Salt N Pepa, a rap trio including the two eponymous frontwomen and DJ Spinderella, started a lot of controversy when they came out with the song "Let's Talk About Sex" in 1991. The song talked about safe sex, the positives and negatives of sex, and the stigma around sex in popular culture.
While this 1991 hit opened up the idea of being able to talk frankly about sexual safety and pleasure, their remix "Let's Talk About AIDS" named exactly what they wanted to inform about. The lyrics were changed to discuss how the virus is spread, how to negotiate condom usage, and to dismantle the stigma around HIV/AIDS. They rapped: "Don't dismiss, diss or blacklist the topic / that ain't gon' stop it."
Comment by: AnAppealToCommonSense
(USA)
Fri., Feb. 15, 2013 at 4:06 am EST
Hi. I don't think Nelson Mandela should be included in this list. While his struggle against apartheid was admirable and he had an enormous task of uniting the nation once elected, one of the biggest problems of his presidency was ignoring the growing HIV/AIDS epidemic in South Africa. If you're going to include a former or current African president, Dr. Kenneth Kaunda of Zambia is a better choice, as he was the first to publicly admit to his son having died of AIDS and has been involved in HIV/AIDS work since. I'd say Yoweri Museveni of Uganda, too, but his recent stances on condoms and homosexuality are negating his past leadership (Kaunda, along with Festus Mogae, back gay rights). And I'd also say that 46664 is nowhere near as important as the work Zachie Achmat with Treatment Action Campaign (I know he's considered "colored" in SA, so I'm thinking he must have some black ancestry) or the late Winston Zulu in Zambia, both widely known HIV/AIDS activists. If this is only about Black Americans, then why is Nelson Mandela included? Again, I admire the man for much of his work, but he's already received enough accolades, and his inclusion comes at the expense of others who are more deserving of praise in this topic.
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