by Jessica Carreras
This Saturday, Feb. 7, Affirmations is hosting an African American Health Fair. The event will be held from 11 a.m.-2 p.m. at Affirmations in Ferndale.
The fair will focus specifically on issues of importance to the black LGBT community, including HIV/AIDS, diabetes, heart disease, addiction, mental health, domestic violence and smoking cessation.
The event, which is part of Affirmations' celebration of Black History Month, falls on same day as National Black HIV Awareness Day. As a result, the fair will focus on that specific health issue, including presentations by the Michigan AIDS Coalition (formerly the Midwest AIDS Prevention Project and the Michigan AIDS Fund) and testing provided by AIDS Partnership Michigan.
"We wanted to have a health fair as part of the Black History Month events because we wanted to highlight some of the major health issues that affect the African-American community," said Affirmations Health and Human Services Coordinator London Bell. "We thought that in celebrating Black History Month, it would be good to talk about some of the things that affect the African-American community and we're very happy to honor National Black HIV Awareness Day."
There will alsobe presentations given on several areas of health, including diabetes and heart disease, as well as a presentation on domestic violence by social worker Kalimah Johnson and one on mental health by Dr. Amorie Robinson, known in the LGBT community as Kofi Adoma of Karibu House. Johnson will also make an appearance at Affirmations on Feb. 19 in support of her book, "Locs for Life: The Root to Well Being for African American Women."
An addiction specialist, Pamela Alexander, will also be on site for the fair.
