Faith, Advocacy & Religion Symposium by SisterReach

Event Details

Faith, Advocacy & Religion Summit by SisterReach

CHLP National Community Outreach Coordinator Kytara Epps will be a panelist in the upcoming Faith, Advocacy & Religion Symposium by SisterReach on October 11 in Memphis.

Her panel, Call and Response: The Role of Faith Leaders in HIV Criminalization and Stigma, will examine the landscape of HIV criminal laws and learn how these laws undermine public health efforts to end the HIV epidemic. In addition, there will be an open discussion about the transformative potential of faith leaders when they collaborate with HIV advocates, public health professionals, and legal experts to reframe narratives around HIV from a moral failing to a health matter. Faith leaders will learn how to leverage their platforms to promote understanding, empathy, and scientifically accurate information about HIV to dismantle harmful stereotypes and reduce the stigma faced by PLHIV.  

Panelists:

  • LáDeia Joyce, MPA, Memphis-based speaker, writer, advocate, and activist.
  • Dr. Darnell Gooch Jr. Pastor/CEO of Cathedral of Praise Church of Memphis, Inc.
  • Rev. Dr. Earle Fisher, Senior Pastor, Abyssinian Baptist Church
  • Dr. Stacy Smallwood, Executive Director of Faith COMPASS Center at Wake Forest University School of Divinity 
  • Kytara Epps, National Community Outreach Coordinator, CHLP

Photo from the Summit: Kytara is pictured here with fellow presenters Dr. Stacy Smallwood, Executive Director of the Wake Forest Faith Compass Center, and LáDeia Joyce, a Memphis-based speaker, writer, advocate, and activist.