HIV/AIDS in the African-American Community: Personal Accounts

Personal Accounts | Viewpoints

See also: HIV/AIDS in the African-American Community | African-American HIV/AIDS Resource Center

Greg says his addiction to drugs and alcohol has been transformed into a passion for exercise. Click here to read his story.

Personal Accounts

Is the Ribbon Enough? (Regularly Updated)
A blog by Rev. Andrena Ingram.
From The Body
Enough Negativity! (Regularly Updated)
A blog by Teniecka Drake.
From The Body
Queer, Poz and Colored: The Essentials (Regularly Updated)
A blog by Brandon Lacy Campos.
From The Body
Kentucky: Lexingtonian Turns Her HIV Diagnosis Into a Book to Help Others (February 6, 2012)
In CDC HIV/Hepatitis/STD/TB Prevention News Update, from U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Living My Life Positively (February 4, 2012)
"I've been ridiculed and criticized because of my HIV status," writes Louisiana resident Millicent Foster; "But that has just made me more determined."
From The Body
Aaron B. Jones-Wade: Pastor, Shepherd, Homosexual (January 26, 2012)
In Black AIDS Weekly, from Black AIDS Institute
Yvette Nicole Brown: Building Community (January 21, 2012)
In Black AIDS Weekly, from Black AIDS Institute
Reaching the Mountaintop (January 21, 2012)
In Black AIDS Weekly, from Black AIDS Institute
The "S" on My Chest (January 11, 2012)
In Black AIDS Weekly, from Black AIDS Institute
A Present to Myself, on My 50th Birthday: A Blog Entry by Rusti Miller-Hill (October 25, 2011)
"I learned it's not about the destination, but the journey that counts the most. My journey has been a crooked and ever-winding path; I would not change my course for anything, including my living with AIDS."
From The Body
Q&A: Rep. Barbara Lee, Congresswoman and AIDS Activist (July 5, 2011)
In Black AIDS Weekly, from Black AIDS Institute
This Positive Life: An Interview With Oliver W. Martin III (June 8, 2011)
From The Body
I Can't Do It Alone (June 2, 2011)
In Black AIDS Weekly, from Black AIDS Institute
Still Standing After All This Time (June 2, 2011)
In Black AIDS Weekly, from Black AIDS Institute
TheBody.com's Blogger Rae Lewis-Thornton Featured in the Windy City Times and Women's Day (May 4, 2011)
In The Windy City Times
This Positive Life Video Series: An Interview With Lolisa Gibson (May 1, 2011)
From The Body
Alafia (Peace) (March 15, 2011)
"Since I am an information person, librarian actually, I will direct you to resources, ideas, and action. I plan to pour out to you all that I have learned throughout my journey."
From The Body
Missouri: AIDS Is Still Shrouded in Myths (March 14, 2011)
In CDC HIV/Hepatitis/STD/TB Prevention News Update, from U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Teniecka Drake: Balancing HIV Advocacy, a Husband and Three Young Children (March 7, 2011)
From The Body
Dr. Eric Goosby's Story: Fighting HIV/AIDS Around the Globe -- A Blog Entry From Positive Policy (February 23, 2011)
From AIDS.gov
Keith Green: Becoming a "Different Kind of Researcher" in Communities of Color (February 3, 2011)
From The Body
Jeanne Moutoussamy-Ashe, Photographer and Activist (February 1, 2011)
From Black AIDS Institute
Blessings Come in Many Ways ... A Blog Entry by Rae Lewis-Thornton (January 26, 2011)
"Who would have thought that this woman, basically a stranger to me would be such a blessing to me in so many ways. She blesses my tummy with those delightful creations in her shop [and] she's sponsoring our Heart to Heart for HIV Tweet-up for National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day."
From The Body
This Positive Life: An Interview With Marvelyn Brown (January 25, 2011)
In This Positive Life, from The Body
Monday Reflection: Just Continue to Do Your Part ... A Blog Entry by Rae Lewis-Thornton (November 15, 2010)
"In the last two years my combined speaking engagements have not amounted to what a month's worth used to be. And HIV/AIDS is worse than ever for African Americans."
From The Body
Illinois: AIDS Warnings, Instantly; Chicago Woman Living With HIV for More Than 20 Years Uses Twitter to Quickly Broadcast Safe-Sex Messages, Urge Testing (August 24, 2010)
In CDC HIV/Hepatitis/STD/TB Prevention News Update, from U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Through My Eyes: The Rev. Kevin E. Taylor (June 14, 2010)
In Black AIDS Weekly, from Black AIDS Institute
HIV Frontlines: An Interview With Debbie Hagins, M.D., Clinical Director of a Ryan White Clinic in Georgia (February 5, 2010)
From The Body
Personal Perspective: Stepping Back, Looking Forward (Fall 2009)
