From CNN contributor Roland S. Martin:

(CNN) — In November 2010, I watched “HBO’s Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel” and saw a piece on the hazing antics at several historically black colleges and fraternities. I took to Twitter to share my thoughts on the issue.

Much of the report focused on Southern University, and man, did the floodgates open as a number of students from the university angrily tweeted me back, cussing, yelling and screaming, with some defending hazing, while others were angry at the national attention focused on their university.

For hours we went round and round, and were joined in the discussion by members of several black fraternities, including my own Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Inc. A number of these individuals actually supported hazing, or “pledging hard” and not becoming a “paper” member who “skated” into the fraternity.

Despite the anger and vitriol, I refused to back down, making it clear that getting beaten for being in a band or fraternity was absolutely dumb. …

Read the rest here.

On Thursday, December 15, the Urban League of Greater Miami will team up with Miami-Dade Public Schools to tell young men to “man up” against HIV/AIDS.

Liberty City has the highest HIV/AIDS infection rate in Miami-Dade, and the county currently is in the midst of a virtual AIDS epidemic, a generation after the disease was discovered. Right now, according to the Miami-Dade Health Department:

In Miami-Dade County the Black community is very diverse in comparison to the rest of the nation. The Black population is a diverse mixture of African-Americans and people who have emigrated from countries in the Caribbean, South and Central America (many are also born in the United States from immigrant parents) More than half of Miami residents are foreign born, the largest percentage for any urban city in the United States. The HIV/AIDS epidemic is a major health threat for Black communities in Miami-Dade County. One out of 45 blacks in Miami-Dade County is living with HIV or AIDS, in comparison to 1 in 179 for the Hispanic/Latino and 1 in 130 for White. Blacks account for 20% of Miami-Dade County’s population compared to 52% of reported AIDS cases and 44.7% of HIV reported cases through December 2008. Blacks represent the largest racial/ethnic group of those individuals living with HIV or AIDS and those who have died from AIDS since the beginning of this epidemic.

In our county, Hispanic/Latino are shaped by ethnic and cultural differences, migration, immigration policy, socioeconomic status and regional differences reflected in 22 sub-populations of Hispanic/Latino from the Caribbean, South and Central America, and U.S born. Hispanic/Latino comprises 62% of the total population in our county and they represent 36% of all reported AIDS cases and 41% of HIV reported cases through December 2008.

Women are most severely affected by HIV/AIDS where heterosexual contact is a dominant mode of transmission like in Miami-Dade County. In 2008 women accounted for 30% of reported AIDS cases and 24% of HIV case. Black females represent 75% of reported AIDS cases in that year and 71% among HIV cases. Regardless of race/ethnicity increased risk for HIV and AIDS can also be related to poverty, unemployment, financial dependence of their partners, lack of health insurance, homelessness and other social and economic factors.

The epidemic among Men who have Sex with Men [MSM] is intense in virtually every county and racial/ethnic group in Florida. In Miami-Dade County, the most populous county, at least 1 in 8 White MSM, 1 in 8 Black MSM, and 1 in 12 Hispanic/Latino MSM are living with HIV or AIDS. Issues related to stigma, homophobia, discrimination and denial continue to contribute to HIV/AIDS racial and ethnic disparities fueling the epidemic in our county.

And according to the Centers for Disease Control:

- African Americans are the racial/ethnic group most affected by HIV.

- In 2009, African Americans comprised 14% of the US population but accounted for 44% of all new HIV infections.

- Young African American gay and bisexual men are especially at risk of HIV infection.

“This is a crisis that cannot be ignored,” said T. Willard Fair, president and CEO of the Urban League of Greater Miami. “And it starts with educating the boys who will become the men of this community.”

The annual “Man Up!” summit features speakers, dramatic presentations, and culminates in the attending students taking a pledge to protect themselves against the spread of HIV through responsible behavior, and by getting tested for HIV. The summit is open to male students only, who attend area Miami-Dade public schools. It will be held on Thursday, December 11 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Joseph Caleb Center in Miami.

Last year, more than 800 male students attended the summit.
 

From the Miami Herald:

The Miami Police Department reassigned eight police officers and a sergeant to patrol the troubled Liberty Square public housing project, marking the first time a team of cops is assigned specifically to one housing development, interim chief Manuel Orosa announced Wednesday.

There were 13 shootings in Liberty Square in the past two months, making Liberty Square the single most dangerous pocket of the city. In one incident, a 42-year-old man in a wheelchair was killed before dawn Sunday. Another incident left five people injured.

