A recent RAND Corporation study makes this fact all too clear. RAND surveyed African Americans about HIV/AIDS and found widespread belief in "conspiracy theories" about the origin of the virus and government efforts to withhold treatments and cures from those in our community who are infected. These beliefs stem from an undeniable reality: Public health has consistently failed Black America, often deliberately neglecting its needs. In this context, conspiracies about HIV persist because the community has not been adequately informed about the actual political and cultural forces driving the epidemic. The Time is Now! is the first in a series of Institute reports that aim to fill that information void.

The Time is Now!, authored by BlackAIDS.org editor Kai Wright, explains the policies and politics that have helped shape the epidemic and our nation’s response to it. It then articulates the challenges we face in reshaping and ultimately stopping this epidemic. As with all of our publications, The Time is Now! speaks not merely to AIDS experts, but to those members of our community who may have just become aware of the problem and now need information on how and where to get involved.

Getting this information out, and helping African Americans join the fight, has never been more crucial. Each year, the epidemic worsens in Black neighborhoods. And each year the national commitment to interrupting HIV’s spread and caring for those who are already infected further lags. “For Black America, the moment of truth has arrived,” says the Institute's Executive Director Phill Wilson. “If we’re going to survive this epidemic, we are going to have to gather all of our resources and marshal them for the struggles that lay ahead.”

Download a PDF of the report

For print copies, please contact Lauren Metoyer.

HERE'S WHAT'S INSIDE

Differential Impact
In the decade since groundbreaking treatments began to slow HIV's carnage, the epidemic has grown steadily more Black and brown. No matter how you slice the numbers—young or old, male or female, gay or straight—this epidemic is attacking Black people most aggressively.

• African Americans now account for 54 percent of annual new infections, though they are just 13 percent of the population.

• African Americans account for two-thirds of new AIDS cases among teens, but are only 15 percent of the national teen population.

• Black women accounted for 72% of all new HIV/AIDS cases among women in the United States.

• Studies have shown as much as a third of Black gay and bisexual men under the age of 30 may be HIV positive.