By Sofia Barnett
TeQuan Penny was just 16 years old when she was diagnosed with HIV.
She got the virus from sexual activity with a partner who was “much older” than her, who didn’t disclose his positive status. When she got meningitis two years later, her immune system was so ill-equipped to battle the infection that she nearly died.
“And that’s how I ended up losing my vision, because I had a retinal detachment,” she said. “I see light and shadow, but I have no retina.”
Penny, now 44, was taking care of her 2-year-old daughter and battling depression when she became legally blind. With HIV treatment and support, Penny gradually became healthier and healthier, both physically and mentally.
That now fuels her work at The Afiya Center where she provides support and resources to Black women living in poverty who are at high risk of contracting the virus.
The Afiya Center, an HIV prevention and reproductive justice organization, held its 11th annual free testing event on June 29, the Saturday closest to National HIV Testing Day, which was June 27. Held in South Dallas, the event aims to bring resources into a community where few can be found, organizers said.
In 2022, Texas led the nation in the number of new positive cases, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, with over 18% of those cases recorded in Dallas County.
The HIV crisis both in Texas and nationally, disproportionately impacts Black people, according to data from the CDC.
Black men who have sex with other men make up 25% of cases in the broader Dallas region, which includes Dallas, Collin, Delta, Denton, Ellis, Hunt, Kaufman and Rockwall counties, according to the CDC.
One in 156 Black women in Texas live with HIV compared to one in 2,146 white women in the state, according to the Texas Department of State Health Services.
Marsha Jones, founder and executive director of The Afiya Center, said she began holding the annual testing event about a decade ago to address a need in Black neighborhoods.
The event started small, in a parking lot with community members lugging in portable barbecues to grill hot dogs to offer those who came out for testing. Jones worried no one would show up that first year of the event, which was held during winter when it was snowing.
Yet, dozens of people showed up despite the inclement weather, and that was when she knew “we were onto something,” Jones recalled.
This year’s event drew about 150 attendees. It has evolved into a bustling block party with free contraception; information on counseling, mammograms and women’s health; and booming hip-hop music that had attendees line dancing and singing.
“I’m an old-school, street organizer,” Jones said, laughing.
Helen Zimba, the HIV programs manager for The Afiya Center, said the most common mistake people make when attempting to understand HIV is failing to focus on the root causes of the disease.
HIV is spread through contact with certain bodily fluids during sex — but also through blood and breast milk. The virus is often transmitted through sharing needles, syringes or drug use equipment, as well.
“There are things that happen in order for people to get HIV,” said Zimba, adding that difficult life circumstances — such as not having a secure place to live — can be a contributing factor because it puts individuals in vulnerable situations.
HIV can be deadly if left untreated and drastically weakens the immune system. If the virus develops into AIDS, it can leave the body defenseless to fight off infections and diseases.
Michelle Anderson, 54, a board member of The Afiya Center, said found out she was HIV positive at age 29.
Anderson has been outspoken about her own traumas — including sexual abuse, poverty and drug addiction — which she said contributed to her eventually dating someone who didn’t tell her he was HIV positive.
Her own life experience — and working through them — has given her a deep compassion for others left to fend for themselves on the streets, she said.
“I want to help other Black women because the information I received was misleading and did not speak to my experiences as a Black woman living in America,” she said, stressing that women should be aware how race, gender and class impacts risk levels.
Anderson went on to be the first known HIV-positive woman to run in a mainstream pageant and win a national title, being crowned Ms. Plus America in 2011. Anderson said access to treatment saved her life and that releasing herself from the stigma of HIV “freed her soul.”
That’s why she works to provide the same services to young Black women going through similar experiences each day.
Zimba, who is also living with HIV, said she wants people to understand that the virus is no longer a death sentence. Treatment for HIV now allows for many to live longer and healthier lives.
“For me, working in the field for a long time, we used to talk to people about dying,” said Zimba, who has been with the center for nearly a decade. “Like, literally, we were like ‘Okay, so do you have your will?’ It was the first thing that we had to talk about. ‘Do you have your will? Because you’re going to die.’”
“Now, that’s not the case,” she said.
After trying three different HIV-treatment regimens, Penny found the one that works for her. She now has no viral load — which means there is effectively no risk of sexual transmission — and has been married to her husband for 19 years, who is not HIV positive.
“I want young ladies to understand that HIV doesn’t have to be a part of their story, but if it is, you can still make it and you can still live,” she said.
