The credits flash across the screen, indicating the Black sitcom Girlfriends is over. You look forward to the next program on BET. During the commercial break, a familiar face in Hip Hop appears. It’s Common, riding a city bus. As always, the highly respected rapper wears hip so casually in his fashion, his stylo, his verses -- just a lyricist of profound prowess lounging in the back of the bus. The Illinois son could be making his cameo in a comrade’s music video, but there are no beats. Perhaps it’s a promo for Common’s latest album, Be, but there is no plug. Instead, Common speaks about a young man standing at the front of the bus. The guy is not posing, not wearing a screw face; rather, his smile is ever so discreet as he holds on to the overhead bar. On his arm, right in the crook, is a pale pink spot – an adhesive bandage. The young cat steps off the bus, straight into the arms of a woman waiting at the stop. Common breaks it down.

“Now they ride and live together. Life they can live it better, just knowing.
A love they created and made, now neither of them is afraid, just knowing,
that they got each other’s back.
Respect is an action, not just an act, now knowing.
Each other they embrace, in love and it’s safe, now knowing.”

A tight shot of Common fills the screen, his high cheekbones glistening. Those eyes stare right at you; it’s a challenge to keep yours open. The worded message reads: Get an HIV Test. Learn more at www.knowhivaids.org.

The young couple in love, a rapper’s sobering spoken word, the fact this 30-second health announcement runs on Black Entertainment Television -- if you’re paying attention, it ‘s obvious: you’ve been targeted.

the American fight

Public service advertisements raising awareness of HIV never stopped running in North America. The virus is known worldwide for walking through any home’s open door and stepping out with the priceless items like relationships, good health, and even life. When HIV is in the area, there’s never a moment to breathe easy, especially when this enemy is almost impossible to spot by the naked eye. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the U.S. cite approximately 1 million Americans are living with the incurable HIV, and the number of new infections has not decreased in a decade, remaining at about 40,000 each year. So the campaigns are common. Posters, radio ads, television announcements, research drives, billboards, oral presentations and fundraisers are constant reminders. Scores of people collectively mull over a precise strategy for each campaign message, with an aim to help North Americans protect themselves and their loved ones.

In the U.S., Know HIV/AIDS is one of those messages. The three-year HIV prevention campaign - conceived by Viacom and supported by the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, a leader in health information and research - has generated momentum for its targeted public service advertisements, or PSAs. To date since 2003, Viacom has produced 100 rights-free HIV/AIDS messages, marking a media value of over $600 million.

Imara Jones is the director of the initiative for Viacom, one of the world’s largest media broadcasters. Jones says the first year of Viacom’s Know HIV/AIDS provided a broader prevention campaign, which confirmed for the public that the disease never went away. “But at a certain point, we looked at what we weren’t doing. We turned our attention to issues of testing. That it’s scary and it’s private,” says Jones. Testing has a lot of elements that makes it hard to motivate people to do it.” To address this challenge, he says, there were series of extensive briefings and meetings between Viacom’s own creative team and the Kaiser Foundation representatives. Together the groups explored which factors would most likely prompt people to learn about HIV and AIDS.

“We decided to create a youth brand around knowing HIV/AIDS and testing. Out of that came ‘Knowing Is Beautiful’” says Jones. Confidence for the campaign was built through consultations with a range of people who ran youth and health programs. Common, who agreed to participate, became a big draw. From focus groups to clinics across the U.S., the response has been positive says the director.

Research conducted by the Kaiser Foundation reported that, of those viewers who watched Viacom’s HIV-themed shows and PSAs, 77% were more likely to use protection. It underscores we’re heading in the right direction. In addition, the Know HIV/AIDS brand is recognized by over 80% of African-Americans and 55% of the general population,” says Jones.

The fight against HIV/AIDS is such that activists in every societal rank are targeting groups of people before the virus beats them to it. AIDS, for example, is the number one killer of African-American women between the ages of 25 and 34. That’s indicating 2 out of every 3 women infected with the virus that causes AIDS are Black, and we’re told most of them become exposed through unprotected sex. The Know HIV/AIDS campaign runs 10 to 30-second PSAs on BET, MTV, UPN and CBS – networks all owned by Viacom - urging African-American women to get tested. Jones explains that even dramas and sitcoms like Girlfriends have addressed AIDS in their storylines.

the northern exposure

The Canadian fight against HIV/AIDS also emphasizes that knowledge is empowering. CANFAR, the Canadian Foundation for AIDS Research resorts to shock value in its latest televised PSA, which targets youth by running on MuchMusic and BET. A man, drained of colour, lies motionless on a bed, eyes open. His girlfriend kisses his lifeless face. Even as his body’s rigor mortis is obvious, she remains oblivious and heads home. There, she croons on the telephone to her girlfriend about her lover being “the one.” A disturbing factoid appears on the screen: “In Canada 17,000 people are HIV positive and don’t know it.” The point is punctuated with a confirmation that the woman in love is one of those infected.

To speak someone’s language is an effective way to communicate a message about HIV prevention. Tailor that message in consideration of a person’s lifestyle and attention is held a few minutes longer. Over the years, the Black Coalition for AIDS Prevention (Black CAP) has fine-tuned its targeted campaigns. The Toronto-based organization provides prevention education for people at risk of HIV and AIDS in the African-Canadian communities. In operation for 15 years, Black CAP also offers support to those living with HIV. It’s a mandate often put to the test when health data introduces discouraging statistics.

