Marcia's Musings

All it takes is one drop of semen or blood to infect someone with the virus of HIV. All it takes is one second to put on a condom and protect yourself and your partner from ever getting it. Ladies, we have a choice. Men, you have a choice. And that choice is life. And self-love.

HIV. AIDS. These are tough topics; one that many never want to discuss. Yet it's because we are not discussing it that we are looking at numbers that say 1 in 4 African American women within the United States are infected with HIV and more than 24% of those don't know they have it.

On this day, as our President makes a pledge and clearly speaks out that this disease is not just a foreign disease, but one that has run rampant along our shores and cityscapes, I want you to Adore Your Beauty.

That name is what we call the beauty section of this site. I named it that for a reason: I wanted brown women like me to look at our various types of beauty—whether it was Sudanese; round and cherub-like, Ethiopian—long and chiseled; American, a combination of West African, European and native American; or Caribbean, a masala mix of Indian, Latin and African—and recognize our amazing range.

But you can never appreciate your outer beauty, if you've never accepted your true beauty inside; the one that doesn't need bronzer to make it glisten. The pledge this year for World AIDS Day is to get to zero--no new cases. And in order to do so, we have to start making ourselves a priority. Let's start with these five promises:

1. I promise to Adore My Beauty by loving my true self; warts and all.

2. I promise to Adore My Beauty by getting an HIV test every six months--and have the person(s) I love take it too.

3. I promise to Adore My Beauty by walking away if my partner won't put a glove on it—every time.

4. I promise to Adore My Beauty by talking to my girl—and guy friends—about the importance of getting tested.

5. I promise to Adore My Beauty by sharing this information with my friends who are gay. Lesbians as well as homosexuals can contract HIV.

Remember, people love you. But you have to love yourself more.