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Page 6
December 24, 2014
New Prices
Effective
May 1,2010
Martin
Cleaning
Service
eK O il
Carpet & Upholstery
Cleaning
Residential &
Commercial Services
76 î BA-CLEÏ o ï
Minimum Service CHG
$45.00
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A sm all distance/travel charge
m ay be applied
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CARPET CLEANING
2 Cleaning Areas or
more $30.00 Each Area
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1 F
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Pre-Spray Traffic Areas
(Includes: 1 sm all H allw ay)
1 Cleaning Area (only)
$40.00
Includes Pre-Spray Traffic Area
(Hallway Extra)
Stairs (12-16 stairs - With
O ther Services)-. $25.00
Area/Oriental Rugs:
$25.00 Minimum
Area/Oriental Rugs (Wooly.
$40.00Minimum
Heavily Soiled Area:
A dditional $ 10.00 each area
(RequiringExtensivePre-Spraying)
aH M M H M W H H I
Our Young Black Men and Women are in Danger
Ending the
HIV/AIDS
Epidemic
P aul K awata
W hy d o e s the
color o f my skin,
w ho I choose to
love, m y HIV sta
tus, m y age, m y
gender or the ex
pression o f my gender som ehow
m ake m e worth less than you?
Some religious leaders and gov-
e rn m e n t o ffic ia ls say I ’m a
"worthless gay infected trans drug
using wom an o f color." T heir
dogm a m akes the world unsafe,
stacked against me, never going
to change. So I give up, fight
back, d o n ’t care, get infected.
You see me as a loser, a whiner,
a burden to society, an AIDS
victim. Yet through all o f this or
because o f all o f this, I know that
I am a survivor, a rebel, a fighter,
a hero, a person living with H IV /
A ID S.
Ferguson and New York are
wake-up calls to America. It's time
to get real about race and the im
pact that racism has on our health
and our communities. It should
also be a wake-up call to the HTV/
AIDS movement. It can’t be an
by
UPHOLSTERY
CLEANING
Sofa: $69.00
Loveseat: $49.00
Sectional: $109 - $139
Chair or Recliner:
$25 - $49
Throw Pillows (With
th &
Other Services)'. $5.00
*L
ADDITIONAL
SERVICES
• A rea & O riental R ug
C leaning
• A uto/B oat/R V C leaning
• D eodorizing & P et _ " x
O d o r T reatm ent
rv
• S pot & Stain
R em oval Service
• S cotchguard P rotection
• M inor W ater D am age
S erv ices
SEE CURRENT FLYER
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(503) 281-3949
■MHHMOMMNWHMM
accident that in America the major
ity o f new HTV infections are among
young black gay men; or that black
women are 20 times more likely to
be HIV infected then white
women. If this is the current
state o f the epidemic, then why
are minority AIDS service orga
nizations usually the first to close
their doors?
Earlier this year, I raised a
concern that no African Ameri
can specific organizations were
selected as providers o f capacity
building assistance in the recent
ro u n d o f C D C fu nding. L ike
America, our movement has some
tough question1
ponder. Our
work focuses
die social deter
minants o f health, where educa
tion, employment, income, job se
curity, h ousing and access to
h e a lth c a re c o n trib u te to an
individual’s risk o f exposure to
HIV.
W hat drives these social deter
minants? Overwhelmingly the an
swer is race. People o f color in
America are less likely to graduate
high school, there are proportion
ally fewer minorities with high pay
ing corporate jobs, and study after
study shows negative health out
comes for African Americans as
compared to their white counter
parts.
If we are to end the AIDS
epidemic in Am erica, we m ust
stand up to racism , sexism, and
hom ophobia. W hen the w orld
says "you are w orthless, so why
does it m atter if you get infected?”
we m ust be prepared to show our
worth. Young African Am erican
gay men do not have any m ore
sex then their white counterparts,
nor does their sexual behavior
significantly differ. Young black
gay m en are also less likely to be
retained in care, and less likely to
have an undetectable viral load.
Black wom en represent 64 per
cent o f all new HIV infections in
women. In 2010, HIV was the
7th leading cause o f death for
black wom en ages 22-44, but did
not rank in the top 10 leading
causes o f death for white wom en
o f a sim ilar age.
Across the board, m any AIDS
service organizations are closing
their doors. A necdotally it seems
like m inority AIDS service orga
nizations close earlie r and in
greater numbers. This does not
mean that only m inority organiza
tions can pro v id e serv ices to
people o f color, but it m ight re
flect the im pact that system ic
racism has on com m unities and
why m inority organizations fail in
greater numbers.
For Ferguson to change, its resi
dents need good paying jobs, safe
sch o o ls/h o m es, and access to
healthcare. If we don’t invest in the
infrastructure and the organiza
tions in that city, nothing will
change. Similarly, for HTV epi
demic to end, we have to invest in
its infrastructure and organizations
that are central to the lives o f gay
m en and w om en, p articu larly
young women and gay men o f
color, and more preciously young
African American women and gay
men.
Like Ferguson, young black
gay men and African Am erican
wom en living with HIV need good
paying jo b s, safe schools and
hom es, and access to healthcare
— all things denied to m any be
cause o f their race, sexual orien
tation, gender or gender identity.
How are we to end an epidem ic
in a country that is in so m uch
turm oil? In 2015, the National
M inority AIDS Council will take a
closer look at how race impacts
H IV /A ID S infections, funding,
services and com m unities. I d o n ’t
have the answers, but I know it’s
time to ask the questions. How
can we create a w orld w here
#A llLivesM atter when large por
tions o f society d o n ’t think that
this is true?
Paul Kawata is executive di
rector o f the National Minority
AIDS Council.