BET's Award-Winning Rap-It-Up HIV/AIDS Campaign Blazes Into West Palm Beach, FL on July 22

BET's Award-Winning Rap-It-Up HIV/AIDS Campaign Blazes Into West Palm Beach, FL on July 22

BET's Mad Linx Slated to Host Teen Health Forum with Celebrity Panel Including Actor Lamman Rucker

WASHINGTON, July 13 /PRNewswire/ -- BET's Rap-It-Up, the cable network's award-winning national HIV/AIDS public awareness initiative, brings its exceptional campaign to West Palm Beach to host a teen health forum at the Palm Beach Community College's Dolly Hand Cultural Arts Center on Saturday, July 22 at 5:00 p.m. Partnering with Rap-It-Up for the community effort will be the Palm Beach Health Department and the local City Government offices of Belle Glade, South Bay and Pahokee.

The Rap-It-Up teen health forum will address the social issues, sexual behavior and attitudes impacting today's teens; and the rise of HIV/AIDS in the urban community. RAP CITY's Mad Linx will serve as the forum moderator and will be joined by local 102.3 FM radio personality Frisco, actor (All My Children and Half & Half) Lamman Rucker, AIDS activist Marvelyn Brown, Hip-Hop artists Alashus and Lil Ma, and gospel recording artist Lisa McClendon. The Palm Beach Health Department will also be onsite to administer counseling and distribute health materials, and there will also be a concert for forum attendees following the health forum. The event is free and open to the public; interested individuals should contact telephone number 561-996-3310 for more information regarding tickets.

Today's disturbing statistics have shown that the state of Florida ranks number two of top ten states with the highest number of African Americans estimated to be living with AIDS. Additionally, African Americans account for the most AIDS diagnoses, people estimated to be living with AIDS, and HIV- related deaths than any other racial group within the United States. Although African-American teens (ages 13 - 19) represent only 15 percent of U.S. teens, they accounted for 66 percent of newly-reported AIDS cases in 2003.

Since its launch in 1997, BET's Rap-It-Up Campaign has tested over 6,000 people nationwide for HIV infection; managed over one million calls to the Rap-It-Up toll-free hotline; hosted community teen forums for over 9,000 youth; and reached millions of viewers via HIV-related programming on the BET Network, including award-winning news specials, documentaries and public service announcements.

Here are more details about the Rap-It-Up Teen Health Forum:

EVENT: BET Rap-It-Up Teen Health Forum highlighting the current
social and health issues impacting today's young adults.

DATE/TIME: Saturday, July 22 at 5:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m.
(Media check-in begins at 4:30 p.m.)

LOCATION: Dolly Hand Cultural Arts Center
Palm Beach Community College
1977 College Drive
Belle Glade, FL 33430

AVAILABLE FOR
MEDIA: BET's Mad Linx; celebrity panelists Lamman Rucker, Lisa
McClendon, Marvelyn Brown, Alashus; Palm Beach Health
Department Representatives; Belle Glade, South Bay,
Pahokee City Officials; and Event Sponsors.

Media Opportunities: Coverage of Rap-It-Up Teen Health Forum and
Performances; Interview & Photo Opportunities with
BET talent, BET Rap-It-Up Representatives, Forum
Panelists, Performing Talent and Event Partners.

ABOUT RAP-IT-UP

Since 1997, the Kaiser Family Foundation and BET: Black Entertainment Television have partnered on an extensive public education campaign to inform young people about sexual health issues, including HIV/AIDS and other sexually-transmitted diseases (STDs). The partnership includes special programming, public service advertisements (PSAs), online content on bet.com, and a free resource and referral service. In 2000, the campaign launched a grassroots initiative to complement the on-air and online components of Rap- It-Up. Program elements include teen forums, mobile HIV testing events, and a middle and high school curriculum on HIV/AIDS. The campaign was nominated for an Emmy for Best National Public Service Announcement in 2002 and 2001, and has received numerous other awards, including the 2002 Cable Positive POP Award for Outstanding Newsmagazine Series, the 2002 CTPAA Joel Berger Award, the 2002 NAACP Image Award, the 2002 Academy of Television Arts & Science TV Cares "Ribbon of Hope" Award, and the 2002 NBACA Community Service Award.

ABOUT BET NETWORKS

BET Networks, a subsidiary of Viacom, Inc. (NYSE:VIA)(NYSE:and)(NYSE:VIA.B), is the nation's leading provider of quality entertainment, music, news and public affairs television programming for the African-American audience. The primary BET channel reaches more than 81 million households according to Nielsen media research, and can be seen in the United States, Canada and the Caribbean. BET is the dominant African-American consumer brand with a diverse group of businesses extensions: BET.com, the Number 1 Internet portal for African Americans; BET Digital Networks - BET J, BET Gospel and BET Hip Hop, attractive alternatives for cutting-edge entertainment tastes; BET Event Productions, a full-scale event management and production company; BET Home Entertainment, a collection of BET-branded offerings for the home environment including DVDs and video-on-demand; and BET Mobile, a service venture into the lucrative world of ring tones, games and video content for wireless devices.

Source: BET Networks

CONTACT: Lyntina Townsend of BET Networks, +1-202-608-2745,
lyntina.townsend@bet.net

Web site: http://www.bet.com/

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