Dallas, TX, March 21, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — The Southern Black Policy and Advocacy Network (SBPAN), founded by Texas State Representative Venton Jones, won a MUSE Creative and Design Award for their “Organizing to End Black and Brown HIV NOW in Dallas County” campaign.
Jones, one of only three openly gay, Black state lawmakers, is also one of the only elected officials openly living with HIV in U.S. history. For him and the SBPAN team, the campaign offered an opportunity to end both HIV and health inequities in Dallas County. Rather than a top-down approach, the campaign engages non-traditional partners to shift local HIV policy.
With over 6,000 entries from across the world, the MUSE Creative and Design Award firmly places SBPAN and the campaign at the forefront of public health digital advocacy. “With the Organizing to End Black and Brown HIV NOW in Dallas County campaign, we are striving to reach people, organizations, and communities that otherwise might not have felt empowered to join the movement to end the HIV epidemic,” Jones explained. “By harnessing the collective power of our communities, we can shift HIV policy and make a difference in the lives of Black and Brown Texans living with HIV and communities most impacted by the epidemic.”
The campaign’s first phase uplifts the voices of Black and Brown Texans living with and impacted by HIV in Dallas County, providing a platform to share their stories and calls for others to join the movement. Stretching outside the bounds of conventional HIV advocacy, the campaign’s next phase involves the Dallas Black Chamber of Commerce and the Next Generation Action Network, a youth-driven social justice organization, in digital organizing to influence HIV-related policy.
Black Texans make up one-third of people living with HIV in the state, and Dallas County is one of two Texas counties that lead the state in new HIV diagnoses. Through one award, one partnership, and one policy at a time, Jones and the SBPAN team hope that the Organizing to End Black and Brown HIV NOW in Dallas County campaign will shift attitudes and policy to end the HIV epidemic in Texas. The Organizing to End Black and Brown HIV NOW campaign was made possible with the support of Dallas County Health and Human Services and Gilead Sciences.
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About SBPAN
The Southern Black Policy and Advocacy Network, Inc. (SBPAN) is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization that was created in 2018 to improve health, social, and economic conditions facing Black communities living in the U.S. South.
CONTACT: Gavin Nicholson Southern Black Policy & Advocacy Network 702-249-2890 gnicholson@sbpan.org
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