Page 8 The Skanner July 27, 2016
News
AIDS Activists Wonder Whether Black Gay Lives Matter
By Olivia Ford
BAI Daily Contributing
Writer
PHOTO BY FREDDIE ALLEN/BAI
“W
hen we say
‘Black Lives
M a t t e r,’ ”
said
Mi-
chael Ighodaro, “Where
are ‘Black Gay Lives’ in
that?” A young, gay Nige-
rian refugee living with
HIV in New York City, Ig-
hodaro posed this ques-
tion during a talk leading
up to the International
AIDS Conference (AIDS
2016). Now a program
and policy assistant for
AVAC, Ighodaro is far
from alone in using the
“hashtag that became a
movement” as a lens to
view his own communi-
ty, and to push boundar-
ies in advocacy.
From Baton Rouge, La.,
in the United States to
Durban, South Africa,
Black Lives Matter has
become shorthand for a
networked, intersection-
al movement for civil
rights and racial justice,
and has inspired activists
in a wide range of sectors.
As the movement ap-
proached its third anni-
versary in mid-July, still
reeling from the mur-
ders of Alton Sterling in
Michael Ighodaro, a Nigerian activist that works for the AIDS Vaccine Advocacy Coalition, listens to a
speaker during the morning plenary session at AIDS 2016 in Durban, South Africa on July 20, 2016.
Louisiana and Philando
Castile in Minnesota, it
also experienced a surge
of international solidari-
ty, inspiring marches for
Black lives in at least ive
countries outside the US,
including here in South
Africa.
Keletso Makofane, a
Joh a n n e s b u r g - b a s e d
senior program asso-
ciate and researcher at
the Global Forum on
MSM and HIV(MSMGF),
has observed move-
ments on the continent
like Rhodes Must Fall,
which critiques the colo-
nial inluence in South
African
education,
adopt an intersectional
approach to organiz-
ing that he sees as being
rooted in the U.S. And
while Black Lives Matter
by no means invented in-
tersectionality, the Black
Lives Matter network
unapologetically airms
and centers the experi-
ences, and leadership, of
Black LGBTQ individuals
and other marginalized
groups within the Black
community.
“We must have some
way of talking with these
movements seriously,”
Makofane said, follow-
ing a panel discussion
at MSMGF’s AIDS 2016
pre-conference, where
he asked attendees to re-
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FLETCHER’S
Black Forest Ham
lect on the relationship
of the global MSM com-
munity’s HIV response to
social justice movements
like Black Lives Matter.
“We must be in service
to these movements in
terms of the information
“
and how we imagine
change … I don’t know if
the Civil Rights Move-
ment happened because
there were large NGOs
implementing antiracist
work.”
For Kwaku Adomako,
managing director of
the African and Black
Diaspora Global Net-
work, addressing racial
justice in HIV organiza-
tions will mean stepping
out of comfort zones.
In considering whether
ot-cited statistics about
Black MSM — such as the
recent revelation that 1
in 2 Black gay men is
projected to become HIV
positive in his lifetime,
and CDC’s assertion
that HIV rates among
young Black MSM are
on the rise—relect that
the racialized nature of
We don’t explicitly have radical activism in
our frameworks for change and how we imag-
ine change … I don’t know if the Civil Rights
Movement happened because there were large
NGOs implementing antiracist work
and analysis they need
to speak about the issues
that we’re working on.”
He also named bar-
riers to this kind of
engagement from the
perspective
of
HIV
agencies working with
Black MSM. “The pro-
fessionalization of this
ield has also tricked us
into thinking there are
technical [rather than
structural] solutions for
problems that we work
on,” he explained. “We
don’t explicitly have
radical activism in our
frameworks for change
the epidemic is being
adequately
addressed,
he said: “[In HIV], there
are certain ‘safe’ ways to
talk about Black people.
Young Black MSM, be-
cause of the high rates
and the high prevalence
and the high vulnerabil-
ities, are an easy group
to talk about, but not re-
ally in the context of how
[being Black] impacts
those rates.” Adomako
sees promise in what he
calls Black Lives Matter’s
“determinants-of-health
approach to community
activism,” and believes
this inluence is already
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acknowledging
Black
people as a key popula-
tion in the global HIV re-
sponse
“What a diference
it would make if Black
people were one of the
key populations who
were mentioned every
single time key popula-
tions were mentioned,”
he said. “Imagine what
that would be like for
funders, for govern-
ments, for multilateral
agencies, to constant-
ly be confronted with
the reality that these
are Black people we’re
talking about.”
RECIPE: Ham & Potato Cakes
Serves 4
INGREDIENTS
1 3/4 lb red potatoes, peeled, cut into
2-inch pieces
1 cup chopped ham
1 egg, lightly beaten
4 green onions, thinly sliced
1/4 cup lat-leaf parsley leaves,
chopped
1 1/2 teaspoons yellow mustard
1/2 cup dried breadcrumbs
olive oil
mixed salad greens
sour cream or apple sauce
4/6#
$1.49/lb
subtly changing the way
race is addressed in the
context of HIV among
MSM.
For Ighodaro, these
statistics are rooted in
the stories and on-the-
ground experiences of
him and his friends. His
reference to Black Lives
Matter points to the
structural factors that
the movement brings to
light—such as economic
vulnerability, violence,
and homophobia—which
persist largely unad-
dressed in the response
to HIV among Black gay
men.
To move toward tack-
ling these factors, Ado-
mako cites the impor-
tance of holding global
HIV advocacy networks
accountable to a racial
justice approach—and
DIRECTIONS
1. Place potatoes in a large saucepan.
Cover with cold water. Bring to the
boil over high heat. Reduce heat
to medium. Cook, uncovered, for
15 minutes or until tender. Drain.
Transfer to a large bowl. Roughly
mash (keep mash chunky).
2. Add ham, egg, green onions, pars-
ley and mustard to potatoes. Sea-
son with salt and pepper. Stir until
combined. Using 1/4 cup mixture
at a time, shape potato mixture
into twelve 3/4-inch thick patties.
Place breadcrumbs in a shallow
dish and lightly coat patties.
3. Add olive oil to a large, non-stick
frying pan. Heat over medium
heat until hot. Cook potato cakes,
in batches, for 5 minutes each
side or until golden and warmed
through.
4. Serve with salad greens and sour
cream, applesauce or condiment
of your choice.
Fletchers Foods
