Greg Fordham speaks to Chris Matthews

On the day of the debate, Campaign to End AIDS members woke up at dawn to get a good spot at the Grove, the grassy area on the Ole Miss campus where media and partisans gathered for the debate, in order to stake out a good spot in their yellow AIDS t-shirts behind MSNBC's Chris Matthews. "We're trying to get the next president to support a National AIDS Strategy in the U.S.," Housing Works' Dennis Weakley told Matthews. Matthews, in characteristic pundit-fashion, only half-listened, and started talking about the need to fight AIDS in Africa.

To read about the rest of the Stand Against AIDS, check out the Update's story last week, or read standagainstaids.wordpress.com

September 18, 2008

EAST COAST STANDS AGAINST AIDS

Standing Against AIDS on the Brooklyn Bridge

"Obama or McCain, will you stand against AIDS?" More than 500 people walked across the Brooklyn Bridge yesterday, one stop on the itinerary of the Northeastern caravan of the Stand Against AIDS. The Northeastern caravan is one of nine caravans converging in Oxford, Mississippi on Sept. 26 at the first presidential debate between Sens. Obama and McCain. Their aim? Obtain commitments to from both presidential hopefuls to take meaningful steps toward the creation of a National AIDS Strategy in the first 100 days of occupying the Oval Office.

Activists from up North weren't the only ones making a ruckus: Last Saturday, a “walking” caravan of folks marching 172 miles from Jackson, Mississippi to Oxford kicked off, with a little help from civil rights hero James Meredith. Check out our reports on both the Northeast caravan and the walking march below, and for all the juicy insider info on the progress of the caravans visit to standagainstaids.wordpress.com

Monumental march

Staff and clients from Harlem United, GMHC, Housing Works, NYCAHN, Bailey House and CitiWide Harm Reduction all gathered at a park near the foot of the Brooklyn Bridge on an exceptionally beautiful morning. They carried banners and signs, and wore T-shirts demanding not only action on AIDS from the next president but from New York City officials as well. Once the 400-strong crowd hit the westbound lane pedestrian lane of the famous bridge, tourists, bikers and New Yorkers headed east cheered and gave them the thumbs up.

The marchers poured into City Hall Park for an upbeat but no-nonsense rally. "As we stand outside City Hall we have to remember we have some serious battles in our own backyard," said GMHC's Kristin Goodwin. Some of those battles, which many speakers highlighted, include overturning the $6 million cuts to AIDS funding in this year’s City budget and implementing HASA for All, which would provide HIV-positive asymptomatic people with housing and other benefits already provided to people diagnosed with AIDS.

"There's a whole community of people who have HIV but aren't able to access services before they get sick. That ain't right," said Shirlene Cooper, NYCAHN co-executive director and participant on the Northeastern caravan.

"Why is it the Department of Health always takes from us first?" asked Derrick Starr of VOCAL. "Is it because they think we're the weakest link? Well, I've survived 23 years with this virus because I'm strong."

For Carmen Rodridgez, a peer educator with CitiWide Harm Reduction, the latest cuts hit close to home. She was diagnosed with HIV in 1996. She buried her 5-year-old daughter 11 years ago and her husband four years ago. "That's why I'm a peer educator and why I'm still fighting. It's gotten better because of medication, but we're still losing a lot of children and a lot of people."

Before hitting the Big Apple, the Northeastern caravan had successful events along the way, including its launch in Portland, Maine. Seventy people turned out for a rally outside City Hall, among them nine political candidates. State Representatives Anne Haskell and John Hinck attended, as was the Portland DOH and every media outlet in town. Andrew Bossie of Maine AIDS Alliance and Jeannemarie Celentano of the Frannie Peabody Center were the brains behind the launch. "This was a great opportunity to get HIV and AIDS talked about in the public arena," Bossie said. "This epidemic is the modern most-deadly epidemic of our time. It's 100 percent preventable. To not have a strategy for all of the U.S., rural and urban, is unacceptable. It's time for a plan not just sitting on a shelf, but one the government can implement to end this epidemic."

The caravan also made whirlwind visits to Boston and Albany. For a list of press coverage so far click here.

