R&B singer and songwriter Raheem Devaughn caught our attention because of the many hits he has sung about love. But it is not just his discography that keeps him relevant, but his commitment to educating and impacting our community that makes him an even more powerful force.
We had an opportunity to chat with him while he was on tour with Ledesi about his LoveLife Foundation and his partnership with Gilead to improve and help improve the HIV landscape for Black women through education through their Setting the P.A.C.E. Initiative.
I wanted to learn more about the program, so Debra Wafer, the senior director of Public Affairs US Virology, Community Engagement and Advocacy at Gilead Sciences. Watch the video or look below for the full transcript.
Corynne Corbett (00:12):
Hi everybody. I’m Corynne Corbett, editorial director of Black Health Matters, and I have the pleasure of chatting with the one and only Rah Navo about something special that he’s doing this month as he embarkes on an 18-city tour as he combines music and missions, and we are going to learn more about that. I want to start with asking you to tell us about your Love Life Foundation. Community Engagement,
Raheem DeVaughn (00:44):
Love Life Foundation has been established since right around 20 13, 20 12, 20 13, 20 14. Between that span, the idea was conceived and then I was already doing a plethora of community work anyway, so it just made sense for me to establish my own foundation at that point where I could do more work, hands on, directly support the initiatives that want support, so forth and so on.
Corynne Corbett (01:17):
And what are the things that are important to you that you do through that foundation?
Raheem DeVaughn (01:24):
We do work in terms of HIV prevention. I’ve had previous partnerships in that sector. We feed people that are homeless and displaced as well. We provide scholarships, textbook scholarships. The textbook Scholarship Fund was created to support students for their first year of college, paying for books and supplies. We felt like that was something that was practical, that a lot of times it’s overlooked for students. We weren’t in a position necessarily to pay tuition full year rides and stuff of that nature just yet, but we still wanted to find a way to be able to lend hands to our local parents in the community as well as the students. So that was an initiative that we started out at the DMV. We would pick three students a year, and we’ve successively saw off a lot of students since then with the test, with Scholarship Fund, and then there’s Toys for Tots for of course, the holidays and stuff like that. A lot of different initiatives.
(02:36):
One that I’m extremely proud of, fighting domestic violence and bringing more awareness to the community, to the Black community, and to the youth as well, is being able to identify, first of all what domestic violence is and understanding that it doesn’t just affect women, affects men, children as well, teenage boys and girls as well. So being able to do a lot of work in that sector as well. Establish a program, the Queen for a Day, spot takeover, which allows us to bring in women and pamper them for the day and let them know that they’re still men out here that care in a community that cares is here, be of aid to them, why they transitioning at a very severe domestic violence situation. So those are just a few of our initiatives.
Corynne Corbett (03:24):
And doing it in your community is really important to you, right?
Raheem DeVaughn (03:27):
Absolutely. I mean, every community, I touch many stages across the country and across the world. So the premise is that I’m not looking to just go into the community or go into a city like Chicago and just take and keep it moving. I think the greatest gift that we can leave behind is the gift of love and community and activism and stuff of that nature. So touring, touring makes it very easy for me to move around and be part of the process.
Corynne Corbett (03:58):
Great, great. So how did you start partnering with Gilead Sciences?
Raheem DeVaughn (04:04):
This is a new partnership for Raheem Devine in terms of me in branding, but also allow me to work outside of the sector, the Love Life Foundation. It just gives me an opportunity to do even more work. So being is that I’m on the legacy Good Life tour. I feel like this would be a great time to mobilize and have a strategic partnership. And again, I think it made it very easy, me doing the work I’ve done in the past in terms of HIV awareness and prevention. Gilead felt like I was a perfect suitor for the partnership, and I felt likewise as well.
Corynne Corbett (04:52):
Okay. So let’s talk a little bit about what the partnership is and what you’re going to be doing with Gilead in terms of the tour. So what you’re doing in what you’re doing, you are on the Legacy Good Life tour, right? You’re doing 18 cities?
Raheem DeVaughn (05:16):
Yeah. I’m a supporter act on the Legacy Good Life tour. The tours already started. We knee deep in it. Gilead is showing up and showing out, and their local partners are showing up and showing out. We’re bringing awareness. The goal is to do this successfully; I’m hoping that we’ll come in touch with 35,000 women within 30 days. This is a life-changing experience, providing information that’ll save lives, obviously knowing the fact that Gilead has already created 12 million in grants and local initiatives to create awareness about HIV prevention, anti-stigma, and health equity for Black women and girls in the United States. This is the movement. This is the new cool. This is the new narrative, and they allow me to join ‘EM as a partner. And they’re setting the PACE initiative, which again is over 12 million invested into local organizations on the ground for HIV prevention.
