Is Hip-Hop the Only Buzz in Atlanta?

Atlanta is home to Grammy-nominated artists, T.I., Ludacris, Jermaine Dupree, Usher, Ciara and others and becoming a buzz for all things hip, exciting and trendy. But is this all this beautiful, cultural city has to offer? Not if the social conscious have anything to do with it as Atlanta prepares for its 2007 AIDS Walk that will take place in the historic Piedmont Park on Sunday, October 21, 2007.

Every year, AIDS Walk Atlanta raise much needed funds and awareness for organizations throughout the metro-Atlanta area that provide essential programs and services to men, women and children living with HIV/AIDS. Their motto: "Every life deserves hope." Let's face it; AIDS is an epidemic affecting the inner-city population in a major way. According to CDC, the State of Georgia has the eighth highest number of reported AIDS cases in the U.S.:

• The total number of AIDS cases reported in Georgia in 2001 was 24,406.
• In Georgia, African-Americans make up approximately 62% of the total reported cumulative AIDS cases.
• More than 68% of the reported AIDS cases in Georgia are within the Atlanta Metropolitan area which includes Clayton, Cobb, Dekalb, Fulton, and Gwinnett counties. 67% of these cases are in Fulton County.
• African-American children make up 78% of all reported pediatric cases in Georgia.
• African-American women comprise 83% of the total reported cumulative AIDS cases among women in Georgia.

The mission of AID Atlanta is to empower HIV positive Georgians to live independent, productive lives and to deliver world-class educational programs to help stop the spread of HIV or by reducing at-risk behaviors in targeted populations. African-Americans are those in most need of the benefits that fundraisers like this provide because of high-incidence in our communities.