Already high infection rates will increase if Blacks do not change their perceptions about AIDS, they said. At a press conference at KJLH Radio, Phill Wilson, executive director of the Black AIDS Institute, released its 2008 State of AIDS in Black America report, which found AIDS continues to be a Black problem in America: 70 percent of new adolescent infections are Black; 67 percent of new infections in women are Black; 63 percent of newborns infected are Black; 40 percent of new male infections are Black; and as much as 50 percent of Black, gay men are infectedeven higher than in Africa.

This is an emergency! Every hour of every day, somewhere in America, an African American is dying from AIDS two African Americans are being diagnosed with this disease. Each of these deaths and infections is tragic for a host of reasons, but chief among them is that every infection is preventable. And in most cases, every AIDS case in the United States is treatable, Mr. Wilson said. Muscian Stevie Wonder, owner of KJLH Radio, the Rev. Al Sharpton of the National Action Network, actor and author Hill Harper, Dr. Nicole McCann-Cross of The Potters House church in Dallas, Texas), KJLH radio personality Adai Lamar, and Danny Bakewell, Jr., publisher of The Los Angeles Sentinel Newspaper, joined Mr. Wilson to announce goals of the Black AIDS Mobilization effort.

The goals include reducing the HIV/AIDS rates in Black America by 50 percent; increasing the percentage of HIV-positive Black communities who know their HIV status by 50 percent; increasing the same percentage of Blacks in appropriate care and treatment; and decreasing the HIV/AIDS stigma in Black communities.

The effort gained momentum when national Black organizations, faith-based groups, entertainment organizations and elected officials formed a united front nearly a year ago. In addition to the National Action Network and The Potters House, the participants include approximately 16 organizations, including 100 Black Men, the National Coalition of 100 Black Women, the National Council of Negro Women, the National Newspaper Publishers Association, American Urban Radio Networks, the National Black Justice Coalition, the Rainbow/ PUSH Coalition, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, National Black Caucus Foundation and the National Coalition of Black Pastors Spouses.