History of SABSA

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It was 1996 and to James (Jim) Little, Jackie Johnson, the late Traci Madry, the late Tom Brown and other members of the health department, one sober reality could no longer be avoided: AIDS had hit the black community in Louisville, Kentucky. But this was no time to mourn, but to move. These committed health advocates went to the schools, churches, youth centers, and the streets to arm the black community with knowledge to combat the deadly epidemic.

However, even these valiant efforts proved to be no match for the virus. More and more African Americans were pouring into the health department to get tested, only to have their worst nightmare realized when they returned to get their results. While the local black community was still largely silent about the increasing numbers of black people who were testing positive for the virus, the affected individuals still sought support and strategies for survival from where they always had: their communities, their home cultures.

To tackle the lack of culturally affirming forums for HIV-positive people of African descent, Jim Little created a focus group to identify the community's needs. This group of African American men and women found that while there were several support groups for people living with AIDS in Kentuckiana, none of them had significant black membership. That meant the black members of those groups were more likely to feel even more isolated while coping with a disease that tended to provoke particularly intense social isolation. None of the support groups were dealing with issues specific to the African American experience, and most of them were too closely associated with service organizations for comfort.

While grounded in the African American experience, this new support group was to be inclusive all HIV-positive people who felt their needs were not being addressed by mainstream support groups. During the first few meetings, the group members hammered out the ground rules. Hope was born in the form of Sisters And Brothers Surviving AIDS. The acronym, SABSA, was created by Tracy as a way to protect sisters and brothers who were surviving AIDS. Only those infected or affected would know the true meaning of the word, SABSA. Tom served as SABSA's first president from 1996—1998.

The founders chose February as SABSA's anniversary month because it would fall in line with Black History Month. SABSA's anniversary is always the fourth Monday of February. As of 2003, SABSA still remains the only African American support group in the state of Kentucky.

© 2005 SABSA Inc., All Rights Reserved.