For the first time in two decades the International AIDS Conference is being held in the United States, and A-listers like Danny Glover, Vanessa Williams, Bill Gates and Whoopi Goldberg will all be making appearances this week. Glover, the actor who has starred in the "Lethal Weapon" series, "Beloved" and "The Color Purple," spoke about the importance of getting involved in AIDS advocacy. "I had a friend who died from the complications of AIDS in 1987," Glover said at the conference, BlackAids.org reports. "Even then when I didn’t know a whole lot about the disease, I would bring him food and do what I could to help him." "This is something that we all should get involved in," said Glover, whose own brother has been HIV positive for more than 20 years. "We are in a crisis situation now, with this disease adversely and disproportionately affecting Black men, and in particular, gay Black men. With the platform I have, I intend to continue to speak out about it," he said. Glover encouraged the audience to fight within whatever space and platform that God has endowed them. "Everyone, not just athletes, actors or famous people should help to raise awareness about HIV/AIDS," he said. "Chances are you know someone infected with the disease or you will be affected by it, so we are all in this together." [A study released by the CDC on Tuesday found that since 2003 the number of teens using condoms has seen a sharp drop, especially amongst black teens.](https://colorlines.com/archives/2012/07/progress_on_condom_use_among_youth_slows_drops_among_black_teens.html)