VIENNA, Austria - The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) released a study today looking at race, poverty and HIV among heterosexuals in 23 poor inner-city neighborhoods in the United States. The study found that when other racial ethnic groups are confronted with the same social determinants faced by Black Americans their risk for HIV rises.

Some media organizations are erroneously concluding that race is not a factor in HIV transmission in this population. This is a false choice and an absurd and dangerous conclusion. The point is not whether race or poverty matters, the point is race and poverty matter. Black people are disproportionately impacted by HIV/AIDS. One of the reasons this is so is because we are poor. Seventy-seven percent of the participants in the study were Black and the majority of the residents in the communities surveyed were Black.

What you need to know about HIV testing and why Black people should get tested on this June 27th, National HIV Testing Day.

Scientific denialists have been around since, well... the beginning of recorded science. One group of denialists refused to believe that the earth was round. Another group insisted that the sun revolved around the earth until long after scientific evidence had proved it works the other way around. A group of denialists wants us to believe that President Obama is Muslim, while another group, called "birthers," continues to challenge his presidency because they refuse to believe he was born in the United States.

It should come as no surprise that there are AIDS denialists as well. Typically they either reject the fact that AIDS exists, disagree that HIV causes AIDS, claim that AIDS is caused by the very medications designed to treat it, or try to dissuade people from getting tested for HIV.

Given the magnitude of the AIDS epidemic in Black America, we cannot allow ourselves to be either distracted or bamboozled by these types of dubious claims. In fact, we should consider AIDS denialists not only dangerous, but even enemies of our community. Nevertheless, with all the myths and misinformation swirling around about HIV/AIDS, I completely understand how some of us might be nervous about getting tested. Let's consider the facts.

Last month, we experienced the passing of two lions of the civil rights movement: Dr. Dorothy I. Height, who for four decades headed the National Council of Negro Women (NCNW), and Rev. Benjamin L. Hooks, former head of the NAACP for 16 years. Their deaths represent a tremendous loss -- not just for black America, but for the world. Their lives exemplified the power of leadership and remind us that leadership matters.

Both Dr. Height, who was born in 1912, and Rev. Hooks, born in 1925, faced formidable challenges early in life. After winning a scholarship to attend New York City's prestigious Barnard College, Height arrived to the harsh news that she would not be accepted after all; the college had already admitted its annual quota of two Negro women. The young Height could have allowed this setback to derail her dreams. Instead, she fought on and found a leader who would serve her and black America well for 75 years -- herself.

Last month, I had the honor of opening the National Week of Prayer for the Healing of AIDS for a large Cincinnati church. During my conversation with the congregation, I encouraged them to consider two questions regarding the AIDS epidemic in Black communities:

1) What would Jesus do?
2) How would He guide us as people of faith?

Throughout the New Testament, Jesus clearly demonstrates how He would behave if He were living today. Whether by restoring sight to the blind, healing lepers or protecting a prostitute from being stoned, Christ displayed compassion, love and mercy and alleviated suffering -- no matter the affliction or impairment the person experienced, their place in society, or the social condemnation they faced.

Millions of Americans are celebrating Valentine's Day this weekend by sending each other flowers, going out to brunch or dinner, or even getting engaged. Of course, advertisers want us to believe that love is about heart-shaped boxes, diamonds, flowers, chocolate and candlelit dinners. But true love is much more substantive than that. In fact, our addiction to the fairy tales we see in the movies not only makes it unlikely that we'll experience love, but also leaves us more vulnerable to heartbreak -- or worse.

Regardless of our race, age, gender, sexual orientation or even marital status, being sexually active in today's world -- particularly for those of us who are Black --requires that we talk about difficult issues: our beliefs about monogamy; the importance of getting tested for HIV and other STDs; our sexual history and risk factors; and, for many of us, disclosing the fact that we have an STD, such as HIV.

Countless numbers of us who say we are in love aren't having the difficult conversations that true love requires. Instead we are engaging in a fantasy, for example, not wanting to "ruin the mood," or pretending that people in love don't have to talk about difficult issues.

I'm excited to be back as a regular contributor to Black Voices as we commemorate both Black History Month and National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day, Sunday, February 7th. This is "Greater Than AIDS," a new monthly column that will run in conjunction with the national Greater Than AIDS movement. Our goal is inform Black people about activities that our community is already engaged in -- and to enlist your support in what we still need to accomplish -- to overcome HIV/AIDS and bring the epidemic to an end.

Black people have been greater than any challenge we have confronted in the past. We were greater than the Middle Passage. We were greater than slavery. We were greater than Reconstruction. We were greater than Jim Crow. And, we will be greater than AIDS as well.

Yet each year more than 56,000 Americans contract HIV -- almost half of whom are Black. Black people account for two-thirds of the infections that occur among women. Among youth, that number rises to 70 percent. Research conducted among young Black gay and bisexual men suggests that about half of them are HIV-positive. And the AIDS rate in our nation's capital is as high as that of many African countries. These are the challenges we face. These are the challenges we cannot afford to ignore.