To read PDF, click here.
In Achieve, from ACRIA and GMHC
This Positive Life: An Interview With Justin B. Smith (September 2, 2009)
From The Body
Personal Perspective: Life and Death and HIV on Long Island (Summer 2009)
To read PDF, click here.
In Achieve, from ACRIA and GMHC
Evany Turk (July/August 2009)
A success story.
To read PDF, click here.
In Positively Aware, from Test Positive Aware Network
This Positive Life: An Interview With Lois Crenshaw (March 24, 2009)
From The Body
Martell Randolph -- Rare Virus, Rare Strength (March/April 2008)
Martell Randolph got a double shock nine years ago: She not only found out that she was HIV positive, but that she had HIV-2 -- a rare strain of the virus found mainly in the developing world. She recounts her struggle to get proper treatment.
To read PDF, click here.
In Positively Aware, from Test Positive Aware Network
Profiles in Courage: Fortunata Kasege (March 25, 2008)
From The Body
First Person: Marcya Owens
First Person: Joyce McDonald
First Person: Raven Lopez
First Person: Michelle Lopez
First Person: Precious Jackson
First Person: Teniecka Hannah (April 3, 2007)
First Person: Luana Clark
From The Body Features: Women & HIV
First Person: Charlene
The Little Voice Within: A Youth With HIV Learns to Trust Life (July/August 2006)
Keith Green, now 30, recalls the two days that changed his life 12 years ago: the day he was tested for HIV, and the day the results came back positive.
To read PDF, click here.
In Positively Aware, from Test Positive Aware Network
One-on-One With Tim'm West (July/August 2005)
Keith Green interviews the HIV-positive poet, rapper, author, HIV educator and lover of men and (sometimes) "womyn".
To read PDF, click here.
In Positively Aware, from Test Positive Aware Network
Greg Braxton: A Long Journey to Recovery (January 2005)
With a 27-year history of drinking, using drugs and sleeping with hundreds of women, Greg Braxton's AIDS diagnosis in 1994 came as no surprise.
In A Guide to Fuzeon: The First Fusion Inhibitor, from The Body
The Past, the Present and the Future (July/August 2004)
A reflective essay written in 2001 by Charles Clifton, the Chicago AIDS advocate who passed away in August 2004.
In GMHC Treatment Issues, from Gay Men's Health Crisis
Moving Forward (Summer 2004)
Harlem native Yolanda Birthwright, 54, wonders: If I'd never been diagnosed with HIV, would I be enjoying my life as much as I do now?.
To read PDF, click here.
In ACRIA Update, from AIDS Community Research Initiative of America
Ain't I a Woman? Change (July/August 2003)
Deneen Robinson, an HIV-positive African-American woman, has been an HIV educator for seven years.
To read PDF, click here.
In Positively Aware, from Test Positive Aware Network
One Day in the Life of Patricia Shelton (October 2002)
A 49-year-old black woman and mother of three grown daughters talks about her life.
In Body Positive, from Body Positive
One on One: Personal Story (Spring 2002)
An interview with Margaret Shepard, a black woman who has lived with HIV for more than 10 years.
In STEP Perspective, from Seattle Treatment Education Project
Positive Empowerment (November/December 2001)
After years of hiding from HIV in drug use, Tyrone Pittman is now positive about being positive.
To read PDF, click here.
In Positively Aware, from Test Positive Aware Network
Disproportionately Affected: The Impact of HIV in African-American Lives (Summer 2001)
Short interviews with African Americans whose lives have been affected by HIV.
In STEP Perspective, from Seattle Treatment Education Project
One-on-One With Earlene Hayden (May/June 2001)
An HIV-positive woman and former injection drug user herself, Earlene now works as a prevention specialist in Chicago.
To read PDF, click here.
In Positively Aware, from Test Positive Aware Network
Rituals and Regimens 2001: Life After Diagnosis (January/February 2001)
Sanford Gaylord deals with diagnosis and beginning meds.
To read PDF, click here.
In Positively Aware, from Test Positive Aware Network
The Evolution of African American Awareness About HIV/AIDS (November/December 2000)
To read PDF, click here.
In Positively Aware, from Test Positive Aware Network
To Be Young, Black and a One-Man AIDS Epidemic (January 1998)
Dennis Levy recounts his night in the Bronx with Ricky, an HIV-positive crack addict who knowingly spreads HIV around the drug community.
In Body Positive, from Body Positive
Girls in "The Hood" Get It Too! (Summer 1996)
"I'm not gay, I'm not white and I'm not a man ... I didn't fit the profile of someone with HIV".
In Women Alive Newsletter, from Women Alive