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As the most public face of HIV and AIDS in America, Magic has worked to combat the disease. The AIDS Healthcare Foundation—the largest AIDS organization in the United States—runs four Magic Johnson Clinics in America. Besides managing care and paying for medicine for those who cannot afford it, these clinics provide community. "They have a place that they can go and socialize with other people who are living with the disease," Magic says.
The Magic Johnson Foundation has teamed with Abbott Laboratories for a new movement on World AIDS Day, December 1, 2006. "It's called 'I Stand with Magic.' It's going to be great because what we're going to do is do testing," Magic says. "I bought a lot of Laker tickets, so we have incentive for people to get tested. Our problem has been people have been tested, but they don't go back for the results. We want to make sure they go back."
The other focus of "I Stand with Magic" is spreading the truth about HIV and AIDS. "In the black community, what really hurts us—as well as the Latino community—is misinformation. They really don't know. There's a lot of crazy rumors that go on in our community."
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