Walk, walk, walk

The Stand Against AIDS "walking caravan" from Jackson to Oxford, Mississippi, kicked off on a blustery morning last Saturday with an electric and emotional rally. Participants in the "Walk Against AIDS" are walking the entire 172 mile route to Oxford, partly as homage to the historic 1966 voter registration march led by civil rights legend James Meredith, from Memphis, Tennessee to Jackson.

Meredith was on hand Saturday, looking dapper in a gray suit and shocking-red Ole Miss hat. His presence energized the organizers and activists in attendance, as well as the press who swarmed him as soon as he arrived.

In comments to the press and in a speech during the rally, Meredith repeatedly called the Stand Against AIDS "potentially the single most important development in American history since the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr." because it was an effort to return America's focus to issues facing poor people. "The subject is AIDS but the real issue is the poor. Since Dr. King died, no one has raised that issue, but you can raise it!" he said.

Meredith also accused the organizers of the upcoming presidential debate in Oxford on Sept. 26 of changing the debates' subject from domestic issues such as health care and AIDS to foreign policy after hearing about the Stand Against AIDS. "I smell a rat," he said. "That rat is going to have to come out by Nov. 4!"

Meredith wasn't the only one to get the 30 or so AIDS activists and their supporters who attended the rally fired up about the Walk Against AIDS. AIDS Action in Mississippi's Eric Bailey, who is also the Stand Against AIDS Mississippi (AAIM) representative, earned a roar of applause for his comments about denial and stigma. "I'm HIV-positive and it doesn't get anymore good-lookin' than this!" he joked. "I'm not saying that to be vain, but to remind you that you can't tell who has HIV and who doesn't. Everyone should get tested."

Also participating in the rally were Housing Works President and CEO Charles King, who led the crowd in prayer; Pat Smith, who lifted spirits with her singing; and longtime Mississippi activist Robin Webb, who sang two original songs. The event's most emotional moment came when attendees were invited to write the names of friends and loved ones they'd lost to AIDS on a large pad as gospel music played in the background.

Singing against AIDS

That cathartic ritual gave the Walk a turbo boost. After showing the crowd the literal "message in a bottle" that Jackson activists would be sending along with the marchers about the demand for a National AIDS Strategy (something hundreds of cities will be doing), AAIM's Valencia Robinson picked up an American flag and led a crowd of some 20 walkers on the first steps of their 172 mile journey. At least one marcher was more than ready. "I've been training for eight weeks for this, walking 10 to 15 miles a day!," said James Bender. "I've been HIV-positive for 22 years and seen too many people die. It's time to stop AIDS."

The marchers have been trucking along, though on Tuesday there was a bit of a speed bump. According to the Stand Against AIDS blog, "The group started towards Greenwood, Mississippi. Got about 6 miles down the road and realized they were going in the wrong direction! Oops."

For more on all the details of the rally, the media coverage and the subsequent adventures of the marchers, check out the Stand Against AIDS Blog at standagainstaids.wordpress.com.

September 12, 2008

STAND AGAINST AIDS IN NYC

Walk against AIDS!

Want to participate in the Stand Against AIDS, but can't make it all the way to the group's big Mississippi shindig later this month? You're in luck! Next Thursday, September 18 at 1:30 p.m., the Stand Against AIDS Northeast Link Caravan will lead hundreds of AIDS activists in a march across the Brooklyn Bridge to a rally at New York City Hall.

As hopefully you know by now, the Stand Against AIDS is a multiweek effort of the Campaign to End AIDS demanding that presidential hopefuls Sens. John McCain and Barack Obama commit to creating a national plan to end AIDS with in 100 days of taking office. Nine caravans of AIDS activists are traveling across the country to make their demand in person at the first presidential debate in Oxford, Mississippi on September 26.

Members of the Northeast Link Caravan, who are driving from Portland, Maine, to Oxford, Mississippi, will help lead the march and rally in New York. In addition to the National AIDS Strategy demand, next week's march and rally will highlight the consequences of $6 million in HIV/AIDS budget cuts in New York City this year—just as new statistics show that New York City's HIV infection rate is three times the national average.

At 1:30 p.m. everyone will gather at Cadman Plaza East in Brooklyn. At 2 p.m. the march across the Brooklyn Bridge begins. At 3 p.m. participate in a rally at New York City Hall. Throughout the day, activists from across New York and throughout the Northeast will outline why a national AIDS strategy is critical and how it can help stop the spread of HIV and ultimately end the epidemic. At 4 p.m. you can go home.

