February 23, 2007
D.C. GET READY
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C2EA protestors marching through DC in 2005 |
Washington, D.C., mayor Adrian Fenty better be prepared. The Campaign to End AIDS (C2EA) just officially inaugurated its 11th chapter in the nation's capital last week and bird-dogging Fenty at public appearances is one of its top priorities. No matter that Fenty is a progressive supported by the AIDS community and was the only mayoral candidate to speak at C2EA's Anacostia Park rally during the coalition's 2005 D.C. summit. "We plan on holding a speak-out in every ward of the District if Fenty doesn't address the HIV portion of his 100-day plan for the city," says newly elected D.C. cochair Danielle Pleasant.
Sounds like the true can-do end-AIDS C2EA spirit.
Fenty aside, the newest chapter of C2EA—a national AIDS coalition founded two-years ago to fight the epidemic worldwide, while advocating for universal access to care and treatment and the rights of people with HIV—has no shortage of agenda items. First it wants to strengthen local PWA groups by providing education about relevant HIV/AIDS issues.
"Getting people to write letters and participate in advocacy is hard to do if they don't know what the Ryan White Care Act is," says Larry Bryant, C2EA D.C.'s other co-chair. By speaking directly to D.C. residents who receive HIV services, Bryant, a national field organizer for Housing Works, was able to recruit the requisite 51 percent PWA majority needed to officiate a new C2EA affiliate. (Bryant is hopeful that West Virginia and Florida will meet this and other criteria and join the C2EA family by spring).
Stemming the Tide
Once it starts mobilizing area PWAs, the D.C. C2EA folks will address head-on their city's out-of-control epidemic and push for a state of emergency to be declared there. The District's HIV rates rank among the worst in the nation with an estimated one in 20 of the city's 500,000 residents infected. The annual rate of new AIDS cases is ten times higher than the national average.
The city's response has often been weak and bungled, with understaffed and poorly coordinated efforts, especially in programs servicing the city's youth and at-risk groups. A top priority for C2EA D.C. is to ensure that the position of director of HIV/AIDS administration at the Department of Health is filled.
Pleasant also wants to make a big push for HIV education in schools. "We need it starting at a young age. Our kids are having sex at 13 or 14, if not younger, and they're putting themselves at risk for STDs and HIV. Schools want to teach health, but they don't want to talk about sex or HIV," she says.
Pleasant and Proud
Pleasant, a 40-year-old single mom, is no newcomer to fighting the AIDS epidemic. She was diagnosed with HIV nearly 15 years ago; one of her five children also has the virus. A former army recruit, Pleasant found out she had HIV after mandatory military testing in 1993. Since then she has participated in a mother-to-child transmission trial for AZT, worn numerous hats at ASOs—case manager, group facilitator, clinical trials educator, grant writer—and has represented PWAs on the Ryan White Planning Council. "When I first started on the Ryan White Planning Council 12 years ago, I didn't talk at all. But now, as a leader, I bring forth ideas and generate new ideas," she says.
David Mariner, a new member of C2EA D.C., says the group appeals to him as a local-organizing vehicle, having worked nationally on LGBT initiatives with Advocates for Youth. Mariner, who runs his own comprehensive D.C. AIDS blog, www. fighthivindc.blogspot.com, says that all of C2EA D.C.'s priorities can be summed up in one word: accountability. "Politicians generally say all the right things. If you look at [Mayor] Fenty's position paper from his plan [for HIV/AIDS], it's promising. But if you look at the passed 60 days, we'd all like to see more," he says.