Week 5 Discussion Questions - Khalil Siddeeq

 The readings, especially the historical reading by Brier, brought to mind many insights about the difficulties of navigating specific contemporary cultures while also trying to spearhead a public health campaign. In this one question which came to mind is:

How does one effectively take into account the cultural differences which dictate the ways certain people react to crises?

The reading taking note of how the Latino community in San Francisco responded to certain informational posters and pamphlets with erotic undertones. Considering even recently I've encountered people in certain Latino communities who subscribe to ideas of masculinity which foreclose being both a proper man and being a homosexual man, it's more important than ever to tailor these PSAs designed to save lives with one's audience in mind. Even if it feels un-progressive in certain ways to water down the message, it is often a necessary sacrifice to water it down and get the message through rather than go all out with it and risk shutting out certain demographics completely.

Another question which comes to mind is:

How did the public education campaigns about AIDS in San Francisco in the early-to-mid 1980s build trust with the communities they served? (Note: This question was generated upon request by bard.google.com)

The reading demonstrates that even when groups ostensibly have the same goals (i.e. prevent the transmission of AIDS), they don't necessarily have the same values or care for the well-being of the same demographics of people. Public health should be the one place where a rising tide truly lifts all ships and everyone should have access to the best care possible, but in a situation like this where resources are limited (no thanks to the federal government turning a mostly blind and at times even destructive eye to the crisis on a ground level) decisions had to be made which caused certain racial, ethnic, and sexual cross-sections of the populace to turn against one another and lose trust amongst each other. The SFAF's regaining of trust amongst Black and BIPOC members of the gay community took time and effort which surely resulted in some level of increased suffering in the meantime among people they failed to reach.