Feb. 7 marked National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day and the Mattapan Community Health Center (MCHC) along with other community partners participated in a panel discussion held at the Spoke Art Center in downtown Boston, where advocates spoke about the disproportionate impact that the virus has on the Black community and the stigma that discourages people from getting tested.

The evening started out with a dinner prepared by Slade’s Bar & Grill and a viewing of the movie “Rustin,” a biopic about civil rights pioneer Bayard Rustin, which was followed by a Q & A Session.

Dr. Aimee Williams, a family medicine physician and medical director at MCHC and Dr. Geeth Kavya Minima Reddy, family medicine physician and director of the Cares Program at MCHC answered questions from the audience, along with Dr. Margaret M. Sullivan, a general infectious disease physician at BMC; Nigel Griffith, a Spoke Art Center board member, event coordinator, and moderator; Spencer Collins, actor, filmmaker, and owner of B.L.A.C. Mail Productions; Jennease Hyatt, community liaison at Gilead Sciences; and Emerson Miller, senior manager of Population Health and Support Services at Upham’s Community Care.

This event was the first in a series of events planned throughout the year.