Al Sharpton to Deliver Keynote at Tomorrow’s HIV Summit

You better believe the fiery civil rights leader will get the crowds fired up at Philadelphia FIGHT's 14th-annual event.

Though it may not reap as much fanfare as its cousin, National Pride Month, you can rest assured that Philadelphia FIGHT‘s AIDS Education Month is in full go-get-’em mode. Now in its 19th year, the initiative is in the thick of a busy itinerary of summits, educational presentations and other special events to encourage Philadelphians to get tested and to raise awareness around HIV/AIDS prevention. Tomorrow they’re rolling out one of the month’s big-gun events, the HIV Prevention and Outreach Summit, and they’ve invited an equally big-gun national personality to deliver its keynote: Reverend Al Sharpton.

As founder and president of the National Action Network and host of MSNBC’s PoliticsNation, Sharpton has used his platforms to rally for civil rights and to advocate for assistance for those living with HIV. In April, he fired up the Keep the Promise on HIV/AIDS rally, when he called on government officials to continue funding HIV/AIDS assistance programs. He has also made it a personal mission to put an end to the stigma surrounding HIV in the African-American and religious communities. His speech tomorrow in Philadelphia will no doubt be an impassioned call to action that would be a shame to miss.

Sharpton’s keynote — expected to take place at 9 a.m. — is only a fraction of what’s planned for tomorrow’s summit. Running from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Pennsylvania Convention Center, the event will be packed with workshops covering everything from the current HIV research and domestic policy to narrowed-in discussions about how the disease affects the female, LGBT and Latino communities. All events are free and open to the public, but registration is required. For more information and to register for this and other AIDS Education Month events, click here or call 215-985-4448, x200.

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