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October 2, 2006
One in Ten
I attended the board meeting of the Centers for Disease Control Foundation last week in Atlanta. My dinner companion was our new board member, Sheila Johnson, owner of the WNBA Washington Mystics and part owner of the NBA Washington Wizards. After exchanging the usual pleasantries, I asked her why she joined the board. I was stunned by her response.
"Did you know that one in ten teenage girls in Washington, D.C. are HIV-positive? Did you know that one in twenty adults in the District of Columbia have AIDS? It is an outrage. Those are Third World types of incidence rates and it is happening in our nation's capital. All of the attention being given to the AIDS epidemic overseas is long overdue but what about the crisis we have at home?"
I probed her for an explanation. She suggested three main factors:
1) A Macho Male Culture and Lack of Female Ego -- Young girls feel obliged to have sexual relations with their partners. Girls lack the confidence to say no or to insist on the use of a condom.
2) A Cycle of Despair -- The poor economic prospects, the large number of single parent families, the prevalence of drugs and tottering school system give little hope even to an ambitious child. Some young girls want to bear a child as a sign of being "grown-up."
3) Lack of Information --The basics of sex education do not seem to be getting through to the target audience.
I asked Ms. Johnson what could be done to ameliorate the situation. Here were a few of her thoughts:
1) Speak to the Teens in Their Voice -- She has organized Hip Hop events featuring rapper Life Jennings. The discussion is in urban voice, not the voice of big brother US Government. Here is what you can do to protect yourselves while having fun.
2) Empower the Young Women -- The WNBA Washington Mystics team members go into the D.C. community to spread the word that females have the ultimate control in a sexual context.
3) Economic Development -- The downward spiral of despair must be halted. This is best achieved by job creation and job training. Give these young women a chance to see a better life and they will respond.
We have a real crisis at hand in Washington, not the usual one of hand-to-hand combat between political parties over legislation, but a matter of life and death for a generation. What can those of us in PR do? Here is my personal commitment. I am going to enlist a few of my smartest people in our Washington office to help to tell this story, to the media, to the blogosphere, to the think tanks and to Capitol Hill. We need to create a sense of outrage, to show that this is a crisis for America. We must also tell stories of hope, of teens organizing in the District to make their lives better. I am happy to act as a conduit to Sheila Johnson for any PR people who will join me in this effort.
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PR, AIDS, HIV, CDC
Posted by Edelman at October 2, 2006 10:06 AM
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Richard Edelman:"Did you know that one in ten teenage girls in Washington, D.C. are HIV-positive? Did you know that one in twenty adults in the District of Columbia have AIDS? It is an outrage. Those are Third World types of... [Read More]
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Comments
These are all tremendous insights, but sadly, it appears that people are more interested in watching lonelygirl15 on MySpace than dealing with relevant and real subjects and issues. Much like the genocide, in Darfur, and the AIDs epedimic in Washington, the Tsunami victims from last year, people seem to hit the "mute" button in their minds and with their ears when it comes to these subjects--so, big kudos to you for bringing this to the top of the pile.
I recall a comment I read about Bill Gates when he was growing up, and his father would ask something to the effect of, "how can he help other people who are less fortunate" or something along those lines. This is what all of us should be asking on a regular basis, to supplement never-ending diatribes about the valuation of YouTube, and other topics that really don't mean that much except for a few select people. Terrific and valuable insights.
Posted by: Lafayette Howell at October 15, 2006 4:09 PM
LH a call to action if there ever was one! Thanks for reading my blog.
Posted by: Richard Edelman at October 16, 2006 9:53 AM