Organizational movement were created and put into action in order to combat and expose the church’s unwillingness to save and protect their own people from AIDS. These movements specifically addressed “the theological, ethical, justice and human rights dimensions of HIV/AIDS” (Senturias 284). They have also been identified as “collective, organized, sustained, and non-institutional challenge to authorities, powerholders, or cultural beliefs and practices” and were aimed at making churches “safe places” for those with AIDS. This was also while taking “the focus away from the modes of transmission in order to emphasize the disease itself” and to create plausible solutions (Harris 338-339). Other goals included “dealing with the difficult questions …show more content…
She therefore, ultimately, “redefined AIDS from being a disease of ‘sinners’ to a public health issue facing the Black Church and the Black community,” as they had the highest rate of those affected by this disease (Harris 341). This nonprofit organization focused on bringing awareness and then later, education about AIDS, to black churches, becoming a pivotal dynamic within these religious insititutions, located in New York City (Harris 337). Seele was disturbed by the fact that those with AIDS, specifically the black community, “had to live in denial because the Church had to live in denial” simply because she believed the ministries did not know how to adequately handle the AIDS crisis. She helped organize the Harlem Week of Prayer that was first started in 1989 and encouraged churches to pray for those with AIDS, if they could not accept them (Harris 341). She utilized the moral panic tactic to make these churches feel obligated in addressing this issue, arguing “their lack of prayer was causing harm to the community and those suffering from AIDS” (Harris 342). She believed that incorporation of AIDS dialogues within these religious institutions and prayers, could save the lives of their black individuals living with this virus as “faith is such a crucial, critical part of our lives, as people of African ancestry” (Harris 343). She then had to shift this panic not just from within the black churches, but also within the black community, as a “culturally resonant frame” to normalize “church sponsored AIDS ministries.” However, this panic emphasized that “religious institutions were the target, not the originators of the panic” and noted that the church was not fulfilling their moral obligations to help and care for the sick and poor, as the