Flag for All Mississippians and AHF Salute Gov. Reeves for Signing Confederate Flag Bill

As far back as 2015, the Flag for All Mississippians Coalition and others, including AHF, advocated for Mississippi—the only state that still included the Confederate emblem in its flag—to remove it

JACKSON, Miss.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The Flag for All Mississippians Coalition, a diverse group of citizens, who first came together five years ago to support the creation of a state flag that represents all Mississippians regardless of their race, religion, education, or socio-economic status, and AHF, which has free AIDS treatment clinics in Mississippi, today thanked Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves for his swift signature on a high profile bill to change the state’s flag, the last in the country to still include the stars and bars emblem of the Confederacy.

Sharon Brown, Director of Flag for All Mississippians Coalition, stated, “Now Mississippi can embrace a new flag that represent unity and progress. It was humble beginnings back in 2015 when we joined in the fight with our many allies such as AIDS Healthcare Foundation, who knew the importance of joining in the fight to remove this divisive Confederate emblem. I am grateful to the Governor Reeves and the Mississippi Legislature and truly humbled to the many who spent countless hours with us in this endeavor.”

In 2015, Sharon Brown was also a citizen proponent of Initiative #55, the Flag for All Mississippians Act, a proposed state ballot initiative spearheaded by her organization and funded and supported by AHF. The backers later withdrew the measure before it could be placed before Mississippi voters.

Valerie Brown, Community Organizer for the Flag for All Mississippians Coalition and an AHF Community Mobilizer, stated, “I am grateful to our Mississippi legislators for their bravery in voting to finally have a symbol of hate removed from our state flag and commend Governor Reeves for signing this bill so quickly. We can now move forward in the 21st century and truly embrace our state motto, ‘The Hospitality State’.”

In early June, AHF and its Black Leadership AIDS Crisis Coalition (BLACC), an affinity group of AHF, relaunched their #StandAgainstHate campaign, a national advocacy, awareness and action campaign intended to take on and challenge the racism, hatred, police abuse targeting African Americans and a burgeoning white supremacy movement that continue to sweep our nation.

AHF has free HIV/AIDS treatment clinics and testing and outreach programs in six former states of the Confederacy: Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina and Texas.

AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF), the largest global AIDS organization, currently provides medical care and/or services to over 1.4 million individuals in 45 countries worldwide in the US, Africa, Latin America/Caribbean, the Asia/Pacific Region and Eastern Europe. To learn more about AHF, please visit our website: www.aidshealth.org, find us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/aidshealth and follow us on Twitter @aidshealthcare.