Springfield, IL (CAPITOL CITY NOW) – Black lawmakers say they are making progress.
“When you think about every social determinate, we have created the blueprints,” said State Sen. Lakesia Collins (pictured) (D-Chicago). “When you think about our four pillars that are really attacking systemic racism and every roadblock that is in our way, we are funding those pillars.”
Collins is a joint chair of the Illinois Legislative Black Caucus, whose pillars are: criminal justice; education / workforce development; economic access, equity, and opportunity; and health care and human services.
One area greatly in need of improvement is the disparity between Blacks and whites when it comes to health.
“Black men are twelve times more likely to be HIV-positive than white men,” said advocate Creola Hampton, “and there are fourteen times more Black women who are newly diagnosed as HIV-positive than white women.
Hampton and Collins were part of a news conference Wednesday at the Capitol.
National Black HIV / AIDS Awareness Day is Saturday.
