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Embracing the Legacy of Collective Activism
by Hadiyah
Fri, 04/23/2010 - 4:03am
When this disease surfaced – people with AIDS got nothing. What people with AIDS have today, the benefits – the care and access – (in some places) are due largely to the many gay white men and their allies that fought for explanations, accountability, and healthcare. Because of what they fought for, many people are able to manage HIV so that it never becomes AIDS, because of what gay white men and their allies demanded, many now have the luxury, if I may be completely honest, of living with HIV and not dying from AIDS.
I would like to acknowledge and pay tribute to gay white men and their allies. THANK YOU for fighting, demanding, standing up for what was right. HIV/AIDS is a disease that affects all people regardless of gender, race, age or sexuality. “Sex in an Epidemic” brought the reality to light of what could be accomplished if we all worked together. It was a reminder that what we have today, was not given, it was demanded. The film brought around full circle the role of the AIDS activists and concluded with scenes of HIV activist of all races, gay and straight men, young and old, marching in the streets - together. As I wrap this post up, I’d like to encourage us to embrace each other, the diversity of our backgrounds and the colorfulness of our differences. Though we come from different places, our life experiences led us to the HIV/AIDS social justice path that we are all on today. I urge fresh and seasoned advocates to watch “Sex in an Epidemic” it, tells a story of a struggle that, over time, has unfortunately been forgotten. There are lessons that we can learn if we only knew the history of AIDS activism. We must never forget… |
Where do I start? I’m overwhelmed by all that I’ve seen and heard from the attendees at this forum. I’ll start with the very last session I attended – a viewing of the documentary film entitled “Sex in an Epidemic” by Jean Carlomusto. “Sex in the Epidemic” was an incredibly moving depiction of the activist history of the HIV/AIDS movement. As I am typing HIV/AIDS… I am almost compelled to type – AIDS/HIV movement. “Sex in an Epidemic” captured the pain, confusion frustration, and death that was associated with an illness that today can be “managed” (for lack of a better word) with a pill. In some cases having HIV provides access to doctors, housing, specialized welfare, free legal services, syringe exchange - just to mention a few.
Hadiyah I was truly moved by
I too was moved by the
I too was moved by the documentary "Sex in an Epidemic" by Jean Carlomusto. I have used the phrase "no glove no love" over and over and over again. To see the origins of the phrase, unfurled in banners at the baseball game brought new meaning to the use of the word "glove". I watch the documentary in the first showing and then moved to the second showing to watch it again. Act up indeed acted up. There was nothing polite about it. People were dying and being ignored by our government. Ms. Manners had no place in the room. Screaming and shouting, marching and protesting, lying in the streets, anything was accepted if it got the attention of anyone, someone, who could respond to this epidemic that left thousands dead before the first tentative responses. Image after image of advocates and health educators were shown who died from AIDS. The sorrow in the room was evident, as heard by the muffled sobs and painful commentary of those who lived through the early days. Those who have been silent, unable to tell their stories, left permanently marked from caring for so many who died - in their arms. Those who died were lovingly nutured until death by an army of caretakers who took to the streets to shout out their anguish and fear. But there were also many who died alone, left untouched by friends, families and health care workers who were afraid of the unknown disease.
One movie goer lamented that they had died in vain. He felt nothing had changed. Many, many in the room were horrified that he spoke those words. Every warrior who died paved the way for the next, and to even utter the words "in vain" might mean that everything done in the past was for naught. That is not true. We have anti-retroviral medicines that slow the path of the virus that used to be responsible for almost daily funerals in the early days. Money is allocated to buy the medications for those who can't afford them. Research is being conducted on many level to provide vaccines, new medications, microbicides and hope to one day stem the tide of this infectious disease. Vertical transmission of HIV between Mother and Child is at an all time low.
But I think I know what he was trying to say. Why are there over 50,000 new cases of HIV every year when all these people fought so hard to get us where we are today. Why is AIDS the number one cause of death for Blacks according to the CDC http://www.cdc.gov/hiv/topics/aa/index.htm?
These are painful questions with painful answers and illustrate that our work is not yet done. There is new work to be done, but different work and more of the same. We will continue to build on the legacy left by those who died and continue to "act up" and "fight back" as taught to us by so many who did not DIE IN VAIN.
Peace......