Some time ago, I was walking through the mall the and I came across one of those free newspapers that had the oddest cover story. Not being one to back down from an interesting piece of journalism, I grabbed the paper and continued on my journey. Once I got home, I opened it up and was shocked and disgusted by what the stories inside had to tell me. Here’s a few facts and figures to stoke your brain even though I’d rather you found the paper and read for yourself. Black women make up about 6% of the population in this country but they account for more than 68% of HIV/AIDS cases. Over 50% of HIV/AIDS in black males are in men who have sex with men. That’s a 19% increase since 1989. In a recent study of nearly 3,500 young gay and bisexual men, 1 in 6 reported having sex with women and nearly 25% had unprotected sex with a woman. In surveys of men who have sex with men, between 15% and 30% of black men indentified as bisexual. About 14% of black men who have sex with men in one survey reported that their main sexual partner was a woman. In an Atlanta study of black women, 70% perceived themselves as having little or no risk of contracting HIV/AIDS, even though 45% hadn’t used a condom in the past 2 months and 60% didn’t know their partners HIV status. Basically what it all means is that men living this “lifestyle” are one of main reasons for the rampant spreadin of HIV/AIDS in the black community. For those that don’t know (which is hard to fathom), a man who is living on the DL is defined as a man who indentifies himself as a straight man but has sex with men. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with that in my eyes, but there is a definite problem when these men don’t protect themselves and won’t disclose their double-edged lifestyle to their partners. What the %#&@$! is with that?! How can anyone be that insensitive and selfish? Not only is their choice of activities dangerous to them, but also to the people they’re involved with and everyone that they become involved with. What makes these guys feel like they have to hide who they are? Why do we make our brothers feel like they can’t come out of the closet if that’s who they really are? And what makes us as a people be so subconsciously self-destructive? Please y’all, hit me up and let me know what’s going through your minds on this one. Peace and love y’all!