In September, Black Entertainment Television will document the lives of four people -- two HIV-positive, two HIV-negative -- in the "Are you positive?" special about HIV/AIDS. "We're trying to take the stigma away from the disease and show that it can happen to anyone," said C.J. Thompson, the program's producer.

While BET viewers will have to wait more than a month to see the special, Makesha Harris, who is featured in it, was spreading the word locally about HIV/AIDS on a recent Sunday at New Providence Baptist Church (NPBC).

"Despite what your friends say, there are mistakes that cannot be undone with a shot," the 34-year old single mother and George Washington Carver High School graduate told congregants. Harris urged single females to look out for themselves. "Before you go out and date that man," she told the women, "you say, 'Date my doctor. His name is John and he needs your blood work.'"

NPBC's pastor, the Rev. Jiles Williams, is also a Montgomery County commissioner who understands the impact HIV/AIDS is having on the community. According to the Alabama Department of Public Health, the county's HIV/AIDS rate is 52.34 cases per 100,000 population, one of the highest in the state.

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