, along with BLCA, and the New York State Black and Puerto Rican Legislative Caucus.
On January 27, BLCA and other groups held a press conference demanding the lack of black leadership at the AIDS Institute be addressed.
Also on the agenda...
The AIDS Institute wasn't the only hot topic of the weekend. Housing Works hosted a session on extending rental assistance to asymptomatic people with HIV through HASA for All legislation, as well as legislation to cap the rental contributions of people with HIV in supportive housing at 30 percent.
The recent announcement of C. Virginia Fields as NBLCA president on National AIDS Awareness Day February 7 was also part of the buzz. "I think C. Virginia Fields will be amazing, said Simon, of the former Manhattan borough president. "She has so much information that comes from her years in politics and will use her leadership and contacts. She's definitely committed to this issue."
Also discussed was how to reach out to the most marginalized communities affected by HIV, particularly by the faith community. Waterman, a pastor in Brooklyn, was praised for his remarks during the town hall stressing the need to talk about sexuality and addiction in black churches. "He's a new generation of ministers who is in touch with what's going on in the community, and that you have to talk about sex and people with addictions," said Gardner. "A lot of ministers in my time of doing advocacy work said, 'God loves the sinner, hates the sin,' and there's been a necessary break that says we have to own what's going on in the community. We've got to own the sexuality part."