Former NBA star Magic Johnson is
developing an anti-homophobia campaign in an effort to reduce
HIV/AIDS infections.
In an interview with The
Huffington Post, Johnson, 52, said he was planning to bring
on hip-hop and rap stars to reach out to the black community.
Johnson, who retired from the NBA 20
years ago after announcing he is HIV-positive, is credited with
creating an awareness about the disease.
“I learned a lot from the white gay
community because they had gotten their community, rallied them,
educated them and did a wonderful job about driving the numbers
down,” Johnson said. “That is the best approach that I've seen;
it's been the most effective. So what we try to do in our community
is bring those results to us. So I'm working hard to continue to
educate minorities about HIV and AIDS and we've got to band together.
We're too fragmented right now, but if we can do that, we're going
to do well.”
“As a hip-hop fan, you realize that
homophobia is still an issue everywhere, but especially in the black
community. When people are scared to talk about it, that's how the
disease spreads.”
“What we're trying to do is reach out
to the hip-hop community because they have power – power with their
voice, power with that mic in their hand and power with the lyrics
that they sing. I have a lot of friends in that industry and so what
we're trying to do is rally them to get behind the cause, deliver the
message to these young people that HIV and AIDS is big and it's not
going anywhere. They can make a difference right away by speaking
out, because they have a big fan base.”
Johnson added that he was not prepared
to discuss specifics just yet.