Posts Tagged ‘HIV/AIDS’
Remembering Mario Cooper
The email took me by surprise. Sean Strub, the founder of POZ magazine, asked if I would write a few words about our friend Mario Cooper. “What happened to Mario?” I wrote back obliviously. Before Sean had time to respond, I called my friends Maurice Franklin and Phill Wilson and found out for myself. Our…
Read MoreWhere Have All the Black Men Gone?
A few weeks ago I was stunned by a front page New York Times article headlined, “1.5 Million Black Men, Missing from Daily Life.” As troubling as the recent deaths of young black men at the hands of law enforcement have been, they serve as tragic examples of a larger trend of our own “disappeared,”…
Read MoreWhat Are We To Make Of Pope Francis’ Inclusive Prison Visit?
Pope Francis joined 90 prison inmates for lunch during his visit to Naples last Saturday, including 10 from the ward which houses those who are gay, transgender, or have HIV/AIDS. They were among the 1,900 inmates who participated in the lottery for a chance to eat with the Pope. The pope did not address LGBT…
Read MoreAIDS Is Dead: The Recounting Of A Man Still Living With It
“I believe in living. I believe in birth. I believe in the sweat of love and in the fire of truth.” –Assata Shakur The flight attendant asks me if I would like anything else to drink. Her voice all but falls inaudible on my ears as I continue to march these words back and forth…
Read MoreWhen Some Lives Matter More Than Others
In the wake of criticisms aimed at President Obama’s handling of Ebola, a black and white photograph of Ronald Reagan started appearing all over my Facebook feed. Written across the photograph, in standard meme format, were these words: “President Reagan ignored AIDS until 20,849 Americans had already died. But tell me again how Obama’s immediate…
Read MoreConfronting Echoes Of The AIDS Hysteria As We Battle Ebola
Exactly a decade ago this month I received an email flagged as urgent from Monrovia, Liberia. It was from Lee Johnson, then coordinator of “Liberian Youths Against HIV/AIDS.” “Presently, the HIV/AIDS scourge is deeply eating into the fabric of our society and there is little being done to bring this to a halt. Therefore, some…
Read MoreThe Boys Who Never Grew Up
My mother said that she never wanted to grow up. That could be why she taught first grade all of her professional life and was beloved by her students. She was one of them. In her later years, she confessed with a laugh, she couldn’t quite “get” that she was the old woman who looked…
Read MoreA Queer Climate Change?
The streets of New York were thronging with people in the first ever Climate March on September 21. Demonstrators had a message for world leaders at the United Nations Climate Summit beginning that week: approve a Climate Treaty that includes strong actions. It was the largest Climate Change March in history with over 400,000 people…
Read MoreMaking HIV Medication Affordable For All
When it was evening, the disciples came to Jesus and said, “This is a deserted place, and the hour is now late; send the crowds away so that they may go into the villages and buy food for themselves.” Jesus said to them, “They need not go away; you give them something to eat.”––Matthew 14:…
Read MoreThe Family Secrets In My Grandmother’s Bible
My grandmother’s Bible is in remarkable shape, considering it’s spent almost 20 years shuttling between cardboard boxes, garages, and basements, and traveled more than 1,000 miles from Florida to New York. Its soft leather cover is free of cracks, its maroon handles show no strain, and its zipper opens smoothly. But the book inside is…
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