The Stand Against AIDS caravans, including one "walking caravan" (172 miles from Jackson to Oxford) are traveling a total of 10,851 miles through 47 states in September, culminating in Oxford for the presidential debate. The Northeast Link Caravan starts in Portland on September 16 and travels through Concord, Providence, Hartford, Boston and Albany before arriving in New York City on September 18; the caravan will then continue through New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Washington, DC, West Virginia, South Carolina, Indiana, Kentucky and Tennessee before arriving in Oxford with the other caravans from different parts of the country. Once the caravans arrive in Oxford, they will participate in four days of Stand Against AIDS activity, culminating with a mock funeral just before the first presidential debate begins on September 26.

For more information about the New York city event, contact Dennis Weakley at d.weakley@housingworks.org

FORDHAM'S FORTITUDE

Fordham (at AIDS Watch 2008 )

This article is one of a series of Update profiles of men and women who will be leading activist caravans as part of the Stand Against AIDS, a multi-arm, multi-week advocacy road trip aimed at getting presidential hopefuls Sens. Barack Obama and John McCain to commit to taking meaningful steps toward the creation of a National AIDS Strategy within 100 days of taking office. The caravans kick off in mid-September and converge in Oxford, Mississippi on September 23 for four days of action. The first debate between Obama and McCain takes place in Oxford on September 26.

In Virginia, AIDS is often the "pink elephant in the room," said Greg Fordham of Norfolk. "No one wants to talk about it, but sooner or later you're going to step on it." In Gastonia, South Carolina a woman told him that "if you come here talking about HIV, people will walk out."

But attitudes like this make Fordham all the more determined to step on that elephant—and to lead the Stand Against AIDS caravan. Beginning with a town hall summit in Norfolk on September 19, the caravan will travel from Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia to Oxford starting the next day.

Fordham said a key to fighting for a National AIDS Strategy is for people with AIDS to simply disclose their statuses. "The reason we're discarded most of the time is because people don't realize it's you they're talking about. It's just 'those people, those people.' I became an activist when I realized I was one of 'those people' they were talking about," Fordham told the Update in February. Along with being the founder of C2EA's Virginia chapter, Fordham is a member of the Ryan White Planning Council.

Long-term fighter

Fordham was diagnosed with HIV in 1995, and in 2003 faced another challenge when he lost both of his legs in a car accident. "I fight for a lot more now," he said. "Before it was just about HIV, but now it's about people with disabilities too." He said he faces stigma as someone with disabilities. "Because you're in a wheelchair people feel extra sorry for you, but my brain didn't change," he said.

As the caravan sweeps the southeast, it will blend both local concerns such as how city council officials in Richmond should address HIV, with national issues like calling for a National AIDS Strategy. Fordham is excited for the "message in a bottle" part of the Stand Against AIDS, where participants at each caravan stop will put in a message in a bottle explaining what they want to be addressed by a National AIDS Strategy. "A lot of times people don't know about the national issues," Fordham said. "I gave a speech in August where I spoke about the immigration policy and I'm surprised how many people didn't know about the immigration policy, but I didn't know about it before either."

The chance to educate people makes planning the caravan worth it, even though it's taken more time than Fordham, 48, originally anticipated. "It's hard work!" Fordham said. "I honestly thought I would just have to call a few people. But I can see the pay-off in the end."

For more information on the Stand, go to c2ea.org or call 877-ENDAIDS (363-2437) or contact Valencia Robinson at (601) 944-1403.

September 5, 2008

MOTHER OF ACTIVISM

Jonesing to Stand Against AIDS

This article is one of a series of Update profiles of men and women who will be leading activist caravans as part of the Stand Against AIDS, a multi-arm, multi-week advocacy roadtrip aimed at getting presidential hopefuls Sens. Barack Obama and John McCain to commit to taking meaningful steps toward the creation of a National AIDS Plan within 100 days of taking office. The caravans kick off in mid-September and converge in Oxford, Mississippi on September 23 for four days of action. The first debate between Obama and McCain takes place in Oxford on September 26.

