[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 44 (Thursday, April 14, 2005)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E650]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 RECOGNIZING THE 25TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF BLACK 
                         AND WHITE MEN TOGETHER

                                 ______
                                 

                       HON. ELEANOR HOLMES NORTON

                      of the district of columbia

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, April 14, 2005

  Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize the National 
Association of Black and White Men Together (NABWMT), a gay, 
multiracial, multicultural organization committed to fostering 
supportive environments wherein racial and cultural barriers can be 
overcome and the goal of human equality realized, on the occasion of 
its 25th Anniversary which it will celebrate this Friday evening, April 
15th, with a reception in the Rayburn House Office Building Foyer.
  NABWMT began in September, 1980 with an advertisement its founder, 
the late Michael G. Smith, placed in The Advocate. From this small 
advertisement NABWMT has grown into a national 501(c)(3) organization 
with headquarters in Pittsburgh, PA and local chapters in the major 
cities of the United States, including Washington, DC.
  The national and the local chapter engage in educational, political, 
cultural and social activities as a means of dealing with racism, 
sexism, homophobia, HIV -AIDS discrimination, and other inequities. 
Among the more prominent of these activities are the Discrimination 
Response System, a model program which, I am proud to note, the DC 
Chapter created, and the widely presented Multi-Racial, Multi-Cultural 
Workshop.
  In the 1980's, local chapters initiated AIDS education and prevention 
programs that, in 1988, resulted in a million dollar grant from the 
Centers for Disease Control, which made the NABWMT the first openly gay 
organization to receive federal funds to conduct a nation-wide HIV 
education program. From this grant NABWMT created the National Task 
Force on AIDS Prevention. In 1992 the National Task Force became a 
separate entity which conducted trainings and workshops for every 
active chapter in NABWMT. The Task Force created HIV/AIDS educational 
models that community-based organizations, health departments, and 
activists used throughout the United States and in countries from New 
Zealand to South Africa.
  I ask the House to join me in congratulating the National Association 
of Black and White Men Together on its silver anniversary.

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