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On Saturday, September 27, youth from Kwanzaa Community Church and other community partners painted the first ten of twenty sidewalks across North Minneapolis with artworks reinforcing HIV/AIDS prevention messages. Ten more sidewalks will be painted in areas of high foot traffic at a Spring 2009 event. Community partners include Avenues for Homeless Youth, Hawthorne Area Community Council, Homewood Arts Studio, Juxtaposition Arts, Northside Arts Collective, and the University of Minnesota Center for Urban and Regional Affairs and College of Design. From 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m., teams of youth assisted by professional artists came together to create art utilizing the internationally recognized A-B-C’s of HIV/AIDS prevention: A-Be Abstinent, B-Be Faithful/Be Tested, C – Consistent & Correct Use of Condoms.

These lifesaving sidewalk messages are needed because communities of color account for a combined total of 65% of the approximately 56,300 new HIV infections occurring in the United States in 2008.(1) African-Americans have the highest proportion of persons infected with HIV/AIDS among all native-born ethnic groups in Minnesota, more than ten times the rate of white Minnesotans. (2) The purpose of this event was to create an intergenerational public health campaign aimed at reducing the HIV/AIDS epidemic in North Minneapolis with an emphasis on the African American community.

The black church has historically stood in solidarity with the lost, the least and the locked out. This is why it is important that Kwanzaa Community Church stand in community with those infected and affected by HIV/AIDS. The art produced for this effort is a call to action, inviting all to participate in their own health and that of future generations and to expand the conversation beyond the scientific and public health communities. A travelling photographic exhibit of the art is planned for the winter.

Sidewalk Painting Sites:

Avenues for Homeless Youth, 1708 Oak Park Ave. N. * Cub Foods, 701 W. Broadway *

Hawthorne Area Community Council, 2944 Emerson Ave. N. * Homewood Art Studio, 2400 Plymouth Ave. N. *

Juxtaposition Arts, 2007 Emerson Ave. N. * Kwanzaa Community Church, 2100 Emerson Ave. N. *

Kwanzaa Community Church, 3700 Bryant Ave. N. * Lindquist Apartments, 1927-1935 W. Broadway *

North High, 14th & Irving Ave. N. * Remedy Hair Salon, 16th & Russell Ave. N.

Background Information

Click on the links below to learn more about Kwanzaa's other HIV/AIDS ministries :

Kwanzaa in the Park

CD - Love Songs for Those Affected & Infected by HIV/AIDS

Support/Education Groups for Women

Why is Kwanzaa Community Church involved in HIV/AIDS ministry?