When Marsha Jones' eldest daughter was diagnosed with HIV 11 years ago, Jones didn't know where to turn for support. "We were trying to access services for teenage girls but none were available. We didn't have any resources we could put our hands on," Jones said. They didn't find any services until Jones' daughter landed in the hospital with cytomegalovirus (CMV) and PCP. The hospital helped them find the AIDS services they needed; since then Jones has guided her daughter's care. "Everything she learned she learned from me, and everything I learned I taught myself," said Jones, who has one other daughter, one son, and three grandchildren.

Unfortunately, because of the CMV, Jones' daughter is blind but otherwise her health is excellent: She has had an undetectable viral load for the past five years. And although Southwest caravan leader Jones, 47, has always been the chief advocate in the family while her daughter has kept a low profile about her status, that's about to change. Jones' daughter will be joining Jones in the caravan from Dallas to Oxford. "Our family has been her only support system. But when she learned about the Stand, she was so motivated. She was like, 'Mom, I've got to get involved.'"

Jones' daughter is not the only one. The Southwest caravan is bustling. More than 50 people will participate in the caravan, which begins in San Diego, then heads through Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas and Louisiana on its way to Oxford (some activists from Hawaii will fly in to Dallas and be "adopted" there and ride along with Jones, her daughter and 30 other Dallas-area residents). The Dallas contingent has already started mobilizing. On Saturday, August 23 historical black college Paul Quinn College hosted "Raise the Praise," which piqued interest among students in the Stand Against AIDS.

Asking more questions, seeking more answers

Jones left her job as an accounting clerk in 2001 to be a full-time HIV advocate and educator. She has made HIV education such a part of her life that when her then-8-year-old granddaughter saw AIDS ribbons on television, she said, "You're going to be rich! Because they're using your stuff!" Jones' youngest daughter is now in college, and also assists with outreach, bringing home classmates who she thinks need some extracurricular sex education and empowerment to talk to her mother. "When women understand reproductive justice, they can better protect themselves against HIV," Jones said.

Despite Jones' commitment to education and outreach, she said it wasn't until joining the Campaign to End AIDS last year that she became well-versed in the nitty-gritty of federal policies such as the Early Treatment for HIV Act and ADAP as TrOOP.

Jones said, "I thought 'Why am I on the Ryan White Council but I'd never heard these things before?' It made me ask more questions and seek more answers. I'd seen people say they were grassroots organizers, but C2EA was the first time I saw it in application."

Jones believes the Stand will help ignite the sense of urgency around AIDS there was in the '80s and '90s. "I support people being advocates for themselves and demanding what they want. For years we've been asking but the Stand is a demand."

For more information on the Stand, go to c2ea.org or call 877-ENDAIDS (363-2437) or contact Valencia Robinson at (601) 944-1403.

August 29, 2008

CHANGE FROM CHICAGO

Wallace (with AIDS Foundation of Chicago's David Munar) of the Stand Against AIDS

This article is one of a series of Update profiles of men and women who will be leading activist caravans as part of the Stand Against AIDS, a multi-arm, multi-week advocacy roadtrip aimed at getting presidential hopefuls Sens. Barack Obama and John McCain to commit to taking meaningful steps toward the creation of a National AIDS Plan within 100 days of taking office. The caravans kick off in mid-September and converge in Oxford, Mississippi on September 23 for four days of action. The first debate between Obama and McCain takes place in Oxford on September 26.

When Richard Wallace, 26, started working as an organizer in Chicago, he noticed how the African-American community was hurt by the AIDS epidemic, other health disparities and a disproportionate number of people in prison. After his godfather was infected with HIV, the struggle became personal.

Wallace is the Mississippi River caravan leader for the Stand Against AIDS, which late next week will tell a fellow former Chicago organizer (and Sen. John McCain) to commit to creating a national AIDS plan in the first 100 days of taking office if elected U.S. president. "I see a million people get testing, but if you don't provide simple services like food, water and shelter, then it's all for nothing," Wallace said.

Wallace's front-line prevention and outreach work allow him to see the big picture when it comes to HIV/AIDS. He works at the Test Positive Aware Network doing counseling and networking for men who have sex with men on the West Side of Chicago, where he struggles to get youth to take prevention seriously. He recounts the story of a kid telling him he wasn't worried about contracting "high five" (HI-V) because if he just took "skittles" (medication) he'd be fine. "The youth at this point just need some clear cut information about HIV," Wallace said. "My goal is to provide that."

