The Black Aids Institute is continuing on in its mission of uplifting the HIV-positive Black community after rapper DaBaby made anti-HIV/AIDs comments during his performance at the Rolling Loud Festival last week.
We heard #dababy comments. We’re using them as an opportunity to uplift our peoples and talk about #HIV. Because we will not be shamed. #StopHIVStigma
pic.twitter.com/motm43btUe— Black AIDS Institute (@blackaids) July 31, 2021
In a written statement obtained by Blavity, the Institute's President and CEO Raniyah Copeland said that stigmatizing the virus does more harm than good for Black and LGBTQ+ communities.
“We are intentional about turning comments that stem from homophobia, transphobia, and ignorance about HIV into opportunities to uplift our people and reinforce the value of our work,” Copeland said.
“Stigmatizing this health condition, which is no different from many other chronic diseases, holds people back from accessing life-saving HIV services," she continued. "It also deters the progress made toward uplifting the lives of people who are Black, LGBTQ, and/or living with HIV. All Black Lives Matter.”
On July 25, DaBaby, whose real name is Jonathan Kirk, performed at the Rolling Loud Festival and spewed false information about HIV/AIDS to his fans, as Blavity previously reported.
“If you didn’t show up today with HIV/AIDS, or any of them deadly sexually transmitted diseases, that’ll make you die in two to three weeks, then put your cellphone lighter up,” DaBaby said at the Miami Gardens event.
“Ladies, if your p***y smell like water, put your cellphone lighter up," the rapper continued. "Fellas, if you ain’t sucking d**k in the parking lot, put your cellphone lighter up."
After facing opposition for his offensive comments, he took to Twitter to apologize.
“Anybody who done ever been effected by AIDS/HIV y’all got the right to be upset, what I said was insensitive even though I have no intentions on offending anybody," he wrote, in part. "So my apologies."
Anybody who done ever been effected by AIDS/HIV y’all got the right to be upset, what I said was insensitive even though I have no intentions on offending anybody. So my apologies ????????
But the LGBT community… I ain’t trippin on y’all, do you. y’all business is y’all business.
— DaBaby (@DaBabyDaBaby) July 27, 2021
Despite the apology, he has been shunned by many in the entertainment industry and was recently dropped from The Governors Ball Music Festival and from the Lollapalooza Festival, BuzzFeed reported.
Copeland said she is working hard to correct the misinformation shared by the rapper and stated that “HIV is not a death sentence."
"An HIV test in the comfort of your own home, a daily pill to prevent HIV, and routine HIV treatment that keeps you healthy and stops the virus from passing on. People are thriving while living with HIV,” Copeland added.
The CEO said that while HIV continues to disproportionately impact the Black community, DaBaby’s comments are proof that more needs to be done to educate those like him who are unfamiliar with the facts surrounding the virus.
