LaMont Wheat and Jamar Rogers to Appear November 30th, Minneapolis for World AIDS Day Events

I am part of the Black HIV Coalition in Minneapolis, and together with our partner, MAAAH (Minnesota African/African-American Women Initiative) we are planning an incredible event on November 30th, 2012 at the Capri Theatre, 2027 W. Broadway Ave., Minneapolis, MN.

Jamar Rogers

The evening will include "The Brother Circle Dinner" and the "Sarah Simmons Showcase."

LaMont Wheat

We have two dynamite celebrity guests coming to both events.  Jamar Rogers of NBC "The Voice" and LaMont Wheat, Recording Artist and Activist will be participating in our Brother Circle Dinner discussion and performing at the Showcase.

I'm be blogging daily about these events right up until they happen.  Please check back for daily updates.

Yesterday our coalition met, and new people came to the table to help us with our event.  Our biggest discussion was the T-Shirt design.  Attendees of either event will receive a free t-shirt custom designed for this event.    They are awesome!

I'm proud to say LaMont is a friend and a source of inspiration in my life.  He's also an incredible singer.  I had the pleasure of watching him perform in Washington, D.C. at the International AIDS Conference in July, 2012.

Jamar has a wonderful energy and a show-stopping voice.  He has also become an effective activist for eliminating HIV stigma in our community. 

Can you tell how excited I am?  If you are in the area, or even if you need to fly there, you should come to this event.

Best,

Bill

Mobilizing Black America to end HIV/AIDS

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.