Galveston County Daily News (Internet / Print) 02/08/06 http://www.galvnews.com/story.lasso?ewcd=9bd9eb64c3bff51d It’s been nine years since Shenequa Flucas found out she was HIV positive. The year was 1997, and soon after, she gave birth to her second child. But where her self-esteem was once low and her future uncertain, Flucas said her life now is about education and openness — the keys, she believes, to stopping the rising rate of HIV infections among black women. Flucas was one of the speakers at the third annual observance of National Black AIDS Awareness Day on Tuesday at the University of Texas Medical Branch. The focus of the program was on the increasing numbers of HIV cases among young black females between 14 and 24. The rate of AIDS diagnoses for black women is 25 times the rate of AIDS diagnoses for white women, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control.