Miami Herald - December 1, 2006
Darran Simon and Erika Beras, dsimon@MiamiHerald.com

H.I.V. P.O.S.I.T.I.V.E.., do you know what that means, man?

H.I.V. positive, it's the real thing. Ain't no cure, it'll spread to your kids, man. Once you've got it, ain't no going back, This ain't a game So if it's heatin, strap it up before you start a flame...

Then the two burst into laughter.

The true essence of the "rapping Grandma" character Jennifer, 17, created comes across better when she wears the white wig, knit sweater and pulls the waist of her skirt up to her stomach, she said. She performs it as part of Students Taking a Stand on Prevention, a Blanche Ely performance arts group that tackles issues such as HIV.

Today, organizations and activists will use the arts -- poetry, theater and rap -- to commemorate World AIDS Day.

In the early years of the epidemic, advocates relied heavily on the arts -- a medium often used to advance causes like AIDS and HIV. But in recent years, as national policy and funding has shifted away from the arts to abstinence-only education for the youth -- a population at great risk -- many grass-roots groups have returned to the arts as a way to spread their message.

"If you can entertain them, you can teach them," said Regina Turner, a Blanche Ely biology teacher who founded S.T.O.P. in 2005. "During our performances, we make them laugh. We may see tears in the audience. We see them thinking."

The 10-member S.T.O.P. group will performs today at a World AIDS Day event at Joseph C. Carter Park in Fort Lauderdale.

A HOST OF EVENTS

Other events include a contest where students have to create a rap about HIV, counseling, free Rapid and Ora-Sure testing and a candlelight vigil.

The commemoration is youth-centered this year, said Jean Starkey, chairwoman of Broward County Community World AIDS Day.

"We finally got a clue of what may work -- reaching out to young people and reaching out to a community that doesn't want us to preach to them," Starkey said.

Thanks to medicine, more Americans are living longer with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, but the rates of infection are still high.

Florida has the second-highest HIV/AIDS infection rate in the nation, according to the Centers for Disease Control.

TEENS TARGETED

More than 40 percent of those living with AIDS in Florida live in Miami-Dade and Broward counties and make up 44 percent of the state's HIV cases, figures show.

Young people and minorities are becoming infected at disproportionate rates.

Educators in the United States and abroad have long used arts as a tool, said Candace Webb, program associate for training and education for the Washington D.C.-based AIDS Alliance for Children, Youth & Families.

And increasingly, organizations are using local theater, documentaries, collages and other ways to educate communities, Webb said. "The arts provides a medium for people to express some really complex, controversial and hard-to-talk-about issues," Webb said.

FEDS SLASH AID

Federal cuts under the Bush administration for AIDS arts education programs for youth and a push toward abstinance-only programs have had an impact, said David C. Harvey, executive director of the AIDS Alliance for Children, Youth & Families.

"In many respects today, the country has become complacent around HIV," said Harvey. "In early years, there was a really a concerted effort by the gay community and others to get out there and do whatever it took to educate people about HIV."

Grass-roots groups have continued to use the arts as a messenger, he said.

Two years ago, Devin T. Robinson X founded the AIDS Awareness Poets, a Fort Lauderdale-based nonprofit that educates using the performing arts.

"HIV has existed for 25 years." said Robinson, 23, a Florida Atlantic University student who performs nationwide.

"We have to do more things that are diffent. We have to get away from showing slides and lecturing people."

ATTENTION-GETTERS

In New York, GO GIRL, an after-school educational program that touches on HIV prevention, safe sex, self esteem and other teen issues, recently added a theater component. Peer educators from the Bronx-based program perform at schools.

The feedback has been strong, said program coordinator, Lisa Rosado.

"First and foremost, you have to get their attention," she said. "I am one that believes that theater is a good way to educate the youth."

In a technological age, there is a stiff competition for the attention of young people, who usually rebuff lectures and scoldings from adults.

"If you can keep our attention, then, you got us, just through pure entertainment," said Mike, 17, who is part of S.T.O.P. "If there is a movie about prevention, we're going to go see it too, just put some celebrities in there."

For Jennifer, her tactic is making her peers laugh.

"If they're laughing, they're listening," said Jennifer, whose grandmother died of HIV in 2005. "The difference between us telling them and a grown-up telling them, is a grown-up is ordering them to do something. We're having fun with them and they're learning."

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