From the Heart

MAP urges Charlotteans to join together to overcome AIDS
Published 02.01.06
By Branna Calloway
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Lowell Warner, Photographer; courtesy of WSOC-TV
Catrina Pegues lifts her voice.

INFO
MAP hosts the first annual AIDS Awareness Gospel Explosion at 6pm on Saturday, Feb. 4, to be held at St. Paul Baptist Church, 1401 Allen St. Dr. Ophelia Garmon-Brown, Medical Director of Presbyterian Urgent Care Operations, will serve as keynote speaker. Available from participating choirs and MAP, tickets are $10 in advance and $15 at the door. See http://www.metrolinaaidsproject.org/ for info.

African-Americans accounted for 69 percent of all new HIV infections in Mecklenburg County during the first half of 2005. So the Metrolina AIDS Project (MAP) is taking the fight to church: Black churches, a cornerstone of the black community, have initiated annual prayer weeks to foster AIDS awareness in their communities. Although tremendously important, these efforts have fallen short in reducing the number of HIV cases. The community at large, especially the youth, is not heeding the message.

Gospel music has long been a way of helping the oppressed overcome their burdens. As the background music of the Civil Rights Movement, gospel reminded activists of God's promises, giving them the strength to persevere through adversity. As they sang the movement's anthem, "We Shall Overcome," everyday people put aside their fear and marched toward something brighter and bigger than themselves.

Today, the most vital of urban missions is the attempt to educate youth about the dire realities of AIDS beyond Magic Johnson's seeming triumph over the disease and the ramifications of the double-whammy effects of AIDS and poverty.

To foster more African-American participation in the fight to prevent infection, MAP is throwing an AIDS Awareness Gospel Explosion Feb. 4 to spread the word by combining the message with gospel music. Funded in part by the United Way Central Carolinas, MAP provides comprehensive case management, support services, prevention education and limited financial assistance to those living with HIV/AIDS in the Charlotte area.

Negative associations to AIDS stem from its transmission via drug use and homosexuality, says Joe Gentry, community resource manager for MAP, and that has hindered efforts to educate the community on disease prevention. In a March 2003 Associated Press article, Don Sneed, executive director of Renaissance III, a contemporary of MAP in Dallas, cited the stringent position of the church as an obstacle. "On any given Sunday, in any given black church, you can hear that old spiel, 'God didn't create Adam and Steve, he created Adam and Eve,'" said Sneed, who is black. "This is drilled into young black boys from the minute they hit the church."

But the emergence of the "Down Low" trend among African-American men points to the reality that some black men are engaging in clandestine homosexual activity, and the church's sermonizing can contribute to ambivalence and fear among parishioners practicing risky behavior. Meanwhile, women and children under the age of 3 are now the biggest group of victims of this voiceless epidemic.

Maybe this "voice" can be called to respond by the reassuring comfort found in gospel music. Gimme the Mike Charlotte 2004 winner Catrina Pegues will lend her voice as feature soloist to the Gospel Explosion. Joining her are the Pride Gospel Mass Choir, Seigle Avenue Presbyterian Church Choir, Unity Fellowship Church of Charlotte Choir, Voices of Hope Recovery Choir and Weeping Willow AME Zion Church Choir.

In keeping with its mission, St. Paul Baptist Church will host Gospel Explosion, a fundraiser for MAP. "It is our mandate to reach for the burdened, bruised and bound; hurt, hopeless and homeless; sick, sinful and sorrowful," states St. Paul's pastor, Gregory K. Moss. Dealing with issues that are relevant today is foremost in St. Paul's campaign to minister to the community.

Organizers also hope Gospel Explosion will increase exposure for National Black AIDS Awareness Day, an annual event that promotes testing and education, held on Feb. 7.

- Creative Loafing

Saturday, February 23, 2008 at 8:00pm:
The Firebird Arts Alliance, in collaboration with Central Piedmont Community College, present:
VOX
LIVE RECORDING / BENEFIT CONCERT:
"Vox & Friends"

Charlotte’s newest professional choral ensemble, VOX, will present "VOX & Friends," a live recording / benefit concert at 8:00pm, on Saturday, February 23, 2008 at St. Alban’s Episcopal Church in Davidson, in support of Inspire the Fire, Inc., an inner-city, youth arts-training program.


Firebird Arts Alliance Artistic Director David Tang and Associate Artistic Director Peppie Calvar lead VOX in a program of spectacular contemporary choral music by composers like Edwin Fissinger, Duke Ellington, Astor Piazzolla, Stephen Leek, and more, to be included in VOX’s debut CD – “Out of this World;” the program will also include spirituals, jazz and gospel music in celebration of Black History Month, performed in collaboration with some of Charlotte’s best African-American musical artists.
Proceeds from the event will benefit Inspire the Fire, Inc.


Guest artist/collaborators include Ethel Beatty Barnes, Dennis Reed & G.A.P., Henry Lebedinsky and Catrina Pegues.
Ethel Beatty Barnes (http://fundraisingthruthearts.com/biography.html), star of Broadway stage and film, joins VOX in Duke Ellington’s Come Sunday and other jazz/gospel favorites. Ms. Barnes performed leading roles on Broadway, opposite artists like Gregory Hines, and appeared in Martin Scorsese’s The Cotton Club.
Dennis Reed & G.A.P., Charlotte’s hottest new Gospel sensations (http://www.dennisreed.com or read about Dennis: http://www.nuthinbutgospel.com/spotlight_dennisreed.htm), recently performed with VOX and the Charlotte Symphony Orchestra in the CSO’s Daybreak of Freedom performance, celebrating Martin Luther King, Jr., to thunderous ovations.
Catrina Pegues (http://catrinapeguesministries.net) won the 2004 Charlotte Gimme the Mike-Charlotte competition and sings gospel and inspirational music throughout the region.
Henry Lebedinsky, Music Director of Music at St. Alban’s (http://www.saintalbans-davidson.org/musicatstalbans.htm), appears as guest conductor of VOX, conducting an original work by Mr. Lebedinsky.
The performance will take place on Saturday, February 23, 2008 at 8:00 pm at St. Alban’s Episcopal Church in Davidson, NC (301 Caldwell Lane, Davidson, NC 28036 – www.stalbans-davidson.org)

Ticket reservations can be made by calling (704) 365-1661 or e-mailing us at: host@firebirdartsalliance.org.
$20 – general admission / $12 – students and seniors


For additional information on VOX & Friends, contact David Tang at (704) 232-0605 / david.j.tang@mac.com.


ABOUT THE FIREBIRD ARTS ALLIANCE: The Firebird Arts Alliance brings artists and artistic institutions together from all disciplines, to collaborate in innovative, commercially successful, and socially beneficial ways.
Firebird will facilitate collaborations between artists of all disciplines as well as people of all races, religions, cultures and backgrounds, in order to inspire a community of respect, equality and creativity.
www.firebirdartsalliance.org.




David J. Tang
Artistic and acting Executive Director, FIREBIRD ARTS ALLIANCE
Owner and Principal, BREAK THE BOX ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
david.j.tang@mac.com (professional use only)
P.O. Box 9361, Charlotte, NC 28299 (Firebird) / 201 Shasta Lane, Charlotte, NC 28205 (Break the Box)
(704) 232-0605 (M) / (704) 365-1661 (Firebird)
- David Tang