Sacred Truths: Atlanta’s Black Queer Voices is an initiative at Emory University looking at the ways in which spiritual practices and communities can be resources for Black gay men in Atlanta in the area of HIV education, prevention, and support services. The project is co-located in the schools of Public Health and Nursing with input from faculty in Theology and the Graduate School.

We are working alongside strong, trusted individuals and organizations in Atlanta’s Black gay communities as we develop the project. We believe this project begins at a different starting point from many HIV initiatives that seek to partner with faith-based organizations and religious leaders. By and large, many of these initiatives tend to sidestep issues of gay male sexuality and affirmation, opting for silence (at best). This new program in Atlanta is starting with a different set of assumptions:

• Black gay men have already established vibrant, robust spiritual networks and practices for themselves;
• Such community resources should be the foundation for a faith-based initiative for HIV services for Black gay men; and
• Out queer religious and spiritual leaders in Atlanta’s Black gay communities can teach leaders from various Black church traditions about the spiritual wisdom and knowledge of Black queer communities and how such wisdom can improve broader HIV programs working in partnership with Black churches.

The project will conduct a series of workshops using community-based participatory research and action methods with Atlanta’s black gay male communities and religious and community leaders.

Who We Are

Our community advisory board is comprised of Emory faculty with expertise in HIV and community representatives from Atlanta’s BGM and black queer communities who provide input on project objectives, activities, and analysis of findings.

Community Advisory Board Members

• Rev. Reginald Avant – Black, queer clergy member (Presbyterian Church USA). Chaplain, Grady Infectious Disease Program.
• Cornelius Baker – Special Advisor to the Office Aids Research and PEPFAR Liaison. Faculty, Emory Rollins School of Public Health. Former Executive Director of the National Association of People with AIDS.
• Charles Barber, PhD – Research explored influence of religion on BGM receiving HIV care at the Grady Health System.
• Rev. Kimberly Jackson – Black, queer clergy member (Episcopal Diocese of Atlanta). Georgia Senate candidate for district 41. Interim Priest of the Episcopal Church of the Common Ground.
• Vincent Marconi, MD – Faculty, Emory School of Medicine. Associate Director of the CFAR Clinical Core and Director of the Infectious Disease Research Program at the VA.
• Rev. Dr. Nicole Phillips – Faculty, Emory Candler School of Theology. Sociologist of Religion with a focus on Black church traditions and the sociology of race and religion.
• Charles Stephens – Executive Director, Counter-Narrative Project—an Atlanta CBO that builds community among Black gay men.
• Dianne Stewart, PhD – Faculty, Emory Laney Graduate School. Professor of Religion and African-American Studies.
• Sandra Thurman – Faculty, Emory Rollins School of Public Health. Chief Strategy Officer, Office of the US Global AIDS Coordinator and Diplomacy.  Former Director of US AIDS Policy, Clinton Administration.
• Rev. Quincy Rineheart – Associate campus minister, Morehouse College.

Project Staff

• John Blevins, ThD – Co-PI
• Daniel Geller, MS, FNP, RN – Co-PI
• Mimi Kiser, DMin, MPH – Investigator
• Jessica Wells, PhD, RN – Investigator
• Rev. Duncan Teague, MDiv – Consultant
• Ahoua Kone, MPH – Project Coordinator

If you’re interested and would like to learn more about the project, please contact Ahoua Kone at ihp@emory.edu.

This initiative is funded by a 2019 Synergy Award from the Emory Woodruff Health Sciences Center