Folks down in Texas were treated to an apparently awesome concert that was also a worthy cause. Mike Jones, David Banner and Day26 (among others) performed a “Hip Hop for HIV” concert to bring attention to the effect HIV/AIDS are having on the black and Latin@ communities. Concert goers received tickets for the concert by getting tested. And although the outreach targeted black and Latin@ communities, the testing was meant for everyone,

“We want to test across the board,” Mr. Jones said. “We don’t just want to reach out to the African-American and Hispanic communities but to everyone.”

I think it’s great that outreach like this is happening, especially given the homophobia that many times courses through mainstream Hip/Hop. I hope it means that the LGBT community is more accepted now, although the pessimistic me thinks it’s more likely that folks are thinking HIV/AIDS is “not just the gay disease anymore.”