9/11 for HIV/AIDS in Seattle's Black Community

[Guest guest]

Hello All,

 

Please help.

 

Thanks,

 

Leonard Dawson Jr.

 

There should be particular outrage that for almost two years now the

Seattle/King County Health Department claims to be establishing a

Black Council on HIV/AIDS. Yet, within those two years, not one Black

Person has received a condom, been educated, or HIV Tested, by the

council. Owned and led by the health department, the Black Council is

still planning its first event.

 

Within those two years, Black People were infected, money wasted in

their name, with no benefit. Additionally, each year the health

department claims its efforts protects us, is each year the Black

Community's HIV burden grows greater.

 

We must have effective HIV/AIDS Programs for the Black Community. The

reason to hold The Health Department accountable is simple. The Health

Department approves, acquires, allocates, and administers all of the

dollars, all of the time.

 

Applying for a grant, contract, private foundation support, or even an

expansion of existing HIV services is impossible without the approval

of the Health Department of Seattle King County. They approve only

what they want and claim they are accountable for nothing.

 

If this were a real attempt to establish a Black Council on HIV, it

would be working by now. The health department will tell you the

Black Community is responsible, because it is difficult, hard to

reach, homophobic, has too many men on the Down Low, lacks church

support, and qualified or knowledgeable individuals. Yet, none of

those issues stopped the health department from building robust and

effective institutions to reduce HIV/AIDS in Seattle's Gay Community.

Public Health's excuses not withstanding, and given the same

resources and support, Seattle's Black Community, will have success as

well.

 

The health department knows how to create a council. Since it began

receiving federal HIV tax dollars, the health department runs a

council called the Seattle HIV/AIDS Planning Council. This planning

council requires Black membership. However, curiously, only one of

those members appears on their recruitment list.

 

Recruiting the Planning Council's Black Members for the new Black

Council, seems like an obvious no-brainer and easy as anything. Yet,

two years later, they are still recruiting members. Two years later,

they are still planning their first event.

 

Even more sinister is the fact that while establishing the so-called

Black Council, the health department terminated a popular, successful,

and effective Black Community program. They cancelled a project that

within the three previous years, successfully educated more than 450

individuals, distributed nearly 43,000 condoms, tested over 170

community members, and provided continuous HIV conversations in

trusted and professional Black Community settings. However, none of

the leaders involved in this effort are on the list for the so-called

Black Council either. Two years later, they are still recruiting

members. Two years later, they are still planning their first event.

 

How is it that tasked to find successful programs, the health

department cancels the very success it says it seeks, and replaces it

with nothing or programs it knows will fail? The answer is money,

power, and control. In this case, it's our money used to buy the

health department's domination, power and control over our community's

response to HIV/AIDS.

 

Not only does the health department control all the resources all the

time but, every dollar, every resource, every existing and proposed

program, is filtered through the health department's bottom line. The

health department's bottom line is its own salaries. The health

department actually leverages more money, more job security, more

employees, and higher salaries and benefits, the more HIV rates

increase. There must be accountability, because their system literally

rewards increased infections.

 

When we talk about health department employees whose salaries preside

over this tragedy and depend on the presence of HIV, we are not

talking about your average everyday run of the mill salaries. Here's

a partial list of salaries of employees who were tasked to create the

Black Council and/or who have worked on it for the last two years: one

at $48,781, one at $60,342, one at $64,164, one at $71,514, one at

$90,307, one at $141,718, and two at $167,311. They are still planning

their first event.

 

Imagine how these salaries will look in five years, ten years, as new

infections of HIV continue to rise in our community! Guess where the

two Black employees rank on this list!

 

If that money and two years can't buy an effective Black HIV/AIDS

Council what does it buy? If we were keeping score, it would be

health department millions, and the Community… Well, one-way to find

out is by contacting Dr. Bob Wood in the HIV/AIDS Division at

206-296-4805 email: bob.wood web:

http://metrokc.gov/health/apu and ask him directly.

 

Ask him what effect his allocation of $523,000 for 2006-2007 will have

on reducing HIV/AIDS in the Black Community. Please do not be put off

if your legitimate question is met with rudeness, arrogance, and

contempt; as you press him to explain how his funding will reduce HIV

in the Black Community.

 

When you talk with Bob, you may want to volunteer for the council or

to attend the meeting as a visitor. Other methods of helping the

Black Council get off the ground are to request their minutes. When

you do, please remember that the Black Council on HIV/AIDS first met

in October 2005. The health department claims to have begun planning

in February 2005; but it was probably in the fall of 2004 they hatched

this diversion.

 

By the way, there appears to be intentional and inherent conflict in

running two separate councils that have the same purpose. They cannot

both be equal. We cannot figure out if this is a public agency

setting up a separate but equal or a separate but-unequal council.

Either way, it's against the law.

 

It is not too soon to ask what will happen if The Black Council's

actions differ from those of the Seattle HIV/AIDS Planning Council's.

It is not too soon to ask what power The Black Council has to

implement its plans. It is not too soon to observe that even if it

makes recommendations, the Black Council already has a Master; the

same Master responsible for its present condition.

 

Meanwhile, it is confusing when health department staff paid to create

the council, administer it, and monitor its results, lists themselves

as members of the council. We hope this is not because during most of

the meetings, most of the people in attendance are staff members; or

that the audience for these minutes is not really the Black Community.

 

The health department even has a $50,000 Needs Assessment it ignores.

The Black Community's own words, " Seattle RARE Project: Rapid

Assessment, Response and Evaluation, " may be found by clicking on the

active link or pasting the following text into your web browser

http://www.metrokc.gov/HEALTH/apu/publications/rare/index.htm When

you talk with Bob Wood, please also ask the him to implement the

findings of " The " Seattle RARE Project. "

 

Seattle's Black Community has leaders with vision, passion, and

expertise. We know how to eliminate new infections of HIV and care

for those living with HIV. The Black Community must have resources,

infrastructure, effective programming, and technical support.

Meeting for any other reason will be simply watching new HIV

infections happen. We must hold " our " health department accountable.

 

Please feel free to pass this on to others who might provide ideas,

help, and support.

 

$523,000 spent, those salaries, and a hoax, in exchange for

ever-continuing new infections of HIV. Please help!

 

 

Respectfully submitted,

 

 

Leonard Dawson Jr.