STRONG

My name is Keith and I’m a strong black man. For the past 37 years I have called the Westside my home. I love the Westside but I remember the only way I could survive on the Westside was being on the Down Low (DL). Many of you might be asking, “What in the hell is DL?” It’s hard to describe, but those of you who know about DL know what I’m talking about. I had to live in secret about my sexuality.

Living on the Westside, it was difficult to get information from outside of the neighborhood and at least for me I didn’t hear nothing about HIV/AIDS. I did hear about condoms, but that was just to keep women from getting pregnant. So what I did was just use condoms with women and not with my boys.

Now I got more information and proud to say that I am using condoms every time I have sex. For some 15 years now, I have decided to only be with my boys. Now that I know about HIV/AIDS, I know that condoms are more important than ever. I know now, that knowledge makes me strong!

I know that many of us from the hood can’t do this, and I don’t know how long this will last for me, but it’s a step that I believe is right for me.