PROGRAMS  |  BLACK CHURCH INITIATIVE AND LA INICIATIVA LATINA

Clearing House and Resource Center - HIV/AIDS

The MultiCultural Programs Department Clearing House and Resource Center features a collection of theological books, sermons, speeches,  workshop presentations, youth and adult sexuality curriculums. The Clearing House and Resource Center serves as a resource to clergy, seminarians, health and human service educators, parents and youth. Resources are available for loan. For more information, contact bciinfo@rcrc.org or call 202-628-7700.

Sermons

"I've Got Your Back" by Vashti McKenzie, Balm in Gilead Historical Sermons on HIV/AIDS

"A Healing Place: Prayer, Presence, and Prescription" by Dr. John W. Kinney, Balm in Gilead Historical Sermons on HIV/AIDS

Books

Lessons From The Damned: Queers, Whores, And Junkies Respond To AIDS, Nancy E. Stoller

Not In My Family: AIDS in the African American Community, Gil L. Roberson, IV

The Boundaries of Blackness:AIDS and the Breakdown of Black Politics, Cathy Cohen

Latino Gay Men and HIV: Culture, Sexuality, and Risk Behavior, Rafael Diaz
By the end of December 1996 a total of 42,563 AIDS cases were diagnosed among Latino gay and bisexual men. In a world of safer sex, where the message is out to use condoms, why is it that a staggering proportion of Latino and gay men contract HIV each year? Rafael Diaz provides us with a pivotal examination of how sexual silence, machismo, homophobia, poverty and racism continue to contribute to high risk practices among Latino gay men.

African American Women and HIV/AIDS, Dorie Gilbert and Ednita Wright

A Guide to the Clinical Care of Women and HIV, Jean Anderson

Ministry to Persons with AIDS: A Family Systems Approach: Pastoral Care, Robert Perilli
This book is a helpful tool for clergy and laypeople interested in beginning or enhancing an AIDS ministry. Robert Perelli provides practical knowledge to heal the alienation experienced within families living with HIV/AIDS in an effort to help those interested in strengthening their services for people living with AIDS.     

The Skeptics Guide to the Global AIDS Crisis, Dale Hanson Bourke
AIDS is the biggest public health problem the world has ever faced. Yet with all the available information, many of us know little about it. There are thousands of books, websites, and professional documents about AIDS, but it takes time to search them to find the simple facts and information that dispel the myths about this pandemic. Motivated by the obvious need for a manageable tool, Dale Hanson Bourke has compiled the essential information in a simple and straightforward way, explaining medical and political issues in everyday language. This book will prove to be an invaluable resource for your education and involvement in the global AIDS crisis.

The Black Church Speaks, Balm in Gilead

My Rose: An African American Mother’s Story of AIDS, Geneva Bell
AIDS continues to be a forbidden topic in the African American community. My Rose is Geneva Bell’s moving story of her gay son, Jeffrey, as he lived with and eventually died of AIDS. It is plainspoken, personal account of a mother’s devastation, of her shame and her anger at God – but also of the deep faith that enabled her to come to terms with this tragedy, even without the full support of the church.

Faith in Action: Examining the Role of Faith-Based Orgnizations in Addressing HIV/AIDS, Global Health Council

I Really Didn’t Mean To Get HIV, Livingston N. Lee, Jr. and Maurice M. Gray, Jr.
I Really Didn’t Mean To Get HIV is a book detailing the 10-year encounter first with HIV and now with AIDS of author Livingston N. Lee, Jr. In this openly honest book, Brother Livingston {as everyone calls him} shares his testimony, his experiences, and his life before and after discovering that he had contracted the HIV virus. His hope is that through his candidly truthful writing those who are infected will find hope and those who are not infected never will be.

The Black Church and AIDS, Reverend Dr. W.C. Champion
This book is an attempt to get the Black church to examine it’s role in ministry to people living with AIDS. The Black church cannot and must not be allowed to not do what it has been commanded by God to do; “Heal the sick”. The Black church must not be allowed to close its ears and doors to the cries and needs of people living with AIDS.

Living with HIV/AIDS: The Black Person’s Guide to Survival, Eric Goosby, M.D.
The statistics blare it loudly and clearly: African American men and women are being hit much harder by the HIV/AIDS epidemic than any other ethnic group. African Americans, individuals as well as communities, must respond to this call and work together to reduce the spread and impact of HIV/AIDS.

A Pastor's Guidebook for HIV/AIDS Ministry Through the Church, Ark of Refuge
The role of the church in the African American community has always been that of a compassionate caregiver. As more African Americans are infected and affected by HIV/AIDS at alarming rates and the death toll continues to rise, the church is called upon to take part in preventing the spread of the disease. The Pastor's Guidebook is designed to support church leaders in this noble task.

Videos

Life Support: HIV by Nelson George for HBO Films

A Call To Action: National Black Church Leaders on HIV/AIDS, by the Balm in Gilead

Out of Control: AIDS in Black America, National Minority AIDS Council, by PJ Productions

The Age of AIDS, PBS Frontline Documentary

Women Like You (Available in Spanish and English), Pfizer, NAACP, Los Angeles HIV Prevention Trials Unit

"I've Got Your Back" by Vashti McKenzie, Balm in Gilead Historical Sermons on HIV/AIDS

"A Healing Place: Prayer, Presence, and Prescription" by Dr. John W. Kinney, Balm in Gilead Historical Sermons on HIV/AIDS

The Black Church Institute on HIV/AIDS: A Theological Discussion with Rev. Christine Wiley and Bishop John L. Hoyt, Jr., Balm in Gilead

Listed below are some possible films that will assist in encouraging and creating dialogue about the realities of HIV/AIDS and prevention among youth and young adults:

Reflections – Three best friends learn to take the risk of HIV/AIDS seriously as they navigate romantic relationships. Written by Kenyana Ray from Maywood, Illinois. Directed by Gina Prince-Bythewood (Love and Basketball), shot by Johnny Jensen (Rosewood) and produced by Billy Higgins (Honey).

Nightmare on AIDS Street -  The clinic’s waiting room… 17-year old Isabel knows she can’t take back what happened during a hazy night with a guy. While waiting for an HIV test, she confronts her greatest fear. The film was written by a high school student from south Texas and directed by Kinan Valdez.

Live With It – Sponsored by the Balm in Gilead, this film is the web’s first animated series about HIV; also available on DVD.

Time Out: The Truth About HIV/AIDS and You - A 1992 film that introduces the problem of HIV to teens and adolescents. Some information may be outdated but still serves as a good intro to HIV and AIDS.

A Mother’s Prayer – A mother diagnosed with HIV struggles with her own fears while trying to find a family to care for her eight-year-old son.

Breaking the Surface: The Greg Louganis Story – The story about an Olympic athlete’s struggle with HIV.

Out Of Control: AIDS in Black America -  This is the first national network television documentary created  to examine how and why AIDS has become an overwhelmingly Black epidemic – not in Africa or Third World, but right here in the United States

For more information on the Black Church Initiative, please call 202-628-7700
or email bciinfo@rcrc.org.

Curriculum

Draw the Line Respect the Line: Youth Sex Ed Curriculum 3, Grades 6-8, University of California, San Francisco Center for AIDS Prevention and ETR Associates