Corynne Corbett (06:30):
So, what other cities are you guys going to this month?
Raheem DeVaughn (06:34):
Oh man, I don’t have the schedule right in front of me. Yeah, I had a list right in front of me. I’ll be honest with you. It’s like a blur. Yeah,
Corynne Corbett (06:42):
Yeah. Because I know that you wake up every day and you’re like, what city is this? Right?
Raheem DeVaughn (06:47):
Yeah, yeah, yeah. I’m currently home on a brief break, and I know that we are in Birmingham tomorrow. We got Birmingham coming up. We have Houston coming up St. Louis. There’s la, Oakland, California, and I’m sure there’s a few spots that have already missed. We hit Washington dc Philly, started in Newark, New Jersey. We’ve been to Columbus, Ohio. We’ve been to Charlotte, North Carolina. We’ve been to Durham, North Carolina, just to name a few cities. Again, for me, I’m on for 18 cities. There are a few cities that I’m, I’m not participating on the tour, but I mean, the cool thing about it’s that I anticipate that this is just the beginning of a long, hopefully fruitful relationship, and you don’t have to be on tour to care about people. Again, it makes it very easy to touch the people knowing that I’m in these various cities every day and we hit the ground running, me doing the meet and greets and us and Gilead having partners come out and us having a table set up where they scan the QR code, do the survey, we get to have conversations. I can’t tell you about how many people have pulled me aside when I’m in the merch line and thanking me for spreading their awareness, how HIV and AIDS has affected them either directly or indirectly. So I see it working in real time. Absolutely. Black women make up for, I think it’s only 14% and they’re half of the new cases and diagnosis here in the states are Black women
Corynne Corbett (08:51):
Right now. Walk me through. They’re setting up a meet and greet. How’s it?
Raheem DeVaughn (08:59):
Oh, well, yeah. I do a meet and greet anyway at all the shows. It’s something I’ve done since the beginning of my career, but in a cool way, we make it and able to get access to me. We ask that people scan the QR code before we get into the meeting and the greeting of things and taking photos and things of that nature. We like to meet and greet with the people, and before I test the people, it’s imperative that they scan the QR code so that we can have the conversations and get them the information they need to have.
Corynne Corbett (09:43):
I think that’s good. I think that’s good. So I’ll just look up for the rest of the cities. I can get that information just so that people know and we can share that on the site so that people know what other cities that the tour is going to.
Raheem DeVaughn (10:01):
Absolutely. And again, the mission doesn’t stop with the tour. I’m hoping that we continue our partnership, but this is something we do. That’s your work. Yeah, this is my work. You know what I mean? It’s been my work for so long, and obviously it’s so much work to be done. It’s so much work to be done.
Corynne Corbett (10:28):
So what do you think that we need to do better in terms of getting the message out about HIV?
Raheem DeVaughn (10:41):
I think we’re doing a great job. You know what I mean? What’s the saying? It wasn’t, house isn’t built overnight. You got to do, you build a brick by brick and create the foundation. I think part of it is just breaking down the stigmas and just having people comfortable about having the conversations. I think also exploring preventative measures. There’s medications and things that you can take now that’s out there as well. Prep, for example, mean, which is unfortunately for a long time it’s been labeled as a gay drug, for example. You know what I mean? Just saying something or thinking something just as ignorant as that can create stigma. You know what I mean? Or stigmatization. So yeah, it’s awareness of course. Obviously getting tested regularly, knowing what’s going on with your body. And I think just creating an environment, making a new cool, the level of comfortability between partners and human beings, having a conversation about what’s going on with them. Yeah, I think that that would help too.
Corynne Corbett (12:05):
Yeah, I think so too. I think. Do you think that younger people are more comfortable and it is people of a certain age that are still stuck in fear?
Raheem DeVaughn (12:19):
No, I can’t speak to that because I’m considered a young OG at this point.
Corynne Corbett (12:27):
You know what I mean?
Raheem DeVaughn (12:29):
I will say this, I think that we live in a time now in society where music and entertainment for far too long, we haven’t wanted to accept who we are in the community in terms of, I guess as role models or leaders. And I think that they’re definitely in a time where music promotes promiscuous behavior a lot of times, or just the lyrics can be very reckless and so forth. And so for me, as somebody who I feel like has always made tasteful art, but I also, let’s be real, and let’s be blunt, I make records and speak to intimacy and sex.
