Janet Jackson has spoken out in honor of World AIDS Day. The Grammy-winning diva and amfAR ambassador — along with the AIDS research foundation’s founding chair Mathilde Krim — penned a CNN op-ed today (Dec. 1) to remind people that work still needs to be done in the fight against HIV and AIDS, particularly among communities of color.
“While the AIDS research and activist communities continue to celebrate some major breakthroughs during the past few years, we continue to struggle with an epidemic in the United States that grows unabated,” Jackson and Krim said in the letter. “Each year, 50,000 Americans become newly infected with HIV — the virus that causes AIDS — and more than 1.1 million people are living with the virus.
“And while everyone is at risk and should know their status, data tell us that communities of color — particularly black women and young, black gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men — are disproportionately affected by the virus. If we’re going to create an AIDS-free generation here at home, we need to start investing in resources that will curb the epidemic among these populations.”
Jackson also released an amfAR PSA video where she urged people to get tested and support the research.
You can read Jackson’s entire CNN op-ed here.