“We need to get the thugs out of there,” Orosa said. “Liberty Square does not belong to them. It belongs to the decent citizens who live there.”

From the New York Times:

Millions of American schoolchildren are receiving free or low-cost meals for the first time as their parents, many once solidly middle class, have lost jobs or homes during the economic crisis, qualifying their families for the decades-old safety-net program.

The number of students receiving subsidized lunches rose to 21 million last school year from 18 million in 2006-7, a 17 percent increase, according to an analysis by The New York Times of data from the Department of Agriculture, which administers the meals program. Eleven states, including Florida, Nevada, New Jersey and Tennessee, had four-year increases of 25 percent or more, huge shifts in a vast program long characterized by incremental growth.

The Agriculture Department has not yet released data for September and October.

“These are very large increases and a direct reflection of the hardships American families are facing,” said Benjamin Senauer, a University of Minnesota economist who studies the meals program, adding that the surge had happened so quickly “that people like myself who do research are struggling to keep up with it.”

Read the rest of the story here.

World AIDS Day 2011 presents us with a challenge, and an opportunity.

The challenge is to confront the issues of complacency and ignorance that have helped make Black Americans the most vulnerable population when it comes to HIV/AIDS in the U.S. That means talking about HIV, and how to prevent it; in our homes, in our schools, and yes, in our churches. Speaking up, and taking action: that’s the opportunity.

On December 1st, the Urban League of Greater Miami will commemorate World AIDS Day with our annual youth summit, held each year at the Joseph Caleb Center in conjunction with Miami-Dade Public Schools. Each year, more than 800 middle and high schools students from more than half a dozen Miami-Dade schools gather at the Caleb center for a full day of HIV-AIDS education. The youth summit takes place from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., and includes dramatic presentations, critical information from HIV/AIDS educators, and take-home materials that help students understand how to be safe, and how to speak up.

According to the Centers for Disease Control:

And according to the Miami Dade Health Department, Zone IV, which includes Liberty City, El Portal, Miami Shores and the surrounding neighborhoods, and which is predominantly Black American and Haitian-American, contains the highest concentration of people living with HIV and AIDS, compared to all other zones in Miami-Dade County. (See data here.)

Clearly, it’s time for the Black community to take action.

A job fair on Friday in Davie will focus on Diversity.

From the Fort Lauderdale Examiner:

The South Florida Diversity Job Expo, a community outreach event, will be held from 9 a.m. until 3 p.m. Friday, October 28th, at the Signature Grand, in Davie.

Approximately 25 employers are scheduled for the job fair. Positions are available in virtually all industries.

Employers hiring for jobs in South Florida include: DiversityJobsUSA & Diversity Job Expos (USA), New York Life, AFLAC, Concorde Career Institute, Coventry Healthcare, Fast Tax, Broward College, AXA- Advisors, Colonial Life, Hispanic Unity, American Intercontinental University, The Flyer Publishing Company, The Broward County Urban League, American Express Consumer Travel, The Art Institutes, C.H. Robinson Company, Strayer University, Home Depot, Sullivan & Cogliano Training Centers, Cellular Sales, Fast Train, The Miami Herald, WorkForce One, and Natha Communications.

Read more here.

From the Miami Herald:

Now hiring: the Miami Police Department.

The city announced Thursday that it has lifted its two-year freeze on hiring new officers. The move opens the door to begin screening applicants for about 55 vacancies.

The department also will be able to promote current officers to sergeant positions.

Police brass explained their next steps at a city commission meeting. Earlier this month, commissioners had grilled department leaders about why the city hadn’t hired anyone for open spots even though the money had been budgeted.

On Thursday, interim Police Chief Manuel Orosa said the freeze had been the biggest obstacle to bolstering the police force. City Manager Johnny Martinez lifted the freeze on police hires on Oct. 20, though the ban is still in place in the rest of Miami.

Read more: here.

From the Miami Herald: At an Overtown clinic, Freida James sits glumly looking at four pill bottles: two for diabetes, one for blood pressure, one for cholesterol. All the bottles are empty. The cost to fill them: $360 a month. James has no insurance. She lost her job.

“I don’t know what to do,” she says.

James comes monthly to the clinic’s meeting room to talk with a dozen others about the difficulties they face handling diabetes. They are the kind of patients who, without basic out-patient treatment, would likely wind up as part of a $550 million-a-year charity effort that has put severe pressure on taxpayer-financed Jackson Health System.

Read more here.