The California Black Women's Health Project (CBWHP) dedicated to improving the health of black women and girls in California in partnership with SISTAHFRIENDS, facilitating emotional wellness throughout the life cycle of black women and girls with counseling and care management, Christie's Place in San Diego, strengthening the health and resilience of women, children, and families impacted by HIV and AIDS, and Dr. Meagan Ebor, scholar and filmmaker, capturing the candid stories of the unspoken taboos of sexual health were funded by the Gilead Sciences setting the P.A.C.E. program to provide HIV Prevention, Arts, Advocacy and Community Education (P.A.C.E.) to black women and girls.
The mission of the Gilead Setting the P.A.C.E. initiative is to increase HIV prevention, health equity, and anti-stigma efforts for cisgender and Transgender Black women and girls in the United States by supporting projects that aim to improve the HIV landscape through innovative approaches, including the provision of HIV prevention training and informational resources, arts and advocacy, community and nonprofit capacity building, and educational programming.
This initiative is part of the CBWHP's Project RoyalTea, a sexual health and HIV prevention series, which takes the innate power of black women and brews it with sexual empowerment to pour protection and pleasure tips into the souls of black women to promote sexual health and wellness.
SISTAHFRIENDS in partnership with Black Lesbians United is sponsoring Project RoyalTea HIV Education and Prevention through the Arts at the BLU Retreat October 11 - 14, 2024. The BLU Arts Project RoyalTea Sister Circle activities include staff/wand making, arts and crafts, drumming, creative writing, African dance, and painting. Participants will receive RoyalTea Tips for Sexual Empowerment throughout the weekend and will be able to access it online as well as obtain additional resources.
Black Lesbians United would like to thank SISTAHFRIENDS and the California Black Women's Health Project's collaborators for this nontraditional approach to HIV education and sexual health for black lesbians.
SISTAHFRIENDS, a BLU community partner, nonprofit and social service agency for women in South Los A
In 1990, a group of Black lesbians established SISTAHfest, a retreat that served as a secure and welcoming environment for Black lesbians. The purpose of the retreat was to encourage visibility, unity, and empowerment through grassroots organizing, activism, economic independence, education, spiritual expression, and artistic expression.
As a result of this experience, it became clear that there were unmet mental health needs among Black women as a whole who struggle with issues like anti-Blackness, systemic racism, gender oppression, social injustices, economic inequity, emotional and psychological trauma, and health disparities. SISTAHFRIENDS was formed to meet the behavioral health needs inclusive of all Black women regardless of sexual orientation.
We facilitate psychological, emotional, physical, and spiritual wellness throughout the life cycle of Black women and Girls through counseling and care management services.
