{"id":162761,"date":"2026-02-20T16:58:06","date_gmt":"2026-02-20T16:58:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/162761\/"},"modified":"2026-02-20T16:58:06","modified_gmt":"2026-02-20T16:58:06","slug":"famu-alum-uses-film-to-change-the-hiv-aids-narrative-the-famuan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/162761\/","title":{"rendered":"FAMU\u00a0alum\u00a0uses\u00a0film to\u00a0change the HIV\/AIDS\u00a0narrative\u00a0 \u2013 The FAMUAN"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"TheChazriq \u201cChazam\u201d Clark gives opening remarks before the premiere of his short film, \u201cHim+\u201d. (Yerimiah Ruiz Evans\/FAMUAN)<\/p>\n

Two-time Florida A&M graduate\u00a0Chazriq\u00a0\u201cChazam\u201d Clark\u00a0brought\u00a0the\u00a0short\u00a0film\u00a0\u201cHIM +\u201d\u00a0to\u00a0the\u00a0Hill\u00a0to bring awareness to\u00a0HIV\/AIDS in the\u00a0Black community\u00a0in light of\u00a0National Black HIV\/AIDS Awareness Day.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

The film follows\u00a0an\u00a0African American\u00a0man\u00a0who grapples\u00a0with the reality of HIV and AIDS,\u00a0faith\u00a0and identity.\u00a0The\u00a0film follows\u00a0him\u00a0through\u00a0his diagnosis and\u00a0the aftermath.\u00a0The film was both written and produced by Clark, and\u00a0premiered\u00a0in\u00a0Atlanta\u00a0on\u00a0Sunday, Feb\u00a01.\u00a0Clark brought the film to FAMU for a special screening followed\u00a0by a\u00a0moderated\u00a0panel on Feb 4,\u00a0just\u00a0in time for National Black HIV\/AIDS Awareness Day on Feb 7.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The\u00a0panel\u00a0featured\u00a0Clark,\u00a0pharmacist\u00a0Dr. Tian\u00a0Owens\u00a0and\u00a0lead\u00a0actor\u00a0Justin\u00a0Banton.\u00a0The inspiration behind the film comes from\u00a0the\u00a0increase in\u00a0HIV and AIDS\u00a0numbers, more specifically, in young\u00a0Black\u00a0queer men\u00a0and\u00a0the\u00a0negativity\u00a0surrounding\u00a0it.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"Pharmacist Dr. Tian Owens, Chazriq \u201cChazam\u201d Clark, and lead actor Justin Banton have panel discussion following the conclusion of \u201cHim+\u201d. (Yerimiah Ruiz Evans\/FAMUAN)<\/p>\n

\u201cI wanted to create something that not only\u00a0got rid of a lot\u00a0of\u00a0the stigma that we have in the\u00a0Black\u00a0community,\u201d\u00a0Clark said. \u201cBut\u00a0also,\u00a0just kind of shed light on the reality,\u00a0the perspective\u00a0that a lot of young men experience when they\u00a0acquire\u00a0HIV.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

The reality is that\u00a0Black men experience many barriers when it comes to surviving with\u00a0HIV\/AIDS, and a lot of those barriers stem from the harsh stigma surrounding these diseases and how they relate to the Black community.\u00a0Lack of resources, education\u00a0and harsh stereotypes\u00a0all play a part in the disease disproportionately affecting\u00a0Black people.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI would say a barrier is access to care,\u201d said Dr. Tian\u00a0Owens,\u00a0oncology\u00a0pharmacist\u00a0and\u00a0President of iCare Pharmacy Services. \u201cI think\u00a0once that stigma\u00a0and shame is removed and know that this is not a death sentence, that you can live this disease, life does go on.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"Participants receiving free items and information from Neighborhood Medical Center before premiere screening. (Yerimiah Ruiz Evans\/FAMUAN)<\/p>\n

The project plays a\u00a0massive\u00a0part in dispelling the negativity surrounding\u00a0HIV\/AIDS in\u00a0all communities, not just Black ones.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cTo really extinguish some of the\u00a0stereotypes\u00a0when it comes to not only\u00a0black men but HIV and AIDS in general,\u201d\u00a0director Creed Smith\u00a0said.\u00a0\u201cJust the idea that there is still a life to have and to be lived with any type of\u00a0thing that anybody might be going through.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Chazriq \u201cChazam\u201d Clark gives opening remarks before the premiere of his short film, \u201cHim+\u201d. (Yerimiah Ruiz Evans\/FAMUAN) Two-time…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":162762,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[232,234,233],"class_list":{"0":"post-162761","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tallahassee","8":"tag-tallahassee","9":"tag-tallahassee-headlines","10":"tag-tallahassee-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/162761","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=162761"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/162761\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/162762"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=162761"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=162761"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=162761"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}