Rappers Come Together to Release America Is Dying Slowly (1996)
America Is Dying Slowly (a backronym for AIDS) is a compilation album released in June of 1996 that featured many big name hip-hop acts talking about HIV/AIDS and reaching out to African-American men. The project was spurred in part by West Coast rapper Eazy-E's death from complications of AIDS, which had rocked the hip-hop world the year before.
Some featured artists include Mobb Deep, De La Soul, Coolio, Biz Markie, Fat Joe, Common and Wu-Tang Clan. Upon its release, it was dubbed "a masterpiece" by The Source. America Is Dying Slowly was the first hip-hop-focused album to be released by the Red Hot Organization -- an organization dedicated to fighting AIDS through pop culture -- in a series called the Red Hot AIDS Benefit Series.
Common continued his activism by becoming the spokesperson for the Knowing Is Beautiful campaign.
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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