In recognition of World AIDS Day, Raheem DeVaughn is using his voice and platform to bring attention to HIV prevention, education and access, especially within Black communities.
During a recent conversation with the artist and humanitarian, DeVaughn discussed the importance of awareness around PrEP and why he believes visibility, transparency, and consistent education are necessary.
DeVaughn reinforced that HIV does not discriminate.
“HIV doesn’t care about your sexual choices or who you wanna be with. Love who you love, right? It doesn’t care about whether you’re the preacher in the pulpit. It doesn’t care about whether you 120 pounds or 250. It doesn’t care whether you live in DC or in L.A. We say it time and time again that anybody is HIV-possible.”
DeVaughn shared that while awareness has grown, there is still work to be done to normalize conversations around sexual health, preventive medication, and routine testing.
“Sometimes it’s just about letting somebody know that there’s an option,” he shared. “There’s something that you can take as an added protection. Does that mean that I give you the green light to just go raw dog? Nah, absolutely not. It is a bunch of other things out here, you know what I mean…But let’s be real, people are people…”
He spoke candidly about real-life behaviors and the role music, relationships, culture, and human nature play in intimacy.
“People are playing the R&B. They’re playing the Raheem DeVaughn, they doing what they do, they’re making it do what it do. Whether they’re playing my music or not, I want people to be as healthy as they can.”
For DeVaughn, this work is rooted in community love, health, and long-term change. He has had a partnership with Gilead Sciences for the past three years to continue spreading HIV awareness and preventative measures such as PrEP.
“We superseded the expectation of that and were able to get the information out to 47,000 women [in 30 days],” he shared. “Black women make up for more than half of the new cases here in the United States, but only 14% of the population… The age of 14-28 is getting hammered as well… history repeats itself.”
He hopes the future holds a world where ongoing HIV-related conversations are no longer necessary because the virus is eradicated.
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