(Erika L. Holmes of MCCN)
Interview with Actor Lammon Rucker
Erika L. Holmes(MCCN):
Lammon Rucker: I’ve been an AIDS advocate ever since high school. It is a fight that I have been involved in for quite a long time. I’ve lost friends, family, and even people who are not related to me. They are all apart of the greater AIDS community. Today is World AIDS day. It is not national Black AID awareness day. I have a family organization called Ahead which does a lot of AIDS Prevention work in Africa. I establish a relation with Magic Johnson, the I Stand With Magic campaign, the Black AIDS Institute, BET’s Wrap it Up, and a variety of different iniatives…This is another event, a formality but everyday I am involved in something around the country.
We can’t forget those who have passed away from HIV and AIDS. We have made great strides but we need to do a better job.
Interview with Actor Jesse Williams from Grey’s Anatomy
Erika: Why was it important for you to be here tonight?
Jessie Williams: It is an opportunity to do some good period. It is World Aids day today. It is obviously a crisis internationally and domestically. I think we need to keep calling it what it is and not get pushed to the back burner. It is needs to be in the front of our tongues and conversation especially in the Black community. We’re talking about 50 percent of new cases of AIDS are Black folks. That’s a damn crisis. We need to keep talking about it, educating our young people and educating everyone about it. Getting the stigma reduced and clarified is really important so we can tackle and get control of it now.
Erika: What would you tell young men about engaging in that conversation with a new partner?
Jesse Williams: I think what they need to first is engage in that discussion with themselves. Be patient, be thoughtful and respect yourself. It is a raging in our community in many different aspects… Think about your condition beyond today
Interview with Former NBA Player/ Entrepeneur AC Green
AC Green: Thinking about people and sustaining life, the choices and decisions that we make. I very big on that. I am very big on Magic Johnson foundation, educating our people, and educating that next generation.
Erika: Do you think that promoting celibacy is still a relevant thing we can do?
AC Green: Oh absolutely, it is the best option without a doubt. It is about self control. It is about being able to love and consider yourself as valuable… It still centers around having character. It centers around loving yourself but also your fellow neighbor too.
Interview with Actress Kimberly Elise
Erika: Wonderful performance in “For Colored Girls” Without giving too much away, the film deals with the issue we are dealing with this evening, AIDS and HIV. How important do you think that message is in Hollywood to infuse that message when we can?
Kimberly Elise: I think it is important everywhere. I think Hollywood is a very powerful medium. Many people seem film and television. If you can take an issue and surround it by a compelling character, it sort of resonates more with people than statistics and lectures. If we can encompass something like AIDS in a compelling story and bring it to them in a way that is going to move them. Maybe illustrates
Erika: What would you tell young women who are maybe bashful or afraid to engage in that conversation with a new partner?
Kimberly Elise: You have to. If you can not do that, it is not a good partner. You should able to talk about anything. They should bring it up. You want someone who will bring it up to you. If I get into a relationship, we both get tested right away. You start off knowing full well what is going on.
Interview with Comedian Sinbad
Sinbad: We use to look at AIDS like it was other people but now its us and we are not really dealing with it enough. Also tonight they are talking about the heroes, the people who are doing things like Blair Underwood… We have some nuts on TV now. It is good to see some heroes out here.
Erika: We all know that HIV and AIDS is not a laughing matter but is there ever an opportunity in your stand up to infuse a message?
Sinbad: In comedy you can hit on subjects that people will not talk about. That is the great thing about comedy. You can talk about HIV. You can say, “Hey man, this is real.” You’ve heard of the elephant in the room? Everybody can start talking about it. Comedy is a great place to talk about it.
See Other Celebrity Interviews from World AIDS Day
Magic and Cookie Johnson Speak on AIDS
