November 11, 2005
PRAYERS! PROTESTS! PROGRESS!
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HW IN DA HOUSE: The walkers finally hit D.C. |
With dozens of weary but elated Housing Works foot soldiers among them, nearly 500 people with HIV/AIDS and their supporters said tearful, triumphant goodbyes to one another in Washington, D.C., this Tuesday. It was the last of four high-energy, high-profile Days of Action organized by the Campaign to End AIDS, or C2EA, the new national group demanding that local, federal and world leaders do more to stop the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the U.S. and abroad.
It was also the culmination of an effort into which Housing Works has sunk hundreds of thousands of dollars plus endless time and energy this year. And it was resounding proof that HW's unique blend of insider advocacy and outsider protests can work on a national level.
The fact that the caravans, whose numbers were dealt a harsh setback by Hurricane Katrina, ultimately carried hundreds, not thousands, of C2EAers to Washington wasn't the point. The summit laid the groundwork for deeper and broader C2EA mobilization in the months and years ahead, with many delegates pledging to strengthen C2EA networks in their individual states.
"We've lighted a fire and we're bent on keeping it burning," declared HW top dog and C2EA co-chair Rev. Charles King on Wednesday as he drove a vanful of HWers back to New York City after three weeks that included a 21-day foot march to D.C.) to bring C2EA's message of ending AIDS to towns big and small, rich and poor, from the Big Apple to the Beltway.
BACK ON THE RADAR
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WHAT'S THAT SOUND?: The march captivates Anacostia families |
Gatherers also highlighted the immediate need for Congress to reauthorize and fully fund the Ryan White CARE Act, which provides treatment and care to more than a half-million uninsured Americans with HIV/AIDS, and to increase funding for other programs relied upon by people with AIDS worldwide, such as Medicaid and the U.N. Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria.
The national framework for C2EA has already been put in place by eight C2EA caravans that traveled different routes through the U.S. en route to Washington. Together, the caravans gave rise to scores of rallies, town meetings and other events in more than 150 stops nationwide to highlight the need for increased AIDS funding and an end to stigma and discrimination against people with HIV/AIDS, especially in small towns in the South, where HIV/AIDS rates have risen in recent years. African Americans, who account for nearly half of new HIV infections in the U.S., also made up roughly half of all C2EA travelers.
Originating in points as diverse as New York City, Miami, Seattle, and Brownsville, Texas, the caravans were postponed for a month after the devastation of Hurricane Katrina. Half of all money donated at C2EA events along caravan routes and in Washington will go to agencies serving the estimated 21,000 people with HIV/AIDS affected by Katrina.
MARCHES AND HYMNS
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TAKE ME TO THE RIVER: Alongside the Anacostia River en route to rally |
On Sunday, an interfaith prayer service was held at Metropolitan AME Church, where the body of civil rights hero Rosa Parks had lain the week before. Graciously hosted by Metropolitan's Rev. Ronald E. Braxton and his associates, the program inside the beautiful church featured an array of spiritual leaders, singers and performers of all faiths who touched on the spiritual values of compassion, forgiveness and faith that were driving the Campaign to End AIDS.
Touching on the perception that the Black church has been resistant to addressing HIV/AIDS, D.C.'s Rev. Laverne Harley told the crowd, "Don't forget about the part of the church that goes beyond these four walls. Let's come up with some creative ways to deal with stigma." Urging congregants to "change the message" about AIDS, she said, "Tell people you've been HIV-positive 15 to 20 years, and they'll tell somebody. Don't give up. Keep hope alive. And learn to forgive people if they say something inappropriate about HIV/AIDS."
That night, several hundred young C2EAers gathered in Malcolm X park for the first of several events protesting the Bush administration's promotion of abstinence-only programs over condom-inclusive sex ed. Creating an edgy rave feel with their myriad glowsticks, they marched through DuPont Circle en route to Lafayette Park in front of the White House, their cries of "Tell Youth The Truth! Don't Keep Us in the Dark!" echoing through the streets.
FROM THE HOPPER TO THE HILL
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FIGHT THE RIGHT: HW pays a morning visit to Family Research Council |
About a dozen protesters, some dressed as condoms, chained themselves together near a glass-walled display of a traditional heterosexual bride and groom (complete with elegant silverplate wedding-cake cutter) while the rest put posters saying "Condoms Save Lives" and "Don't Censor Science" in windows and on the beak of a large statue of an American eagle. FRC staffers coming into work stood by looking alternately angry and amused until police (and media) arrived and arrested the FRC 12, who included HW CEO King and HW Thrift Stores president Matthew Bernardo, who organized the action. The 12 were jailed in separate cells for more than 24 hours, and face charges of unlawful entry because the bookstore hadn't yet opened for the day. HW staffer Nancy Cotto-Laboy, among the arrested, said she didn't regret the action, saying, "We need to let people choose if they want to use condoms or not—We can't hide information that they work." (Next week we'll take a closer look at the FRC action, which has already inflamed the right.)
Later that day, several hundred C2EAers gathered in McPherson Square for a similarly-themed Campaign to Increase AIDS)—organized by CHAMP, ACT UPs Philly and New York and other groups—that massed outside the offices of right-wing group Concerned Women for America (because it has pressured the U.S. government to withhold funds from global relief agencies that won't explicitly oppose sex work, often the only livelihood available to many women in poor nations). The attention-grabbing midday throng then proceeded to the White House, where about 25 protesters crossed a security line to construct a mock "AIDS graveyard" and hold a die-in before the White House gates. They were arrested but released soon after with a small fine.
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THE ADVO-CATS: Rep. Honda (l) huddles with HW's D.C. point man Robert Cordero on C2EA Advocacy Day |
Tuesday, participants kicked off Advocacy Day with a Capitol Hill press conference at which Del. Donna Christian-Christensen (D-VI) and Rep. Michael Honda (D-CA)—representing the Congressional Black Caucus Health Braintrust, the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, and the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus—announced a congressional resolution supporting C2EA's core demands. Don't assume your representatives know or care about the issues that are important to you, Honda told the crowd, stressing the importance of initiatives like C2EA. Participants then fanned out and presented their demands in visits to over 385 congressional offices.
CHANGE FROM WITHIN
The summit wrapped up later that day with a roundtable at which many participants, exhausted but exhilarated, focused not only on the policy and funding changes C2EA seeks—but the inner changes wrought by their journeys. Many said they felt freed from the isolation and shame of being HIV-positive. "I'm going home inspired to let folks in Tennessee living with the virus know that there's hope for change, and that they can be a part of it," said Tony Sea of Memphis, who was diagnosed with HIV in 1987. Rochelle Baerga of Miami spoke for many when, crying, she said simply, "I feel more empowered."
Just before participants regrouped into their own caravans for the long flights (and, for some, reverse caravan rides) home, Judith Dillard, of Ft. Worth, Texas, who plunged into drug addiction after her HIV diagnosis but embraced activism in recovery, held the crowd rapt with a hymn that captured the mood, "We've Come This Far By Faith." Added Dillard at the end, "We've got a lot further to go."