In many black religious communities, there is a tradition of invoking the names of our ancestors to honor them, celebrate their lives and ask them to bless our present and our future. We light candles or incense, pour libations, sing music and pray for their souls. We sit around kitchen tables and reminisce. We mourn and celebrate. But, sadly, the stories and names of our loved ones who died of complications from AIDS are eroded by a lack of understanding of the disease and whispered or completely swept away by shame or silence. In many cases, religion has been, and still is, misused against people living with HIV and LGBTQ people, perpetuating shame and silence. Their names are lost in time and their memories fade and hide.
Over the years, I remember vague, whispered conversations about my cousin, who died of complications from AIDS in the early 90s. Like many other black families, we chose to hide behind half-truths instead. than to recognize that the disease had penetrated our ancestral lines. We feared that we would somehow “smear” his legacy if we got it wrong. Like us, others preferred to claim that their loved one had died of cancer or some other disease, while silently admitting that the real cause was related to complications from AIDS. It was a secret we kept in our family, swept under the rug but never really forgotten. As I became more involved in HIV research and community engagement, I held my cousin close to my heart and found that his memory fueled my passion to fight for those who were left behind.
My cousin’s memory inspires me to protect the civil rights of minorities and LGBTQ+ people. Ensuring no one suffers in silence is why I became Executive Director of the Gilead COMPASS Faith Coordinating Center at Wake Forest University. We work with Black faith leaders, academics, HIV and public health practitioners, and people living with and affected by HIV to call on our Black faith communities to join the movement to end HIV stigma. HIV. It has never been clearer: the faith community must play a vital role in sharing accurate information and putting compassion and empathy above stigma in communities affected by HIV in the South.
This week, faith leaders will call on their congregations to keep up with the science on HIV. The Proclamation at the Intersections: Faith, Healing and HIV event in Dallas beginning June 21 will be an unprecedented gathering of faith leaders eager to discuss solutions to HIV-related stigma. Faith leaders from across the South will come together to not only listen and learn from each other, but to show the magnitude of the problem to our community.
The National AIDS Memorial Quilt will travel to Texas to feature quilted panels from the “Call My Name” project, which features African Americans who have died of complications from AIDS. This is the first time in a decade that the quilt has toured the United States. Affirming people living with and affected by HIV in black faith-based spaces is key to addressing stigma and healing trauma. This is the work we hope to accomplish not just this week, but every day.
We must work hard to transform the story of people living with HIV and vulnerable populations from a story of rejection to a story of redemption. This work should begin with the tradition of our faith. God calls upon human beings to compassionately lead and stand up for those who are the most marginalized in society, including people living with HIV. We must challenge any false doctrine that condemns people of trans experience, elevates white supremacy, persecutes the poor, and allows misogyny and domestic violence. We call on all people of faith, especially in black religious communities, to uplift our thoughts and actions to be soldiers of justice and to love all of God’s children, including my cousin.
Black faith communities are making progress in conversations about stigmatized topics like HIV, mental health, trauma, and sexuality to heal our communities and end the HIV epidemic, but there is still work to be done. This issue of social justice is as critical today as it was in the early 1990s. With education and a resolute movement forward, our family stories no longer need to be told in secret. or in shame, and the names of our loved ones can be honored with a legacy of love they deserve.
Allison Mathews is the Executive Director of the Gilead COMPASS Faith Coordinating Center at Wake Forest University’s School of Divinity. She wrote this for The Dallas Morning News.
https://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/commentary/2022/06/20/the-aids-epidemic-is-still-here-and-texas-faith-communities-can-lead-the-effort-to-end-it/