PRX Releases

Gospel performer Torrance F. Hill and HIV researcher and activist Kenneth T. Jones announce the formation of Gospel Music Cares (GMC), an Atlanta-based non-profit organization dedicated to garnering support for people living with HIV/AIDS, and the eradication of the disease, especially among those affiliated with and encouraged by gospel music.

“In the United States, African Americans are disproportionately infected and affected by HIV/AIDS,” says Jones. “Even today, twenty five years after the first diagnosed AIDS case, addressing the disease among African Americans has been met with a tepid response. In reality, only a few major initiatives have been launched to tackle this issue from a major religious standpoint.” The core objectives of GMC are to:

• mobilize members of the gospel music industry to mitigate the suffering of those infected and affected by HIV/AIDS;
• support church ministries and other organizations across the country that provide treatment or services for those infected and affected by HIV/AIDS;
• increase national and international public awareness and understanding of HIV/AIDS, particularly in the gospel music industry, through the creation and dissemination of educational materials; and
• promote and encourage public support for programs and services that benefit those infected and affected by HIV/AIDS, particularly through the use of gospel music.

“Having been in the gospel music industry for many years, I have witnessed the challenges of choir members and dear friends who have become infected. I also know the countless stories of those who have been encouraged by gospel music to deal with HIV infection, stigma, and lost,” says Hill. “Clearly, the need is now to raise the awareness of HIV/AIDS.”

For its inaugural event, GMC is pleased to announce the World AIDS Day Commemorative Concert (Shining Light on those Lost, Infected, and Affected) scheduled for Friday, December 1, 2006. This free event will raise awareness of HIV/AIDS and provide spiritual encouragement through the uplifting musical selections from a community-wide mass choir. The concert is a free for the community.

The event will be hosted at Victory Church, located at 1170 North Hairston Road in Stone Mountain, Georgia. The Commemorative Choir will feature over 60 voices from various recording artists and performers including Alton Parks and Rapture, B. Chase Williams and ShaBach, Courtney Jones and Proclamation, Dirk Chaney’s Chosen Aggregation, Edward Walker and Nu Image, Kevin Lemons and Higher Calling, Kevin Styles and Psalms, Todd Hill and Choice, and the Vision Church of Atlanta. Visit http://www.gospelmusiccares.org for more information.

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