Source: Dimitri Hakke / Getty
Today marks the 25th National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day. It is a day meant to raise awareness for the fact that HIV/AIDS continues to take more Black lives than those of any other racial group. Because HIV/AIDS has devastated the Black community at such a higher rate than others, advocacy surrounding the virus has to be tenfold within the Black community.
A handful of bold and passionate individuals have dedicated their lives to fighting for equal access to HIV/AIDS information and healthcare for the Black community, as well as to fighting the stigma surrounding this virus. We as a society bring focused attention to HIV/AIDS today, but these incredible Black women dedicate their lives to it all year. Here are seven Black women HIV/AIDS activists we celebrate today.
Frances Ashe-Goins
Frances Ashe-Goins is most known for being the founder of National Women and Girls HIV/AIDS Awareness Day. She is a professor, a public health expert and a nurse who served as Acting Director for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office on Women’s Health. Ashe-Goins has spent much of her career urging the federal government to focus more on how HIV/AIDS impacts women.