Wallace also works at Refuge, providing information to families of newly infected former prisoners. "We educate the families so they know they can sit on the same toilet and provide basic HIV 101," he said.

Despite Wallace's commitment to AIDS advocacy and having graduated from C2EA's Youth Action Institute in 2006, he was initially skeptical when C2EA national organizer Larry Bryant approached him about leading a Stand Against AIDS caravan. "Too often people at the grassroots level are recruited to get locked up or make noise, but in the end, a few people get picked to have their voices heard," Wallace said.

Bryant convinced Wallace this wouldn't be the case, and Wallace is now optimistic. He leads the his "caravan" via Amtrak from Chicago on September 22.

"Day in and day out, I work with people who are at the highest risk for HIV but aren't getting the services they need. People in the heartland and across the country have been devastated by inaction on AIDS over the last eight years, so we're taking the message directly to the candidates that it's well past time to seriously address AIDS in the United States," Wallace said.

August 1, 2008

STANDING AGAINST AIDS IN THE SOUTH

Last month, I attended the Southern Access Summit, and it was a disturbing reminder of how the South has been ravaged by the AIDS epidemic. Even though the South is only 36 percent of the U.S. population, 52 percent of people with HIV live in the South. Of the 20 states with the highest rates of new HIV diagnoses, nine are in the South. Southern states comprise 65 percent of AIDS cases among rural populations.

Now is the time to take action. Until every level of the U.S. government systematically addresses HIV and AIDS in the South, the disease will continue to ravage not just the South, but poor and rural areas throughout the country. The lack of basic services and prevention in rural areas is too important to be addressed in a piecemeal funding process or by simply throwing a few more federal dollars our way. What we need is a long-term plan to provide evidence-based prevention and access to quality care while diffusing the stigma that undermines these efforts.

In Mississippi, for instance, it doesn't matter how much money the federal government sends, the powers that be aren't putting the money where it needs to go. We have great clinics, but not enough doctors to write prescriptions. We have $6 million federal dollars going to abstinence-only-until-marriage sex education that is failing our youth. They are experiencing rising rates of STDs, including HIV. We have more than $2 million in HOPWA dollars, but we don't have the political will to create long-term housing.

What can we do in the face of such intimidating challenges? One place we can start is The Stand Against AIDS. The Stand Against AIDS, a multi-arm, cross-country September advocacy event sponsored by the Campaign to End AIDS, is demanding that the next U.S. president take significant steps toward creating a national AIDS plan in the first 100 days of his presidency. While the president and the federal government alone cannot be asked to shoulder the blame for the epidemic, leadership at the highest level of the country is essential for creating a blueprint to end AIDS.

The time is now

The Stand Against AIDS will undoubtedly get people's attention. In the days leading up to the first debate between Sens. Barack Obama and John McCain in Oxford, Mississippi, on September 26, hundreds of people will ride in caravans departing from all across the country. Along the way they will hold events to build support for a national AIDS strategy and call attention to local AIDS issues. In a "walking" caravan, activists will walk 208 miles from Jackson to Oxford to highlight the toll of the epidemic in Mississippi and the South. The march has been endorsed by numerous civil rights groups, including state chapters of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and the NAACP.

If you were as disturbed as I was by the devastating statistics highlighted at the Southern Access Summit, I hope you'll consider getting involved in the Stand Against AIDS. It's a precious chance to make our demand for a serious national AIDS strategy to the presidential hopefuls when the entire world is watching. We need riders, volunteers, and even if you can't make it to Oxford, you can help out when a caravan hits your home city. Hopefully, soon the numbers coming out of the Southern Access Summit will be a cause not for sadness, but celebration.

For more information go to c2ea or call 1-877-ENDAIDS (363-2437) or contact Valencia Robinson at robinson@aidsactionms.org or (601) 944-1403.

July 3, 2008

PROUD TO STAND AGAINST AIDS

Obama impersonator stands against AIDS

On Sunday, rainbows brought rainstorms.

