Workshop Set on HIV Criminalization

02/12/2019

In honor of Black History Month, the Cross Cultural Center, Center for Service and Community Engagement and Service Leadership Program in the Richard A. Chaifetz School of Business will host a workshop led by social justice activists Maxx Boykin and Lestian McNeal, “Over-Policing, HIV Criminalization and Black Communities,” at 6 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 15.

In order to truly end the HIV epidemic in black communities we have to discuss and address the intricate ways in which the American criminal legal system disenfranchises, targets, and erases opportunities and the livelihoods of Black communities.

From the war on drugs to stop and frisk, from HIV criminalization to bathroom discrimination laws, the American criminal legal system interacts and intersects with every group within our community.

In this presentation Boykin and McNeal will discuss the policies that have shaped the current state of the HIV epidemic in Black communities; highlight currently proposed policies and their potential impact on our community; show the intersecting ways these policies show up for different populations within the Black community; and discuss innovate and community driven strategies to counter the status quo.

In this workshop participants will discuss sex work, drug use, immigration, domestic violence and many other topics that work independently and together to systemically disenfranchise black communities and perpetuate the HIV epidemic. The workshop’s goal is that students, faculty and staff involved will become advocates against HIV criminalization. The training is also appropriate for organizations and coalitions working in social and racial justice spaces, as well as organizations that provide services for people living with HIV.

Workshop Goals

• To understand over policing and its Impact on black communities, including sex work and drug use.
• To understand how criminalization affects black communities.
• Outline workshop tactics to address the over policing of black communities.
• Discuss strategies to advocate against HIV criminalization.

For more information contact Charles Martin. RSVP here or learn more about the workshop on Facebook.