For Immediate Release

Media Contact: Justin Burke - 213.201.1525

EMAIL:jburke@apla.org

New York State Black Gay Network & AIDS Project Los Angeles Publish 11 Black Gay Writers Who “Think Again” about HIV Prevention

Unique bicoastal collaboration launches anthology of critical thinking on HIV risk.

Los Angeles, CA, October 3, 2003 -- The New York State Black Gay Network (NYSBGN) and AIDS Project Los Angeles (APLA) announce the publication of “Think Again,” a collection of essays and narratives about HIV risk and prevention by and for black men who practice same-sex desire.

Conceived by NYSBGN Executive Director Colin Robinson, “Think Again” is produced in collaboration with APLA and its Director of Education George Ayala and co-edited with writer Steven G. Fullwood. The covers and center page of “Think Again” feature the work of Lyle Ashton Harris, an internationally renowned photographer whose work has been exhibited and published across the United States, Europe and Asia.

Scheduled for public release on October 5, 2003 at the Network’s Statewide Training Institute in Syracuse, NY, the publication is designed to inspire fresh thinking about and renewed interest in HIV prevention for black men who practice same-sex desire. In the United States, more black men aged 22-44 die of AIDS than of any other disease.

“The overwhelming impact of HIV on black men who practice same-sex desire – and on the youngest men among us – has finally moved into public awareness and edged towards mainstream health policy,” Robinson and Ayala write in their forward. “At the very same moment…surviving progressive activists and public intellectuals are abandoning the industry. We want to ask black men who practice same-sex desire to ‘think again’ and fearlessly and unapologetically and fiercely about our strategies, our sero-status, our sex, our gender, our families, our brothers, our lovers, ourselves.”

“Think Again” is supported by funds from APLA and by an award to NYSBGN from the New York Community Trust - Samaratrophia Fund, one of the New York area community foundation’s more than 1,600 funds established by individuals, families, and businesses.

“Government control of HIV prevention discourse can often shut out alternative viewpoints,” said George Ayala. “With private funding and the perhaps unlikely union of two very different, community-based organizations, we are able to give voice to a broad and unconventional vision of new HIV prevention possibilities.”

Contributors to the collection, who are artists, activists and educators from across the country, include Charles Stephens (Atlanta), Vincent Woodard (Boulder), Herukhuti, G. Winston James and Khary Polk (Brooklyn), Roderick A. Ferguson (Minneapolis), Kevin Quashie (Northampton, MA),Tim’m T. West and Marvin K. White (San Francisco/Oakland Bay Area) and Kevin Trimell Jones (Philadelphia).

Formed in 1998, the New York State Black Gay Network is a membership coalition of diverse organizations serving black men who practice same-sex desire, and currently comprises 17 groups in Albany, Buffalo, New York City, Rochester and Syracuse. Through training, technical assistance, peer exchanges and resource-sharing, the Network strengthens the ability of its members’ programs and infrastructure to serve black men who practice same-sex desire. The Network catalyzes and supports community-based efforts to develop leadership, organization and services. The Network and its members work collectively, build alliances with others, and mobilize communities to change governmental policy, social discrimination and institutional accountability. The Network creates and promotes publications, research and other activities that challenge consciousness, expand knowledge and celebrate culture of black men who practice same-sex desire. The Network advances this work through collaborations, direct programs, and the professional development of black men who practice same-sex desire.

AIDS Project Los Angeles, one of the nation’s largest AIDS service organizations, provides direct services to more than 10,000 men, women and children living with HIV and AIDS in Los Angeles County. Services include prevention education, food banks and nutrition education, professional dental care, housing assistance, mental health counseling, and case management. APLA is a leader in the provision of bilingual HIV treatment information, in print and on the Internet, and advocates for effective AIDS-related policies and legislation on the local, state and federal level. For more information, please visit www.apla.org.

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