Justin B. Terry-Smith has been involved in LGBTQ and HIV Activism since 1999. He is an Air Force 9/11 Disabled Vet. Raised in Silver Spring, MD, he now lives in Albuequerque, New Meixco with his husband Phil. He writes an HIV/STI Advice Column for A&U Magazine, is a Contributing writer for thebody.com, a Life Coach and an Adjunct Professor. He has earned his Doctorate in Public Health with a concentration in Infectious Disease and his Masters in Clinical Mental Health Counseling.
Hey everyone good news I'm now a certified Life Coach. Let me start off by saying thank you, everyone, who had confidence in me and encouraging words for me. Life coaching is a synergistic relationship between an accredited life coach and a client designed to tap into your full potential. Just as Olympic athletes wouldn’t think of training without the added insight, objective perspective and enthusiastic support of an athletic coach, many of today’s most successful business leaders, professionals, executives, entrepreneurs and CEOs use the services of a life coach to take their lives, careers, or businesses to the next level (Lifecoach.com).
I will be taking clients that are willing and wanting to go through the journey of decreasing their address limitations, increasing their chances of fulfilling their goals. My husband Dr. Philip Terry-Smith is also a Life Coach. We have a business called, “Coach Positive”, which can be found at coachpositive.com. I will work with everyone but I am more knowledgeable about relationships, education, and career. I can work with anyone under the sun. To request an appointment with me you can start by going to my Facebook page Justin B Terry-Smith – DrPH at https://www.facebook.com/justifans/ or you can e-mail me at JustinTerrySmith@gmail.com
I decided to do the African Ancestry DNA Test because I wanted to know where my African Ancestry came from. I needed to know as a Black person who understands how important it is to know one’s history. I truly believe that you do not know where you are going if you don’t know or understand where you come from Slavery has stripped away identifies that we as Black Americans have lost and thisis truly a tragedy.
Using the potheyr of DNA and the most comprehensive database of indigenous African genetic sequences in existence, African Ancestry is the ONLY company that can trace one’s ancestry back to a specific present-day African country and ethnic group of origin dating back more than 500 years ago. If the results are from another continent, they also provide that information.
Everyone carries in their DNA a series of indicators that provide information about their ancestry. This information is passed from generation to generation and can tell a profound story about where someone comes from and highlight a person’s connections to modern-day Africa.
Depending on which test you purchase, they analyze either the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) that a person inherited from your mother, the Y chromosome that men inherit from their fathers or autosomal DNA that you inherit from both parents. A simple swab from inside your cheek is all they need to begin the process.
You share information within the genes they extract that is unchanged through every branch of your family tree. In other words, they identify the unique fingerprint that you share with your parents, grandparents, great-grandparents and so on along a single lineage.
Utilizing pioneering genetic scientific methods, they look closely for markers or mutations that indicate where in the world your ancestry is found. If your genes indicate Africa, they then compare them to the world’s largest database of African lineages to determine the present-day African country and ethnic group with which you share maternal or paternal ancestry.
Discovering your roots is an important and truly emotional experience. Once your ancestry has been determined, they provide information about your country of origin so that you can begin to re-connect with your roots. They also provide access to an exclusive online community of others who have also started the journey to find their true identity.
PrEP, PrEP and more PrEP. PrEP has been approved by the Food and Drug Administration since 2012 and prevents the transmission of HIV from one person to another up to ninety-two percent, with others saying ninety-nine percent.
Men who have sex with men whose sexual activities were categorized as high risk, a demographic that is most vulnerable to HIV infection, was one of the populations for which PrEP was first indicated. However, not everyone who is gay or bi, or same-gender-loving, has heard of PrEP.
While in Chicago for an event that catered to MSM, I noticed a young gay man who seemed very curious to know others in my group. So, I befriended him because I was curious to know where he was in his life and where his head was at. He was an early twenty-something and I asked his profession and he said he was a server at a restaurant and had dropped out of college. I then asked, “Have you heard of PrEP?” He replied, “No, what is PrEP?” I was shocked and surprised. I wondered why this young man had not heard of PrEP.
When I started my doctoral study and thought about a possible public health dissertation topic, I wanted to focus on something other than HIV. There were several options such as childhood obesity, drug abuse, smoking, etc., but my mind would not stop thinking about that young gay man who had no idea what PrEP was. I couldn’t get him out of my head.
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Happy Halloween, everyone. This month I’ll be addressing stigma and sex workers. Sex workers can be of all genders, sexual orientations, races, and any sex. They face so many challenges created by people’s negative opinions of their professions, HIV stigma, police brutality, etc. We need to address these issues in our community as a whole to decrease discrimination, stigma, and HIV acquisitions.
According to the CDC (2016), sex workers are “people who exchange sex for money or nonmonetary items” and are at increased risk of acquiring or transmitting HIV and other STIs because they are more likely to engage in risky sexual practices and substance use
So, what are some factors that keep sex workers at risk for acquiring HIV/STIs?
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Israel is beautiful. I had a blast. I visited a lot of places while staying in Tel Aviv. Jerusalem was one of my favorites, I was able to see all four corners (Jewish, Christian, Armenian, and Muslim). We went to Jaffa and that was beautiful as well. You could see Tel Aviv off in the distance and it was beautiful. Zippori National Park was amazing with ruins and mosaics. My absolute favorite was the Dead Sea. The mud covering with my friends was fun but also it made me closer to Israel in a way, closer than I ever thought possible. Walking into the Dead Sea and floating out on my back was as peaceful as I have ever been. Praying to the Wailing Wall made me weep because it was so powerful. I don’t want to go on and on about my experience. So here is a brief description of places I went to.
Mona Lisa of Zippori
Zippori is a village and an archeological site located in the central Galilee region of Israel. It lies 286 m above sea level and overlooks the Beit Netofa Valley. The site holds a rich and diverse historical and architectural legacy that includes Hellenistic, Jewish, Roman, Byzantine, Islamic, Crusader, Arabic and Ottoman influences.
The Western Wall in Jerusalem, Wailing Wall, or Kotel, known in Islam as the Buraq Wall, is an ancient limestone wall in the Old City of Jerusalem. It is a relatively small segment of a far longer ancient retaining wall, known also in its entirety as the "Western Wall"
Ein Gedi, just aside the Dead Sea in the Judean Desert, not too far from Jerusalem, is one of Israel’s premier hiking spots, featuring spectacular beauty, varied landscapes, and botanical gardens.
Masada is an ancient fortress in southern Israel’s Judean Desert. It's on a massive plateau overlooking the Dead Sea. A cable car and a long, winding path climb up to the fortifications, built around 30 B.C. Among the ruins are King Herod's Palace, which sprawls over 3 rock terraces, and a Roman-style bathhouse with mosaic floors. The Masada Museum has archaeological exhibits and recreations of historical scenes.
The Sea of Galilee, Kinneret or Kinnereth, Lake of Gennesaret, or Lake Tiberias, is a freshwater lake in Israel. It is approximately 53 km in circumference, about 21 km long, and 13 km wide. Its area is 166.7 km² at its fullest, and its maximum depth is approximately 43 m.
Jaffa, in Hebrew Yafo, or in Arabic Yaffa, the southern and oldest part of Tel Aviv-Yafo, is an ancient port city in Israel. Jaffa is famous for its association with the biblical stories of Jonah, Solomon and Saint Peter as well as the mythological story of Andromeda and Perseus, and later for its oranges.
Tiberias is an Israeli city on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee. Established around 20 CE, it was named in honor of the second emperor of the Roman Empire, Tiberius. In 2017 it had a population of 43,664.