According to Ontario’s Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care, as of the end of 2003 in this province - home to Canada’s largest multi-ethnic city - there were 23,563 people infected with HIV. Of those, 3,010, or 13% are people of African or Caribbean descent. From 1998 to that year, the number of African and Caribbean descendents infected with the virus increased by 86%.

strategic allies

Black CAP is one of a few organizations in Toronto that has developed unique ways of reaching Black community members at risk for HIV and AIDS. Unlike Viacom, a corporation with broadcasting resources at its disposal, these not-for-profits rely on less dynamic, more basic strategies. But just like the American broadcaster, smaller agencies recognize partnerships are crucial. For several years, Black CAP’s foot soldiers – many of them volunteers - hit the Caribana parade route every August, passing out free wallets containing condoms and HIV prevention information. Outreach workers also frequent hot spots for gatherings such as clubs, barbershops, and bath houses. Black CAP’s executive director, Juanita Smith, says involvement and collaboration brought the organization to this point.

“The first few years was about identifying who we are, engaging the community, establishing relationships and also figuring out, with no models in place, how do we actually do this,” says Smith. “Having created a community of individuals positioned as partners, the next few years at Black CAP were for repositioning the agency to achieve its mandate of teaching, learning, sharing and engaging.”

That mandate is being applied on a larger scale through ACCHO, the African and Caribbean Council on HIV/AIDS in Ontario. Launched in April, the council is a coalition of health organizations, agencies and service providers; they’re armed with the two-year task of developing a comprehensive HIV prevention strategy for Black communities primarily in Ontario and Quebec. Black Cap, along with the African Community Health Services, and Africans in Partnerships Against AIDS, were founding members of a working group formed in 1999. That collaboration grew, garnering more members and research studies on HIV’s impact on the province’s African and Caribbean communities, eventually becoming ACCHO.

“I think, for a long time, we were in the trenches addressing the issues. ACCHO is the first attempt at looking at the policies from a broader perspective,” says Smith. She talks about aligning with ACCHO – a move that won’t pull Black CAP from the frontlines.

“ACCHO is not delivering services at this point says Smith. “It’s in the middle of discussing governance models. Basically who is ACCHO, how does ACCHO manifest itself in the world, how the strategy gets launched. At Black CAP, we see ourselves as one of the community-based, African-Canadian agencies addressing HIV as perhaps one of the channels by which ACCHO will implement some of its strategies.”

cutting-edge success

Perhaps it’s only a matter of time before ACCHO channels the success of Black CAP’s barbershop outreach into large-scale initiatives throughout the country. Until then, Malston Anderson will continue his small-scale, but insightful, discussions with anyone who will lend an ear.

Anderson is the Men Together Coordinator at Black CAP. “We have a lot of people in the community who are gay, bi, sleeping with men,” he says. “At Black CAP we don’t chastise, we just say: ‘do it safe.’”

Anderson stops by popular hair salons in Toronto about twice a week, distributing up to 150 free condoms each site. “Most of the time I get people to open up,” says this coordinator who learned to present his message in ways that don’t intimidate or offend customers. “I discuss it a certain way to make sure I’m not too preppie, not too hip hop.” He explains free condoms do most of the talking, regardless of people’s sexual preferences. “They have all kinds of information. Not just how to put them on, but information on testing, on Black CAP, and what to do if you’re HIV positive. So if clients don’t want to talk, it’s ok…sometimes they do, sometimes I go back to the same location just to get them.”

The manager of Toronto’s Discount Beauty Salon on Eglinton Avenue West appreciates what Black CAP has to offer his customers. Big Mike, as he’s best known, is also a local Calypsonian. His love for his community propels him to talk up “stupidity” that encourages unprotected sex. He tells his male and female clients if they don’t pay attention to Anderson’s information about HIV, they’ll pay with their lives. “You would think because of this virus, relationships would last longer,” says Big Mike. “One thing I can say, we need each other. I like what (Black CAP) is doing for Black people. We need to take responsibility. If your own come to speak to you, you take heed.” One strong indication of that awareness, he says, is younger clients take condoms “by the pocketful.”

Mike “MC” McIntosh of Barbers of Eglinton, another hair salon in the same area of the city, says customers come into the shop in search of the condoms. “Sometimes some people come and ask for extras to send to guys in Jamaica.” Of Anderson’s approach, the manager has nothing but praise. “People listen to him. He interacts with people. There’s an impact because they come back and get condoms,” says McIntosh whose young barbers attract young clients.

“The barbers have been awesome in terms of supporting the outreach activities,” confirms Smith. “There we have a great place for impromptu discourse on sexuality.”

Despite the misses popularized by the media, targeted HIV campaigns in North America are methodically hitting their marks. It’s not a guarantee people will always walk the journey of self-preservation; many of the fearless will stray off the path. Still, the dire realities of HIV and AIDS are not enough to dishearten the activists at Viacom, ACCHO, Black CAP or even some Toronto businesses. For these soldiers, the message remains as solid as their common commitment to battle a virus thriving on ignorance. Knowing is indeed beautiful.