(BLACK PR WIRE) – ATLANTA, GA –What does President Barack H. Obama (during his term as Illinois Senator), Congressman Elijah E. Cummings; Tony Dungy; Idris Elba; Kimberly Elise; Lance Gross; Hill Harper; Taraji P. Henson; Tom Joyner; Congresswoman Barbara Lee; Ludacris; Master P; Tangi Miller; Patrik-Ian Polk; General Colin Powell; Gloria Reuben; Romeo; Tavis Smiley and Congresswoman Maxine Waters all have in common? They have all served as spokespersons for National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day (NBHAAD), recognized on February 7th of each and every year, since 2001.

“National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day is a national HIV/AIDS testing and treatment community mobilization effort designed to encourage Blacks across the United States to get educated, get tested, get treated, and get involved with HIV/AIDS,” says LaMont “Montee” Evans, CEO of Healthy Black Communities, Inc. and National Chairperson for the NBHAAD National Planning Council. “This year marks the 12th annual observance of NBHAAD and we are so thankful that celebrities and community activists have supported this initiative in the past.” The NBHAAD National Planning Council is looking for local, national and international celebrities to lend their voice, time, resources and talent to help mobilize Blacks around HIV/AIDS.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, of all racial and ethnic groups in the United States; HIV and AIDS affects Blacks the most. In 2009, an estimated 16,741 Blacks were diagnosed with AIDS in the US, a number that has slowly decreased since 2006. By the end of 2008, an estimated 240,627 Blacks with an AIDS diagnosis had died in the US. In 2007, HIV was the ninth leading cause of death for all Blacks and the third leading cause of death for both Black men and Black women aged 35–44.

Although NBHAAD is a nationwide effort, organizers are focusing efforts on key cities with the highest HIV/AIDS cases to ensure that Black communities realize the epidemic is not slowing; and is picking up steam in certain parts of the country. Some of those cities include Atlanta, Baltimore, Chicago, Dallas, Detroit, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New Orleans, Newark, New York, Oakland, Philadelphia, Raleigh-Durham, San Francisco, Trenton and Washington, D.C.

“We need Black community stakeholders and leaders to agree that all Black Life is valuable and that nobody is disposable, and commit action, words and deeds to reflect this.” says Evans. NBHAAD is directed, planned and organized by a group known as the National Planning Council who partners with local, regional and national community stakeholders to mobilize communities and address specific issues in regards to local epidemics and best practices that are science based and will influence the course of HIV in Black communities across the country.

For more information on National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day or to form a partnership with Healthy Black Communities, please visit www.blackaidsday.org.