Meet Christina

Last week, Christina Adeleke joined our team as communications and development coordinator. Christina is a graduate of Lee University and Charlotte School of Law. She comes to us after working with Equality NC and the Freedom Center for Social Justice. Christina will be based in Charlotte and working out of Carolinas CARE Partnership, allowing us to increase our work in an area of the state with our highest HIV rate. Learn a little more about Christina below, and feel free to drop her a note at Christina@NCAAN.org. I know she's looking forward to getting to know our community! 

Orison Swett Marden said, “Success is not measured by what you accomplish, but by the opposition you have encountered, and the courage with which you have maintained the struggle against overwhelming odds.” In my short journey in life, I have learned that it is foolish to base your life on what you see instead of what you can imagine and dream for yourself.

Being the child of Nigerian immigrants definitely has had a unique impact on my upbringing. My parents came to the United States with a couple hundred dollars in their pockets and a desire to achieve the American Dream. They left a country with limited opportunities to the land full of opportunity. Leaving everything that they knew involved so many risks, but it was a gamble that they were willing to take. If coming to America allowed them to achieve their dreams, then America is where they needed to be.

My parents worked incredibly hard to find success in America and we were, by no means, the family with a money tree in our backyard. My mother worked nights and my father worked during the day so it was always difficult to make sure that my brothers and I were being watched. Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches everyday were the norm. Things like Whoppers from Burger King were considered treats and days like Christmas were just another day. As a child, I was observant and aware of my surroundings. I encountered people who were in tough and hopeless situations. Even though my family was struggling, my parents always taught us to still reach out to those that were in need around us. Even as a child, I always had a strong desire to help the people around me. If it meant offering the little that I had to someone I felt needed it more than I did or sticking up for the classmate that was being bullied, I always felt the “need” to intervene the best way that I could. This “need” would definitely shape who I would become in the future.

Even though my parents eventually found success and achieved the American Dream, I did not forget where I came from or how I was raised. I did not forget the people who were in hopeless situations. I felt like the older I became, the more my eyes were opened to how bad people’s situations actually were. It was not just the fact that some people did not have enough to eat or a place to live. It was the mind-blowing fact that some people were ostracized because of who they loved or for simply being themselves. It was also the fact that the most vulnerable people were consistently overlooked by a government designed to “protect them” My heart broke for these people. I felt the “need” to step in somehow. These people who I had lived alongside of were in need of someone who could speak on their behalf.

I always knew that I wanted to dedicate my life to advocate for those who were unable or scared to speak for themselves. At that point, I knew I wanted to be a lawyer. As a lawyer, I would be able to stand alongside those who were in need and empower them to take control of their lives and better their situations. I would be able to provide justice for those who had been wronged. I would be able to be a voice for those who did not have a voice. I wish I did not have to do this, but we live in a fallen world. So many injustices go on around us in the world and not much is being done to help or prevent them from happening. If no one else is willing to do anything, then I will. I refuse to just sit there and let these things continue to happen as they are.  

With all of that being said, I am so honored to be a part of the NCAAN team. NCAAN has demonstrated and exemplified its core mission of improving the lives of people living with HIV/AIDS in North Carolina and I cannot wait to join the fight! I have big dreams of empowering the powerless and restoring what people could have been to who they can become. Let’s get to work!

Ending HIV in Women and Girls

35 years into the HIV/AIDS epidemic, I’m afraid many of us still hold the same misconceptions and stereotypes that were prevalent in the early days of this disease; such as HIV/AIDS is a disease that occurs exclusively among men who have unprotected sex with other men. And men in the United States are still diagnosed at higher rates than women. But nationally, about 25% of people livingwith HIV are women, and the vast majority of them contract the infection from heterosexual contact.  In North Carolina, 29% of those living with HIV are women, and black women have the highest rate of infection. While messages of practicing safer sex and addressing risky behaviors are good educational strategies for preventing transmission, we can’t ignore the larger cultural norms that can make women vulnerable to HIV in ways that many men may not be.

On National Women and Girls HIV Day, we take the opportunity to shine a light on this vulnerability, allowing us to develop more effective prevention methods. One vulnerability is the incidence of domestic and sexual violence many women face over their lifetimes. While men and boys can also experience this violence, women are much more likely to (particularly sexual violence). What does this mean in terms of HIV infections? Women who are in abusive relationships may have a difficult time negotiating condom use or safer sexual practices; and they may not always be able to negotiate consensual sex. Women who have experienced/are experiencing domestic and sexual violence are more likely to abuse drugs/alcohol, making them more susceptible to the risky behaviors that increase their risk of HIV infection. And in a vicious cycle, it’s been found that as women in abusive relationships are at a higher risk of contracting any STI, including HIV, those women living with HIV are also more likely to experience domestic violence.  And HIV+ women who are experiencing abuse have more health problems (such as depression) and a more difficult time managing their status than their counterparts who are not experiencing such violence.  

There are many effective strategies we can take to reduce these risk factors for women, including providing children and adolescents comprehensive, medically-accurate sex education that addresses consent and domestic/sexual violence. We also need to change our cultural norms that allow sexist and misogynistic violence to go unchallenged; and we need to hold abusers accountable for their actions. And in North Carolina, we can also expand Medicaid as an effective strategy in reducing risk. Not only will this provide women increased access to health care, HIV testing and treatment, and mental health services, but increasing access to our health care system can be an effective tool in preventing domestic violence.  35 years into this epidemic, we need to use every tool we have as we move closer to our goal of raising an AIDS-free generation.

- Tara Romano is the President of NC Women United.