For Jessica, Stephen and Carter and far too many others who are forever in the hearts of those who will love you always…
…’til you meet again in the ever after - free from hate, free from pain and free from ig’nance.
Shall we?
A bitch woke up to another World AIDS Day.
Another one.
A World AIDS Day that will include the obligatory network news segment, some talk radio rants, vigils and remembrances.
Our government will declare that it shall send more money to this nation and fund that program.
Activists will talk about gains and the work that remains undone…the hurdles and road blocks that need to come down…the populations that remain vulnerable.
And this bitch is left remembering…
The first time I heard that gay men were dying from a mysterious cancer.
Remembering…
The first time I saw televised pictures of the sick, so frail and weak, surrounded by medical technology and staff unable to save them.
Remembering…
The fear over if and how it spread from person to person…the protests against children with AIDS attending public school…the religious leaders that claimed AIDS was God’s punishment…and a silence.
Hearing…
A silence that grew louder as the number of deaths grew…babies, children and straight married women and bi-sexuals…and people of all backgrounds…the rich and the poor…louder and louder…thousands and then millions…silence upon silence.
Watching…
As activists got up in the face of government to demand an end to the silence…to demand funding and research…meds and treatments…education and outreach.
Watching…
As so many turned away…even as so many others turned around and took up the cause.
And now wondering…
About a people who can get more worked up over a financial bail-out than they can over what another World AIDS Day means.
Wondering…
About a people who can shake with anger at town hall meetings over government involvement in health care reform…but are unmoved by the toll taken by eight years of religiousity in HIV/AIDS government funding and unstirred by the slow pace of unraveling the tentacles of that religiousity from the present administration's policies.
Wondering…
How a self-declared pro-life movement can offer nothing on this issue of HIV/AIDS…can continue to claim to value life even as they promote an anti-knowledge and anti-prevention agenda in vulnerable communities that has resulted in the death of thousands and will continue to have infection and death as it’s largest outcome for years to come.
And believing…
Although the war on HIV/AIDS and for better treatment, increased resources and more options for people living with HIV/AIDS remains one of the few wars this nation is reluctant to fight…
…it is winnable.
Oh, yes.
And hoping that one day the masses will pause on World AIDS Day to celebrate the end of HIV/AIDS and remember those lost but never forgotten.
Oh, if only the masses could get angry about this shit…
…if only anger fueled action on this shit…
If only.
Pause...collect thyself...continue.
A bitch woke up to another World AIDS Day.
Another day with AIDS in the world.
Another day to lead by example and get our action on...
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7 comments:
Oh, I remember those early days too. I remember them very well. I remember people saying, right out loud, "It's nothing for me to worry about. It's just some gay plague."
It's just drug addicts. Oh, and hemophiliacs; but really, what chance did they have anyway?
It's just black folks. It's just Haitians. It's just Africans; and isn't this all their fault to begin with?
Reagan has a lot of explaining to do. I imagine he's still at it.
HIV/AIDS is vial and I do not wish it on anyone. I pray for those who are struggling with it. Disease, not just this one affects us all. We can all think about what it would be like to get any of the stuff that is out there, how it affects ones life, and how it feels to live with something that totally changes your entire life and forces you to really face your mortality. The amount of fear and stress disease brings is astounding. And the fact is, you can do everything right and still get something crazy.
I thought World AIDS day was tomorrow and planned to post on it. Well, for those living with HIV and their loved ones, it's 365 days a year. They should be so lucky to have it only for a day, and to forget about it tomorrow.
Well said. Thank you.
I think you are being completely biased regarding the last 8 years of AIDS policy. George W Bush provided unprecedented levels of funding to fight aids in Africa and the caribbean. And if you dont believe me, listen to President Obama "I salute President Bush for his leadership in crafting a plan for AIDS relief in Africa and backing it up with funding dedicated to saving lives and preventing the spread of the disease," Under the Bush administration, more than 2 million people infected with HIV received lifesaving antiretroviral treatment as part of the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, or PEPFAR. "President Bush's efforts have saved literally millions of lives," said former British Prime Minister Tony Blair.
GWB's administration's record speaks for itself and neither President Obama nor former PM Blair can clean that mess up.
Rather than look to quotes from politicians I suggest you look at the facts -
http://www.rhrealitycheck.org/blog/2008/02/27/pepfar-wins-money-compromises-principle
- and, if the Bush Administration's PEPFAR legacy is your definition of success, may God have mercy on you.
I have my mother's textbook from when she was studying to be a nurse in the early 80's. There was one paragraph on HIV/AIDS. We buried a friend who died of cancer related to his HIV. We've improved but we have such a long way to go.
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