In their Comment on the double burden of HIV and COVID-19 in US Black communities, Errol Fields and colleagues1Fields EL Copeland R Hopkins E Same script, different viruses: HIV and COVID-19 in US Black communities. focus only on vulnerabilities as an alleged attribute of subpopulations, instead of stressing the importance of communities' agencies, resources, and strengths. Despite the authors ‘reflective analysis of structural inequalities and the intersectional character of systems of oppression, the vulnerability accent—although benevolent—is inevitably alienating the groups that they are intending to prioritise. For example, the implication that being at risk for HIV is an inherent part of being gay created an artificial boundary between gay men, other members of the LGBTQ community, and larger society.2Gay men and HIV/AIDS risk management. More importantly, disproportionately affected communities are uniquely resilient when it comes to survivorship, fighting stigma, dealing with loss, and living with health risks. An intersectionality of resilience3Njeze C Bird-Naytowhow K Pearl T Hatala AR Intersectionality of resilience: a strengths-based case study approach with Indigenous youth in an urban Canadian context. framework allows an analysis of paths to community empowerment in the face of oppression and to develop survivorship-based community health interventions.So far, experiences of survivorship do not translate into research. There is a substantial gap in addressing resilience: HIV research rarely identifies resilience at the community level, concerning itself only with resilience at individual or interpersonal levels.4Dulin AJ Dale SK Earnshaw VA et al.Resilience and HIV: a review of the definition and study of resilience. In the case of HIV/AIDS in US Black communities, tales of community resilience are generously shared in art. This immense resource and the knowledge base should be used by scientific and professional communities. Commitment to what could be called community literacy, on the side of scientific and professional communities, would thus help to restore a gravely missed learning opportunity.

We declare no competing interests.

References1.Fields EL Copeland R Hopkins E

Same script, different viruses: HIV and COVID-19 in US Black communities.

Lancet. 397: 1040-10422.

Gay men and HIV/AIDS risk management.

Health. 5: 50-753.Njeze C Bird-Naytowhow K Pearl T Hatala AR

Intersectionality of resilience: a strengths-based case study approach with Indigenous youth in an urban Canadian context.

Qual Health Res. 30: 2001-20184.Dulin AJ Dale SK Earnshaw VA et al.

Resilience and HIV: a review of the definition and study of resilience.

AIDS Care. 30: S6-S17Article InfoPublication HistoryIdentification

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(21)01328-3

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ScienceDirectAccess this article on ScienceDirect Linked ArticlesSame script, different viruses: HIV and COVID-19 in US Black communities

The Lancet Series on HIV in the USA describes the current state of the nation's HIV epidemic, including ongoing inequities and challenges for key populations and comorbidities.1–6 Black Americans have consistently shouldered many of these HIV inequities, a pattern also seen in the COVID-19 pandemic. The overlapping racial disparities related to COVID-19 and HIV7,8 highlight lessons that policy makers, public health practitioners, providers, and communities can leverage in their strategies to eliminate the disproportionate burden of HIV and COVID-19 in Black communities.

Full-Text PDF Surviving syndemics – Authors' reply

In a response to our Comment,1 Yudit Namer and Oliver Razum argue that focusing on the vulnerabilities of populations disproportionately affected by HIV rather than their resilience serves to only further marginalise already disadvantaged groups. They posit that an intersectionality of resilience framework would generate the development of more strengths-based community health interventions. Although we agree that there is evidence of great resilience in Black communities, our Comment focused on the social inequities that have required Black communities to be more resilient than other communities to survive.

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