Despite a torrential downpour, more than 100 raucous HIV/AIDS activists from Housing Works and CitiWide Harm Reduction participated in a New York City Gay Pride float dedicated to the upcoming Stand Against AIDS, a multi-arm cross-country road trip to the first presidential debate between Sens. John McCain and Barack Obama in Oxford, MS, on September 26.

The goal of the Stand Against AIDS is to get commitments from both McCain and Obama to create a national AIDS strategy within 100 days of taking office, and the vocal marchers let the crowd know, cheering, “You've got 100 days to Stand Against AIDS!" They wore T-shirts and masks with caricatured images of Obama and McCain, carried banners and handed out Obama/McCain condom packs.

Marchers in Obama masks got more cheers from the gays and gay-friendlies on the sidelines than those who impersonated McCain—this was New York, after all. However, the Stand Against AIDS, a project of the national activist network the Campaign Against AIDS, isn't affiliated with any candidate or party and seeks commitments from both candidates to end AIDS in the U.S. The U.S. requires foreign countries seeking billions in funding to fight AIDS to have a national AIDS plan, but doesn’t have one itself. The U.S.'s patchwork AIDS infrastructure has failed to reduce new HIV infections for a decade and funding to fight AIDS is increasingly inadequate.

"Stand against AIDS!"

"We don't want another Reagan," said Erica Baez, referring to the late president's inaction that led to the swelling of the AIDS crisis in the 1980s. Baez was dressed in candidate-chic, with photos of McCain and Obama plastered to her legs, reflecting her bipartisan spirit. "I'm technically still 50/50 because I really wanted Edwards," she said.

Not proud of mayor and city council

Along with condom packs, a last minute addition to Housing Works/CitiWide Pride party favors were action alerts asking Pride-goers to contact Council Speaker Christine Quinn, New York City Council members and Mayor Michael Bloomberg to vote against the New York City budget that cut lifesaving services, prevention and treatment for HIV/AIDS. Unfortunately the hush-hush budget passed later that night.

CitiWide marcher Rodney Mark said that as a person living with HIV, he was disappointed in the city’s cuts. "People don't believe it, but New York City is the leading city in the country for AIDS, so if AIDS isn't fully funded in New York what can we expect for the rest of the country? We need to set an example," he said.

NEW ACTIVISTS IN NEW MEXICO

Javier Acevedo Baez and Rheingans smile between YAI sessions photo by: Maralis Mercado

Last week, during advocacy training at the fourth-annual Youth AIDS Institute (YAI), session leader Johnny Guaylupo showed slides of himself getting arrested during civil disobedience actions. Still, not everyone was signing up to lay down in the middle of traffic.

"I'm big on following rules," said Jeremy Turner, of Evansville, Indiana, one of YAI's 15 participants, "We have to follow the rules we set for ourselves. Shouldn't we also be following the government's rules?"

Turner's question provoked exactly the kind of discussion that YAI, held this year on the campus of University of New Mexico in Albuquerque, was designed to elicit. The purpose of YAI is for young AIDS activists, many living with HIV, to benefit from the skills and knowledge of those who have come before them, then take that information back to their home towns and engage in a real-life AIDS advocacy project.

This year's participants, who ranged in age from 16 to 26 and hailed from Puerto Rico, Michigan, New Mexico, New York and beyond, were already exceptionally experienced. Among the participants were case managers, researchers, outreach workers and even an author. YAIer Marvelyn Brown's memoir The Naked Truth: Young, beautiful and (HIV) positive will be published this year by HarperCollins Publishers.

"People with passion"

The week started with a bang last Wednesday with participants benefiting from the wisdom of two guest speakers: New Mexico Health Department Andrew Gans, who spoke about HIV prevention in his state, and Housing Works president and CEO Charles King, who discussed youth's role in the civil rights and AIDS movements.

Thursday non-profit consultant and YAI organizer Jeremy Grandstaff led a session about leadership, and there were also sessions about back-to-back seminars. On Thursday there were sessions on leadership seminars on major AIDS issues and how to tackler them, as well as time devoted to the Campaign to End AIDS projects AIDSVote and the Stand Against AIDS Campaign to End AIDS projects AIDSVote and Stand Against AIDS. On Friday young activists took over with a policy panel. Maralis Mercado explained the Centers for Disease Control projections of new infections that are expected to rise from the long-touted 40,000; Chelsea Gulden, 26, presented her findings comparing different sexual education programs in her home state of North Carolina, where schools can only teach abstinence-until-marriage-only HIV prevention, and teachers have to report to parents any questions children ask about sex; Turner spoke about CDC's Diffusion of Effective Behavioral Interventions (DEBIs) and the challenges they pose, and Carrie Rheingans told of her experience with needle exchange in Michigan.

