Monthly Archives: December 2013

The Language of Fear

Posted on 12/05/2013 | Leave a comment

By Roslyn M. Brock

When the U.S. Senate failed last December to ratify the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, I was disappointed. But the opposition arguments were sadly familiar: loss of sovereignty, outside control, a hidden agenda – the language of suspicion and fear.

The NAACP was a strong and early supporter of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), which became law 23 years ago and is the foundation for the convention. The new treaty, which President Obama signed in 2009, would hold up the ADA standards as a model for addressing the needs of people with disabilities in countries around the world.

HIV, Getting to Zero: How We Can and Why We Must

Posted on 12/03/2013 | Leave a comment

By Roslyn M. Brock and Regina Benjamin, MD

The havoc that HIV can wreak on a family and a community can be devastating. Over the past three decades, we have watched helplessly as friends and family members died from HIV-related illnesses. Each one lived life brimming with hope and energy, prepared to make tremendous contributions to society. Instead each was laid to rest. Their lives were taken by a preventable disease.

While no amount of advocacy can bring back the lives stolen by this epidemic, we have the power to change the tide of HIV in black America and eliminate the impact of this preventable disease in communities across the country. We have one goal in mind – zeros across the board. That means zero new infections, zero AIDS-related deaths, and zero discrimination for those infected.