Last year, Ron Oden was elected mayor of Palm Springs, Fla., which has one of the highest HIV rates in the United States. A long-time city council member, the openly gay Oden has consistently fought for increased funding for the Palm Springs' Desert AIDS Project, widely viewed as a model HIV service organization, as well as the rights of people with HIV.

In this exclusive interview with The Body, Oden laments the many misperceptions that American society still holds about HIV, sexuality and African Americans. "I don't think the down low is a black thing -- it's a male thing," he says. "It happens with men of every ethnicity and race. ... [And] another part of the reality that we don't talk about ... is the number of men that we have incarcerated. When these men are in jail, you can bet they're having sex, and the women don't question that on their return. Because that's the man they love and he's straight. And he is -- but while he was away, he wasn't."

Mayor Oden's interview is one of many we've conducted with some of the most prominent African-American movers and shakers in politics, AIDS activism and entertainment. This "Movers and Shakers" feature is just one small part of The Body's new African-American HIV/AIDS Resource Center!