Even these "policy wonks," as organizer Christine Campbell affectionately called them, said YAI sharpened their skills. "It was great being surrounded by so many people with passion," Rheingans, 26, said. "I see the agenda to end AIDS and how it's achievable, and how we can turn the fight against AIDS to fight other social justice issues." She is planning to create an outline for an advocacy program that can be replicated by groups of students at University of Michigan students, and in the longer term, start Ann Arbor's first formal Latino AIDS outreach program.

Gulden has been a case worker and activist since shortly after her diagnosis in 2003—even appearing on Oprah with fellow YAIer Brown in 2006—but said YAI was still eye-opening. "I've gotten to brush up on existing skills and perfect the 'elevator conversation' where I can talk about AIDS advocacy in 30 seconds," she said.

YAI Class of 2008!

Gulden brought along two of her clients, Joshua Lee Campbell and George Montgomery, who plan to begin their activism careers with an HIV awareness and testing campaign at Johnson C. Smith University. Campbell and Montgomery say the school is the only one in Charlotte, N.C., where such programs have been cut. Campbell, who was diagnosed with HIV in 2006, said "We are going to start campaigning to the students and petitioning department heads that this is something that's really needed."

Albuquerque resident Melissa Pacheco, who, at 16 years of age was the youngster of the YAI crew, said she plans to do testing and education in different pueblos outside her city. "It's not just about the testing," she said. "It's good to talk to them and give HIV education."

And what about Turner, who challenged the idea of civil disobedience as advocacy tactic? He won't be getting arrested any time soon but is enthusiastic about the upcoming Stand Against AIDS, C2EA's multi-armed cross-country road trip to the Mississippi presidential debate on September 26. "I can't make it to Mississippi but I can meet the caravaners in Louisville with sandwiches and ice. Even though I'm not a lay-down-on-the-street person, sandwich people are also important," he said.

May 30, 2008

DICK GLOVER DIES AT AGE 70

Dick Glover with Silvia and Caleb at Disneyland (photo credit: Valerie Sarmiento)

Dick Glover, 70, adoptive father of Caleb, the HIV-positive toddler who was discriminated against at Wales West RV Resort in Alabama, died Sunday of non-Hodgkins lymphoma. When Caleb was denied entry to the pools and showers at Wales West in July, Glover and his wife, Silvia exposed the stigma against their then-2-year-old foster child, raising awareness of how HIV is transmitted and energizing HIV-positive activists across the country. Before his death, Glover testified before a judge as part of a possible federal Justice Department lawsuit against Wales West.

Glover, who fostered more than 60 children during his lifetime, was described in POZ as an "accidental activist." He only wanted his son to be treated like his HIV-negative peers.

"Little Caleb, he was innocent as can be. It was not his fault he was born with AIDS," Glover told Good Morning America in July.

The Glovers' appearance on GMA informed Campaign to End AIDS (C2EA) activists of Caleb's plight. On Labor Day, C2EA brought dozens of HIV-positive activists from around the country to the pool in Alabama from which Caleb had been banned for a peaceful swim. Dick was unable to attend the event, but his committment to justice was there in spirit.

"Dick Glover's willingness to stand against stigma and discrimination made him a true AIDS warrior," said C2EA national organizer Larry Bryant.

Those who met Glover were immediately touched by his kindness. "He was genuine, down-to-earth and a true gentleman," said Brian Hodes, who was touched by the Glovers' story and organized a fundraiser that brought the Glovers to Disneyland in March. On Sunday Hodes will begin AIDS LifeCycle, a 700-mile bike ride from San Francisco to Los Angeles, where he and a caravan of riders have for months planned to ride in honor of Caleb and against discrimination that people with HIV/AIDS face. And now, Hodes said, "we'll be riding in Dick's memory as well."

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