William Larson, Pharm.D. spent a week in Los Angeles with a group of HIV/AIDS coalition leaders training and getting up to speed on effective ways to build coalitions in his local Minneapolis community. Black American men are among the most devastated by the HIV/AIDS epidemic and leaders are putting in action ways to mobilize around this in order to stop the spread of the disease.
Larson joined a group of 24 others from around the nation and especially from southern metropolitan states, the most affected regions, to get this training being delivered by the Black AIDS Institute. Founded in May of 1999, the Black AIDS Institute is the only national
HIV/AIDS think tank focused exclusively on Black people. The Institute's
Mission is to stop the AIDS pandemic in Black communities by engaging
and mobilizing Black institutions and individuals in efforts to confront
HIV. The Institute interprets public and private sector HIV policies,
conducts trainings, offers technical assistance, disseminates
information and provides advocacy mobilization from a uniquely and
un-apologetically Black point of view.
On the final day of training, William along with other participants laid out a proposal for mobilizing his local community. "I learned how to write an action plan for a mobilization event which we
will hold in Minneapolis in December. The action plan was based on my
problem statement which came from a needs assessment based on surveys of
community members, providers, and leaders of Traditional Black
Institutions," Larson stated.
Larson is calling on all local support to assist him executing his action plan which intends to educate 50 participants and test at least 10 participants. "Encouragement and support from the community will make the difference. I have a lot of work to do between now and December, but with the help
of my coalition, which I am building and strengthening, it will all come
together. My target population is Black gay men in Minneapolis," Larson said.
William Larson, Pharm.D. is a pharmacist in the Minneapolis metro and a contributing medicine editor for BBINT Magazine.
