By Tyra Jackson

The Selma Times-Journal

The Rev. Al Sharpton will lead a town hall forum on what he says is a civil rights issue today: AIDS.

Selma University will be the location for the “AIDS Is A Civil Rights Issue” discussion sponsored by the AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF). The free event will begin Saturday at 7 p.m. in the Jemison-Owens Auditorium.

The forum is a part of a campaign started last year that accompanied the 50th anniversary of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The Alabama State Mass Choir will give a live performance. HIV Activist Hydeia Broadbent will speak along with Sharpton. For his service, Sharpton will receive AHF’s Human Rights Vanguard Award.

“This is the first time we’re giving out this award,” said Christopher Johnson, associate director of communications at AHF. “We really wanted to honor Rev. Sharpton for his leadership and participation in calling attention to the really drastic HIV/AIDS infection rates that affect people of color.”