(13:30):
So again, I feel like from a branding standpoint, it makes sense. If I’m making music about these things, you know what I’m saying? Why not take it upon myself to promote and talk about the importance of sexual health and the responsibility that we have? And that thing, it’s almost like the guy who has the liquor sponsor, and I’m not going to tell you to drink and drive. You know what I mean? So one of the terms I even use sometimes on a tour is just like it’s sex responsibly. You know what I mean? But also when you think about intimacy, intimacy is also more than sex. You know what I mean? So intimacy is conversations, you know what I’m saying? Intimacy is conversations and hopefully establishing a level of trust and a level of comfortability to want to have the conversations. You know what I mean? Encouraging whether my generation or the youth. You got people that are HIV positive, and then there’s a movement out there where you can be HIV possible too. It’s meaning there’s a possibility that this could affect you or someone close to you that you love. So again, kudos and hats off to Gilead Sciences for stepping up and providing tools, spending over $12 million, that’s a lot of money and I’m proud to be part of the team.
Corynne Corbett (15:35):
Alright, well thank you so much,
Raheem DeVaughn (15:36):
Rahe. Thank you so much
Corynne Corbett (15:37):
Taking the time. All I appreciate you.
Raheem DeVaughn (15:40):
Appreciate you as well. Have a great night. Alright, love. Good day.
Corynne Corbett (15:42):
It’s not even nice. I know, right?
Raheem DeVaughn (15:44):
Peace and love. Peace.
Corynne Corbett (15:45):
Take care. All peace. Thank you. To find out more about Raheem DeVaughn’s unique partnership with Gilead Sciences, we decided to talk to Deborah Wafer. She’s the senior director of Public Affairs US Virology, Community Engagement, and Advocacy at Gilead Sciences about the unique partnership that the two of them have. Gilead Sciences and Rahi. DeVaughn, here’s Deborah. So, I have the pleasure of speaking with Deborah Wafer.
Debra Wafer (16:24):
Hi, I am Deborah Wafer, Senior Director of Community Engagement, US Virology at Gilead Sciences. And I’m happy to be here today.
Corynne Corbett (16:39):
Great. Great. So, I’ve always had the opportunity to talk with Raheem DeVaughn about your partnership, and I wanted to dive deeper into your PACE program and your partnership with Raheem and how that came about.
Debra Wafer (17:00):
Well, it came about when we look at HIV in this country, and you look at HIV and Black women, Black women, all women are most impacted when it comes to HIV. And we were looking for an opportunity to educate Black women, not just about HIV, like they might be at risk for HIV, but Black women to help educate the community about HIV. And so the PACE program is a program where we’re looking at arts and advocacy and how do you work through arts and advocacy to educate community and especially the Black community around HIV AIDS and prevention. Right now, there are a lot of people in the Black community who don’t know that HIV can be prevented, and there are different ways that it could be prevented. We know that if people who are living with HIV are taking their medicines and they keep their virus suppressed, there’s no virus to transmit. So treatment is prevention. We know that if people think that they might’ve been exposed to HIV, they can get post-exposure prophylaxis, they can get medication after the exposure, they could prevent transmission of the virus. And now we have prep, which is pre-exposure prophylaxis. And so through the PACE program, we wanted to empower women with information to educate the community, but also to educate other women about how we can prevent this virus transmission from person to person, especially Black women.
Corynne Corbett (18:49):
Right. So tell us what PACE stands for.
Debra Wafer (18:53):
We’re talking prevention, arts. Advocacy, community education. I got it right. Prevention, arts and Advocacy. Community education. That’s what it’s an initiative providing grant funding. And through these partnerships with different organizations, we funded 19 organizations to help educate Black women and girls, trans women about HIV in the United States.
Corynne Corbett (19:29):
That’s amazing. That’s amazing. How long has it been around?
Debra Wafer (19:33):
So we just launched this program this year In 20? This year? Yeah, just this year. It was launched this year.
Corynne Corbett (19:41):
Okay. So are you working with other artists? I mean, is this the first partnership with Raheem? Has this the first music artist that you’re working with?
Debra Wafer (19:53):
Yeah, this is the first music artist that we’re working with. I mean, Raheem DeVaughn has been very committed and connected to the work that we’re doing, and we’re actually proud of the relationship and the partnership with him. I mean, I think one of the things that has happened in the past is people have talked about HIV. It only happens in certain communities. And what we are trying to do is raise the bar and talk about HIV in the Black community, right? Because it’s something that I think it’s an issue for all of us. It’s not about necessarily where you live, who you have sex with. We should be concerned about all of us, about our children, about our grandchildren, about our nieces, everybody who needs to know in the Black community that this is something that could be prevented. We have a lot of health issues when it comes to Black people, and this probably better than most folks because you guys do Black health matters.
