Rev. Arnold A.J. Johnson (He/Him)

Case Manager/Community Liaison, Positive Assistance/Inclusive Care of Orlando

CEO, Baton Rouge AIDS Society

Years as an ANAC member: 2

Local chapter: Central Florida Chapter

What does National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day mean to you?

As an African American, it is critical that we continue to raise awareness about the ongoing impact of HIV within our community. Decades of public health data consistently show that Black Americans experience a disproportionately higher rate of HIV infection compared to White and Hispanic populations.

This observance provides an opportunity to mobilize communities of color around testing, expand access to accurate education, and strengthen prevention efforts. This message is especially urgent in our state and across the South, where African Americans continue to account for a significant share of new HIV diagnoses. Addressing these disparities requires sustained attention, community engagement, and equitable access to prevention and care.

Why is this HIV/AIDS awareness day still critically important today? 

The fight is far from over. As recently as 2022, African Americans accounted for 39% of new HIV diagnoses, despite representing only 12% of the U.S. population. This stark disparity is not the result of individual failure, but of persistent structural challenges—poverty, limited access to quality healthcare, gaps in education, substance use, and the realities of navigating relationships within high-risk communities. These factors continue to drive disproportionately high rates of HIV infection. Proven prevention tools, including accurate information, free condoms, and access to PrEP, save lives and reduce new infections when they are accessible and understood. Awareness days that focus on specific populations give us a critical opportunity to tailor messages, reduce stigma, and reach those who are positioned to make a real and lasting impact.

What common misconceptions about HIV would you most like to challenge? 

Look at him!

The belief that a person must look a certain way or have a particular character to be living with HIV is a harmful stigma that continues to affect individuals and communities. HIV does not have a “look.” Yet outdated assumptions still shape how we perceive, treat, and respond to people living with the virus.

When communities cling to the myth that HIV can be identified by appearance or behavior, we send a damaging message—that those living with HIV are somehow different, separate, or no longer fully part of the community. This separation fuels discrimination and reinforces shame. Research consistently shows that stigma is a major barrier to HIV testing, treatment, and care. People who fear judgment or rejection are more likely to delay or avoid healthcare altogether. Ending HIV requires more than medical advances; it requires confronting stigma with facts, compassion, and inclusion. When we challenge these misconceptions, we create safer spaces for people to seek care, stay in treatment, and live healthy, connected lives.

How can health professionals and community partners better support HIV prevention, treatment and care? 

“If we really want to make a difference, we have to be honest with each other.”

This isn’t just about sharing statistics or checking a box. We all know HIV is still impacting our community, and we also know that information alone isn’t enough. Education has to reach people where they are—at times and in spaces that actually work for their lives.

Let’s be real: help that’s only available Monday through Friday, 9:00 to 5:00, doesn’t reach everyone. Many people are working, caring for family, or just trying to get through the day during those hours. If we’re not available when people need support, then we’re missing the very people we say we want to help.

That means health professionals can’t do this alone. We need partnerships with trusted community leaders—the people others already listen to and trust. When those gatekeepers help plan, schedule, and invite people to testing and training opportunities, participation increases. Together, by listening, adjusting, and showing up at the right times, we can build trust, increase access, and create real change in our community.

How does representation in HIV care and advocacy impact health outcomes? 

Without a vision, people perish—and without representation, communities are left unheard. To truly improve health outcomes in our community, we must begin by listening to those most affected. Their lived experiences are not optional perspectives; they are essential knowledge.

Organizations, boards of directors, healthcare systems, and care teams—nurses, doctors, case managers—should reflect the populations they serve. Representation builds trust, improves communication, and leads to care that is more responsive and effective. There is no stronger voice than that of someone who is living the reality, not just studying it.

While clinical expertise is critical, it alone cannot capture the full experience of navigating healthcare shaped by culture, race, gender, and identity. Understanding these realities requires proximity, humility, and inclusion.

We must continue to seek out and support individuals who can advocate for those who have not always been given space to speak. By elevating these voices, we move toward a healthcare system that responds not only to data and diagnoses, but to people—and in doing so, we create care that is equitable, compassionate, and capable of producing real change.

What role does trust play in addressing HIV disparities, and how can it be built? 

HIV disparities do not exist because communities do not care about their health; they exist because trust has too often been broken. For many individuals most impacted by HIV, past experiences with stigma, discrimination, and unequal treatment within healthcare systems have created deep barriers to care. These realities have contributed to delayed testing, limited engagement in prevention tools like PrEP, and gaps in consistent treatment.

Building trust begins with acknowledging these disparities honestly and without blame. It requires healthcare systems and organizations to show up consistently, listen with intention, and respond with respect. Trust grows when people see themselves reflected in leadership, care teams, and decision-making spaces—and when lived experience is valued as much as clinical expertise.

Trust is also built through access: offering services at times and locations that work for the community, partnering with trusted local leaders, and providing culturally responsive education free from judgment or stigma. When people feel seen, heard, and protected, they are more likely to seek testing, stay engaged in care, and use prevention tools that save lives.

Closing HIV disparities is not only a medical goal—it is a commitment to equity, accountability, and relationship-building. When trust is prioritized, health outcomes improve, and communities are empowered to thrive.

Call to Action

What is one action individuals or organizations can take to support HIV awareness beyond today? 

HIV awareness must not stop on one day! We have to make sure you are not a part of the problem! We have to continue to have transparent conversation with our family and friends. Most importantly, we have to make HIV testing a part of your routing annual healthcare assessment. Let’s get our community to adopt the normality of HIV testing as just another preventative screening that can lead to healthy outcomes. Once we are able to be assured of our current HIV status, we can reach out to our family, friends and social networks to do the same. 

How can people engage in HIV advocacy even if they are not healthcare providers? 

There is a strong need for more members of the faith-based community to get involved with HIV prevention, education and testing. The African American Community has existed and prospered by the strength of faith. God has delivered us from so much and for so long. Within every faith-based community, there is a need for an enhanced Health Ministry. Although we continue to screen for diabetes, high blood pressure, prostate cancer, high cholestorol and more. It is time that we add HIV as a part of our health care screening.  By promoting testing, eduation and treatment from the pulpit to the people, we will be able to advocate for the reduction of new HIV infections within our communities. 

What moment in your career reaffirmed your commitment to HIV work? 

There is a calling for the faith-based community to take a more active role in HIV prevention, education, and testing. The African American community has endured and prospered through the power of faith, prayer, and trust in God. Time and time again, God has brought us through hardship and sustained us by His grace.

Within every house of worship, there is an opportunity to strengthen Health Ministries as an extension of that care. We already recognize the importance of screening for diabetes, high blood pressure, prostate cancer, high cholesterol, and other conditions that affect our congregations. Now is the time to include HIV as part of our commitment to whole-person health.

By addressing HIV openly—from the pulpit to the people—we replace fear with knowledge, stigma with compassion, and silence with action. Promoting testing, education, and treatment honors the belief that our bodies are temples and that caring for one another is a reflection of God’s love. Through faith-led advocacy, we can help reduce new HIV infections and bring healing, hope, and wholeness to our communities.

How do you practice hope and resilience in this field? 

As a Minister of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, I would not have been able to serve my community for 36 years without the grace of God and the strength of the Holy Spirit within me. I can not focus on the larger picture as a measure of what I should or shouldn’t do within my field. I can only continue to learn everything that I need to know in order to provide the best quality healthcare service for each individual that God places in my path. It’s when one client says thank you! When one person says that our service means the most to them! When one member of the community helps us reach others! That’s when I can say, “Yes”! That’s when I know I have made a difference.