Mississippi
State Contact Info
Co-chair State Representative:
Eric Bailey
Shirley Brown
Central Region Representative:
Slyvester Bledsoe
Co-Chair Coastal Region Representative:
Betty Jordan:
bjbspirit@yahoo.com
James Bender:
benderjames@bellsouth.net
Northern Region Representative:
Cedric Studurent
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Latest News
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Robinson at the women's affinity session. |
Last week, some 1,400 people from all over the country gathered in
New Orleans for the 2007 HIV Prevention Leadership Summit (HPLS)
sponsored by the National Minority AIDS Council (NMAC). This year's
HPLS, which ran from May 20 to May 23, had a special feel to it because
of its location, and, thanks to a little push from NMAC executive
director Paul Kawata, because "grassroots organizing" was on the tip of
many people's tongues.
Continue reading "New Orleans hosts NMAC's HIV Prevention Leadership Summit — and has a grassroots moment" »
Calendar
AIDS Action In Mississippi (AAIM) was created to battle the 20+ years this epidemic has affected the
people in this state, across the country, and around the world. We have
the knowledge and tools necessary to end HIV/AIDS and improve the
quality of life of the individuals and families both infected and
affected. AAIM is a statewide grass roots organization dedicated
to advocating for the rights of all people infected and affected by
HIV/AIDS. Utilizing the voice and experiences of persons living with
and affected by this pandemic, we are committed to ending the effects
of HIV/AIDS on Mississippi.
AAIM Highlights
On June 26,
2005 a community meeting about Medicaid and the need for AIDS policy
reform in Mississippi spawned the grassroots organization-- AIDS Action
In Mississippi (AAIM).
On June 30th,
AIDS Action In Mississippi held a press conference at Mississippi?s
State Capitol Building to demand that Mississippi remove a Medicaid
drug cap that would negatively impact on people with disabilities,
including Mississippians living with AIDS.
August 29th, 2005 Hurricane Katrina struck land in Mississippi.
On September
30-October 1, 2005, Housing Works, on behalf of C2EA and AAIM,
coordinated and delivered emergency relief supplies to AIDS service
organizations in Biloxi, Hattiesburg, Jackson, and Marks, Mississippi.
On October 10th, AAIM held its first community town hall to discuss C2EA and future plans post Katrina.
On October23rd, kicked off the San Diego-Waves Across the Nation Caravan for
C2EA. This began the C2EA drive cross country, which connected through
Jackson, to culminate with four days of HIV/AIDS advocacy action in
Washington DC.
On November
4-8, 2005, eight Campaign to End AIDS caravans arrived in Washington,
DC. AAIM led seven Campaign to End AIDS (C2EA) participants from
Mississippi and twenty-two San Diego caravan participants to
participate in a march and rally in Southeast Washington, DC, an
interfaith service, advocacy and hill visit trainings and six Capitol
Hill visits to the
Mississippi congressional delegation, including Republican Senators
Trent Lott and Thad Cochran, as well as Representatives Gene Taylor
(D), Charles Pickering (R), Roger Wicker (R), and Bennie Thompson (D).
On December
15th, in the rotunda of the state capitol in Jackson, Mississippi,
representatives from AAIM, Housing Works, AARP, Coalition for Citizens
with Disabilities, Mississippi Center for Justice, Mississippi Trial
Lawyers Association and Mississippi Primary Health Care Association
were among those who called a press conference to announce that eight
plaintiffs had filed a suit against Mississippi's policy restricting
Medicaid recipients to five drugs (with only two brand-name).
On December
29th, the C2EA National Steering Committee voted to accept Mississippi
as the first state-wide C2EA chapter with voting representation on the
Steering Committee.
On January 12th, AAIM held an open house at its offices in the Magnolia Towers at 809 North State Street, Jackson, Mississippi.
On January
13th, in a packed courthouse in Jackson, attorneys bringing the suit
argued for an injunction against the policy while its permanent fate
was decided. The attorneys argued that the policy violates a federal
Medicaid law dictating what states can and cannot do to restrict their
Medicaid programs, while attorneys for the state argued the opposite.
Another hearing toward such an injunction will take place on January 27.
On January
18th, AAIM and Housing Works staff and clients conducted Hill visits to
the entire Mississippi congressional delegation and to key members of
the New York delegation?a total of 14 visits. Among the highlights was
an actual half-hour face-to-face with Mississippi Senator Trent Lott
(R).
On January
19th, AAIM presented feedback to the president's Ryan White CARE Act
reauthorization recommendations to staff from the Senate HELP Committee
and the House Energy & Commerce Committee.
On March
23-25, AAIM organized its first statewide planning summit in Jackson,
MS to develop a plan of action to end AIDS in Mississippi.
On July 8-28, AAIM hosts a
group from Volunteers for Peace and a participant from the C2EA Youth
Action Institute to conduct grassroots organizing and advocacy to work
towards ending AIDS in the state of Mississippi, in America and around
the world.
September 26, 2006, moved to Jackson Enterprise Center 931 Hwy 80 West Suite 2A-5 Jackson Mississippi 39204
