The Positive Pitch

This Sunday July 1st at 9pm EST Robert and Jeromy will be speaking with the original "Positoid" Shawn Decker. Infected with HIV as a child through the contaminated blood products used to treat his hemophilia, Shawn learned early in life about discrimination. Within a month of testing positive for the virus, he was kicked out of the 6th grade. By all accounts, he wasn't expected to live five years.

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On Sunday June 24th at 9pm, POZ I AM Radio spoke with Nick Rhoades. Nick Rhoades was convicted of "Criminal Transmission of HIV" in Iowa in 2008, even though his viral load was undetectable, he wore a condom and his accuser did not contract HIV. He was sentenced to 25 years in prison and lifetime sex offender registration. After a year of total incarceration, the judge reconsidered Nick's sentence and released him on five years probation, as well as the sex offender registration requirement. His case for post-conviction relief is still ongoing.

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On Father's Day Sunday June 17th POZ I AM radio spoke with Michael Kearns, an HIV+ father. Michael Kearns is an American actor, author, director, teacher, producer and activist. Long before coming out of the closet was considered a career move in the entertainment industry, Kearns was the first Hollywood actor on record to come out in the mid-seventies, amidst a shocking amount of homophobia. He subsequently made television history in 1991 announcing on Entertainment Tonight that he was HIV positive.

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I have been thinking of a cool and fun way to raise awareness that hasn't been done before. I recently came up with the Red Ribbon Photo Challenge. I have a friend who has done photo challenges and they are fun. So let the Red Ribbon Photo Challenge begin. After 30 years, this June being the first ever HIV/AIDS awareness month. So we at POZ I AM are asking you to put the red ribbon back on to educate others. We are asking you to post creative photos of yourself raising awareness using a red ribbon.

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On Sunday, May 20 at 9pm EST, Robert and Jeromy spoke with Mary Bowman. Timid and soft spoken off stage, Mary Bowman is known to be fearless as she shares her story with audiences around the Washington Metropolitan area. She is the published author of National Underground Spoken Word Poetry Awards 2011 Book of the Year Lotus. She is also nominated for National Poetry Awards "Poetry Author of The Year" 2011. Mary has been writing poetry for about eight years. She has been featured at Busboys & Poets (all locations), the legendary "Spit Dat" open mic (D.C.), Jus Words (Philadelphia, PA), Slam Charlotte (NC) and a host of other community events and venues on the East Coast.

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On Sunday, May 12, Robert Breining and Jeromy spoke with the marvelous Marvelyn Brown. Marvelyn, a 27-year-old native Tennessean, learned she was HIV-positive at age 19. Her autobiography, The Naked Truth: Young, Beautiful and (HIV) Positive, was published by Amistad/HarperCollins in 2008.

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On May 6, I spoke with Robert Suttle on POZ I AM Radio. Robert shared his experiences of being subject to HIV criminalization and how he is advocating for change. Robert Suttle was convicted under Louisiana's HIV-specific criminal statute after accepting a plea bargain and served six months in a Louisiana prison for HIV non-disclosure to a former partner, with whom he had a contentious relationship. Upon his release in January 2011, he has become engaged in anti-criminalization advocacy work.

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This Sunday April 29th, I spoke with the author of Delicate Courage, Jim Geary on POZ I AM Radio. I first met Jim Geary and his partner Jeff Allen at the PL14 Conference. I felt an instant connection with them. Sometimes you meet someone it feels like you met them before or knew them your whole life. This is how it felt for me. I was so happy to reconnect with them again this year at PL15 and I took it as a sign to have Jim on my show.

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Today, Friday May 4th at 12 p.m. EST the POZ I AM Radio show hosts Robert Breining and Jack Mackenroth spoke with Jamar Rogers about his time as a contestant on The Voice.

This past Tuesday brought the end of the road for four contestants on The Voice, none more shocking to us than our friend Jamar Rogers. With only eight singers left in the competition heading into the elimination Tuesday, Jamar faced teammate Juliet Simms in a battle to represent Team Cee Lo in the finals. Cee Lo gave 60 points to Juliet Simms and 40 points to Jamar Rogers. When combined with America's vote, the final result of 121-79 in favor of Juliet. So our friend Jamar may not have won the title of the The Voice but he definitely won the hearts of America.

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Dear HIV,
Funny meeting you here
Since these are our first words spoken in over 10 years.

But listen to my words, because this is the truth.
I've had a love/hate relationship with you since my youth

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