(20:56):
And we know when it comes to the impact in the Black community, so many diseases impact us at a higher rate. HIV can be prevented. And that’s what the message is here, is that, let’s take a look at HIV as a whole. Those of us who have children, we have cousins, we have, everybody should know that HIV can be prevented. And we can only do that if we engage the whole community. And I think by this relationship and this partnership with DeVaughn, we are able to DeVaughn Raheem, we are able to educate a wide host of people.
Corynne Corbett (21:40):
Raheem, DeVaughn, say that again?
Debra Wafer (21:42):
Raheem DeVaughn with Raheem DeVaughn, we’re able to, I just started listening to his music last night. Raheem DeVaughn. Yeah.
Corynne Corbett (21:53):
Right. And what’s great is that he’s really passionate and excited about this partnership and working with this. And he’s gotten a track record of working with the community and working in HIV prevention and in the community. It’s not like this is something that’s new to him. He’s already No.
Debra Wafer (22:18):
Yeah. And that’s the beauty of it, right? The beauty of it is that this is part of who he is and his commitment to the work and to Black people. So I think that’s the beautiful part of this. This is not something he’s doing as a one off or one time only thing. So the commitment, the partnership and the messages are all about the Black community.
Corynne Corbett (22:51):
Are we paying enough attention to HIV as Black women?
Debra Wafer (22:57):
No, I think, no, we’re not. The answer is no. Why? I think a lot of people think HIV is something of the past. When you think about HIV kind of hit the news in the early eighties, the 1980s, and now we are in 2024. There are some young people who don’t have or don’t know the history that you and I lived through of people who were diagnosed with HIV, who are no longer here. All the Black artists, all the Black people who have died from HIV that they don’t know about. I mean, I have some nieces and nest views who were born in two thousands and they talk about the old days. And 1990 is the old days for them. And so I think they think about HIV as something that happened in the old days as opposed to HIV is still here. HIV still impacts Black people more than Black and brown people, I should say more than others.
(24:12):
I mean, I think that when you think about how the L-G-B-T-Q white community rallied around HIV, it became a real cause. It became a political movement for them. And now you look at their numbers, their numbers are way down compared to where our numbers are. But I think for a long time, Black people thought it was something that we didn’t have to worry about. And Black people have been dying since the very beginning of this pandemic of HIV. And we continue to, and I think one of the reasons that it happens is we think it’s happening somewhere else as opposed to, no, it’s happening to Black people. And that’s what we need to make sure we bring to the forefront.
Corynne Corbett (25:00):
I think the death of idea broadband is an opportunity to remind us that it is in our community and that her life and death is an opportunity for us to remember and to remain vigilant.
Debra Wafer (25:18):
I agree with you 100%. I mean, I met Hadia when she was a little girl, and that’s another thing to think about. There are children who were born to mothers who were HIV positive before we knew how to prevent transmission from mother to baby. Now we know if a woman is pregnant, she should be tested for HIV. That’s just part of their regular prenatal care. There’s a whole generation of children like Hadia, I think they call themselves dandelions now, who were born to mothers who were HIV positive before we understood the transmission of the virus from mother to baby. And again, that was another one of those, if you treat the virus, you lower the virus, viral load in someone’s blood, then they can’t transmit the virus. That’s what we learned about pregnant women. If you treat the mother, there’s no virus to transmit. But you’re right. Had idea. It was a living example for us in the Black community to think about how it has impacted our community, many children at birth.
Corynne Corbett (26:31):
So it’s like this is National Minority Health Month. So this is a perfect example of us not just saying, oh, this was a sad thing, but take action and do something.
Debra Wafer (26:47):
Right. Exactly. So
Corynne Corbett (26:54):
This program is an opportunity to use that. So thank you so much for this partnership.
Debra Wafer (27:03):
Yeah, no, it is. I mean this concerts are all over the country and everywhere that they’re going, they’re talking about it. And I think that that’s an important message and I think that we have to just get Black people to understand that know what your HIV status is. I think of it like, no, your blood type, A lot of people don’t know their blood types even still. But how about finding out what your HIV status is? Because if you’re having sex and you don’t know, then that can put you at risk. So you don’t even know what your starting point is. So it’s a good reminder that it’s an issue in the Black community. It can be treated and it can be prevented, but it can’t be any of those things if you don’t know what your status is.
Corynne Corbett (28:01):
Absolutely. Absolutely. Yeah. Thank you so much. This is a good program.
Debra Wafer (28:10):
It’s a great program. Thank you for having us and thank you for helping to spread the word. We appreciate it. And we have more concerts to go. So.
