United Black Ellument aims to reduce HIV infection rates among young black gay, bisexual men

Terrance Anderson, from left, Venton Jones and Chaaz Quigley serve as project coordinators for United Black Ellument. JOHN WRIGHT/Dallas Voice

Nestled amid art houses and cafes and holdover machine shops along Commerce Street in the heart of Dallas’ Deep Ellum, United Black Ellument occupies an inconspicuous single-story brick storefront that previously was home to a T-shirt printer.

Inside the front door, a basket of condoms sitting atop a large wooden desk serves as the only visible reminder of UBE’s underlying mission. But the desk is overshadowed by a large living-room-type area to the left with two plush sofas, a flat-screen TV and a Nintendo Wii entertainment system.

On the coffee table are copies of the black LGBT magazine "Swerv," and the walls are adorned with posters espousing things like "The Seven Principles of Kwanzaa," along with sticky notes indicating future decoration plans.

Behind the front desk, two newer-looking computers on a long table offer free Internet access to visitors. And toward the back of the spacious industrial-style suite are more couches, a private meeting room, office space and a full kitchen.

All in all, these are some pretty sweet digs that could easily pass for a high-rent, under-construction bachelor pad, but ultimately there is much more to UBE than just fun and games.

UBE, which opened the community center in Dallas at the beginning of June, is a two-year pilot project aimed at combatting high rates of HIV/AIDS infection among young gay and bisexual African-American men.

Funded by a grant from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, the project is administered by the Center for AIDS Prevention Studies at the University of California, San Francisco.

Professor Susan Kegeles, co-chair of the Center for AIDS Prevention Studies, said if UBE is successful in reducing unsafe sex and increasing HIV testing, it will become a national prototype.

"It would be one of the programs that the CDC then encourages health departments around the country to implement as a way of fighting HIV," Kegeles said. "That’s our goal, is to then get this program put into practice all over the country."

Kegeles said young gay and bisexual black men — or "men who have sex with men" —have the highest rate of HIV/AIDS infection of any group. However, she said few HIV/AIDS prevention strategies have been tested among young black MSM.

Dallas was selected for the project because it’s situated in the South but is relatively close to San Francisco, and because it lacks any similar program, Kegeles said.

The goal of UBE is to build a community where young black MSM feel empowered about HIV/AIDS prevention, Kegeles said. UBE will offer activities and social opportunities to attract young black MSM to the center, with the message of HIV/AIDS prevention sprinkled in.

"Community building is a major part of the intervention," Kegeles said. "There are very few places where young men can find each other outside of either bars or cruising places, and neither of those places is very helpful in creating a supportive young men’s community. That’s why we have the project space."

While UBE will be overseen by Kegeles and other researchers in California, it is staffed by three full-time coordinators who live in Dallas and are members of the project’s target population: 25-year-old Venton Jones, 25-year-old Terrance Anderson and 23-year-old Chaaz Quigley.

"The same people we’re trying to reach, we’re the ones doing it," Anderson said. "With this, people can get the message that I didn’t get when I came out."

Jones, the project’s team leader in Dallas, said United Black Ellument also will rely on a "core group" of about 15 volunteers that will serve as its decision-making body.

"It’s for the community, by the community," Jones said.

One of the core group members, 25-year-old Anthony Richardson, said he believes the project will provide a needed alternative to the bar scene.

"I would say the [safe sex] message is out there, but it’s kind of like, people are so used to seeing it that we’ve become numb to it,’ Richardson said. "I think one thing the center’s going to do is make them pay attention to the message, instead of just looking past it."

The HIV/AIDS prevention message also will be tailored specifically to young black MSM. In addition to activities, the center will host small discussion groups that address topics like homophobia, racism, "the down low," diverse sexual identities that lead people to reject the term "gay," and the religious and spiritual alienation that are common among MSM in the church-dominated African-American culture.

However, Quigley cautioned that not all young black MSM fit into the same mold. For example, Quigley said he isn’t Christian, he came out when he was 13, and his family has been fully accepting of his sexual orientation.

"The young gay black male community is as diverse as any other community," Quigley said.

Jones, Anderson and Quigley have been working on the project since October, undergoing training and conducting outreach in places like nightclubs that are popular among young black MSM, including The Brick and Havana.

The official kickoff for United Black Ellument will be June 27 with an event at the community center called Family Reunion.

Jones said he’s hoping Family Reunion, featuring a live version of the TV game show "Family Feud," will draw more than 100 people.

UBE is also currently conducting a logo design contest with a prize of $100 for the winner.

Kegeles said because funding is short of the project’s needs, UBE is accepting donations of things like furniture and books, in addition to looking for venues that can host larger events for free or at a reduced cost.

She added that although current funding for the project is scheduled to run out in 24 months, United Black Ellument is putting together a community advisory board to identify long-term sources.

"We’re going to be trying to work with people there to ensure that the program is implemented after our research funding ends and is taken over by the community in some capacity," Kegeles said.

Jones, a board member for Stonewall Democrats of Dallas who attends Friendship West Baptist Church in South Dallas, said he hopes the project can serve as a bridge between the LGBT and African-American communities and encourage people to get involved in other groups.

He also said the project will place a heavy emphasis on promoting positive images of young black MSM, which he said are lacking in both communities.

"We’re wanting to show a different side of young gay black men that sometimes doesn’t get to the newspapers," Jones said.

For more info on UBE, call 214-760-9718 or e-mail unitedblackellument@gmail.com. The center is at 3116 Commerce St., Suite C.

E-mail wright@dallasvoice.com

This article appeared in the Dallas Voice print edition June 12, 2009.