On the heels of a profitable ceremonial dinner in New York Metropolis, ViiV Healthcare introduced its S Salon, a protected house for Black girls to have interaction with each other, to Washington, D.C.
As a substitute of a cocktail party, the Washington, D.C., cease was a large luncheon through the U.S. Convention on HIV/AIDS on the Marriott Marquis. Constructing on the custom of Zora Neale Hurston’s salons, the occasion featured Amanda Seales, Ts Madison, spoken phrase poetry, music, and loads of comedy unfold throughout three acts: Need, Intimacy, and Pleasure. Very similar to the sexual well being exercise books ViiV Healthcare launched earlier this 12 months, the S Salon championed Black girls whereas providing a protected house for them to have interaction with the truth that Black girls proceed to guide in new HIV/AIDS circumstances.
“I really like after we as a folks get collectively to do main strikes in our communities,” Ts Madison informed theGrio. “So it’s at all times a beautiful factor for me. We, as Black folks, have to at all times come collectively, particularly on points like this. The one factor I really feel is lacking from this equation listed below are the lads […] Ladies can go away right here figuring out how necessary they’re, how necessary the physique is to guard and nonetheless be susceptible and lay down with a dummy. So this is the reason there must be extra males current at these kind of conferences .”
“Societal myths about who wants to consider HIV prevention, together with stigma, are stopping Black girls from benefiting from the usual of care that has the potential to dramatically scale back transmission and enhance high quality of life for these residing with HIV,” stated Marc Meachem, head of U.S. Exterior Affairs for ViiV in a press launch shared with theGrio. “It doesn’t need to be this fashion.”
Nonetheless, as a substitute of the sometimes somber tone attribute of discussions about HIV/AIDS, ViiV Healthcare created a cheerful ambiance in D.C.’s Marriott Marquis. Upon getting into the house, the welcoming and enjoyable power of the room engulfed attendees. As jazz violinist Chelsey Inexperienced and The Inexperienced Undertaking band performed a full of life melody of pop and R&B, visitors had been greeted with exercise playing cards that requested them to fill in a mad-lib associated to their hearts as a substitute of the standard bleak, statistic-filled pamphlets.
Although a festive vibe might not be one’s first thought when coping with such heavy material, it’s for ViiV Healthcare. In actual fact, accessibility is the purpose of ViiV Healthcare’s “Danger to Causes” marketing campaign, which asks folks to concentrate on the various causes they might have of their lives — outdoors of the daunting well being dangers — to guard themselves from the illness.
The occasion began with a bluesy efficiency by Washington, D.C.’s personal Child Rose, carrying a sultry pink robe, adopted by ViiV Healthcare’s Senior Medical Director, Prevention Toyin Nwafor, formally kickstarting the occasion. Throughout her welcoming remarks, Nwafor emphasised how a lot she “cherished” that everybody was taking a second to “pause to have fun” the various contributions of Black girls to the combat towards HIV/AIDS.
The whole occasion felt like a celebration of probably the largest motive to stop this illness: the Black girls in our lives. Spoken phrase poet Safia Elhillo carried out a bit about how very important her shut mates are. Through the ”Intimacy” act, Amanda Seales and Ts Madison spoke candidly about intercourse and intimacy, with Ts Madison recounting a current expertise the place a associate disclosed their trans id later within the relationship and Seales reminding everybody that intimacy isn’t simply bodily.
“Intimacy requires emotional intellectualism about your self,” Seales reminded the gang.
The concluding “Pleasure” act was crammed with extra performances by Child Rose, the Howard Gospel Choir, and Chelsey Inexperienced and The Inexperienced Undertaking. The soulful musical cacophony was exuberant, all within the identify of amplifying how very important it’s that Black girls come collectively to guard themselves and one another.
Sitting within the house was like being enveloped in a love letter to Black girls. As Nwafor famous, the occasion was additionally a reminder: “We should proceed to heart Black girls within the dialog of how we tackle HIV.”
Kay Wicker is a life-style author for theGrio protecting well being, wellness, journey, magnificence, vogue, and the myriad methods Black folks stay and luxuriate in their lives. She has beforehand created content material for magazines, newspapers, and digital manufacturers.
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