HIV/AIDS in the U.S. Latino Community: Personal Accounts

Damaries Cruz describes finally starting HIV meds after 20 years, and how she uses holistic health practices alongside her med regimen.

Beatriz Diaz has been living with HIV since 1992. She feels fortunate to share her house with her son, daughter-in-law and grandchildren.

The Ninja Report (Regularly Updated)
A blog by Frankie Ninja.
From The Body
Time to Show My Face and Take the Stigma Away (Regularly Updated)
A blog by Maria T. Mejia.
From The Well Project
Queer, Poz and Colored: The Essentials (Regularly Updated)
A blog by Brandon Lacy Campos.
From The Body
A Brighter Vision (Regularly Updated)
A blog by Enrique Franco.
From The Body
David Munar: Making "the People's HIV Plan" a National Reality (September 15, 2011)
From The Body
This Positive Life: An Interview With Rafael Abadia (September 15, 2011)
Rafael came close to death several times in those early years of the epidemic, and has taken numerous HIV treatment regimens. Nowadays, he's tirelessly working to raise awareness of HIV in Latino communities in his home state of Florida. (Also available in Spanish.)
From The Body
This Positive Life: An Interview With Bernadette Berzoza (September 15, 2011)
From The Body
TheBody.com Blogger Maria T. Mejia Profiled in the Windy City Times (July 6, 2011)
In Windy City Times
This Positive Life Video: An Interview with Efrain Carrasquillo (May 1, 2011)
"It's not about how you die that counts; it's how I lived that matters. And I want that to be really remembered ... I'm 46 years -- old, I am still here."
From The Body
My HIV/AIDS Story: A Video Blog by Maria T. Mejia (April 15, 2011)
How did TheBody.com blogger Maria go from silence about her HIV status to being an outspoken advocate? Watch her tell her own story.
From The Well Project
Damaries Cruz: Deciding to Start Treatment After Nearly 20 Years of Living With HIV (March 30, 2011)
From The Body
This Positive Life: An Interview With HIV Prevention Activist Jose Ramirez (August 11, 2010)
In This Positive Life, from The Body
This Positive Life: An Interview With Esmeralda, Part Two (May 19, 2010)
Esmeralda, 37, forges a successful new path for herself and her children, and manages to find love along the way.
In This Positive Life, from The Body
This Positive Life: An Interview With Esmeralda, Part One (May 19, 2010)
Esmeralda was 25 when her husband died of AIDS, leaving her HIV positive, with one baby and another on the way.
In This Positive Life, from The Body
Spotlight on Latino Commission on AIDS President Guillermo Chacon (March 17, 2010)
In Housing Works AIDS Issues Update, from Housing Works
Living Openly as a Gay, Positive Man in the Hispanic Community (November 11, 2009)
The U.S. military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy got Enrique Franco discharged from the Army. It also, oddly, was the reason he found out he was HIV positive. As Franco explains in this moving interview, diagnosis turned his life upside down, but he's now standing tall. "This is my body, this is my life," he says. "I'm not going to stop living. I refuse to put my head down."
In This Positive Life, from The Body
Personal Perspective: The Tigers Outside My Window (Spring 2009)
To read PDF, click here.
In Achieve, from ACRIA and GMHC
This Positive Life: An Interview With Ahmad Salcido (February 2, 2009)
Being gay and HIV positive is frowned upon in many Hispanic and Muslim communities, and 23-year-old Ahmad faces unique challenges because he's part of each. However, he's found a supportive community in San Francisco, and his diagnosis has inspired him to take better care of his health.
In This Positive Life, from The Body
Living With "The Monster" (Winter 2008/2009)
"Are we going to die like those people on TV?" was the first thing 6-year-old Raven Lopez asked when her mom told her she was HIV positive. Her mom's answer, of course, was "no" -- and 12 years later, both of them are still going strong.
To read PDF, click here.
In Achieve, from ACRIA and GMHC
This Positive Life: Harley Enthusiast Talks About Life With HIV (January 5, 2009)
Joseph has been living with HIV since 1995. Originally from Chicago, he makes his home in San Francisco now.
In This Positive Life, from The Body
This Positive Life: An Interview With Damaries Cruz (October 15, 2008)
HIV-positive Latina goes public with her status in the Hispanic community.
From The Body
First Person: Nina Martinez
HIV Helped Me Rediscover Life: A Gay Man of Color Tells His Story (Winter 2005/2006)
Victor R. Pond explains what it felt like to live through the first 15 years of the U.S. HIV epidemic -- and how it shaped the self-perception of HIV-negative gay men of color.
To read PDF, click here.
In ACRIA Update, from AIDS Community Research Initiative of America
Beatriz Diaz: From Silence to Success (January 2005)
Beatriz Diaz, 49, learned the hard way that loving yourself is critical to committing to HIV treatment.
In A Guide to Fuzeon: The First Fusion Inhibitor, from The Body
Latinos Living With HIV/AIDS in NYC (February 2004)
Profiles of four HIV-positive Latino/as and seven AIDS organizations in New York City.
In Body Positive, from Body Positive
In Hiding -- an Ecuadorian Woman (March/April 2003)
To read PDF, click here.
In Positively Aware, from Test Positive Aware Network
My Journey From Addiction and Incarceration to Recovery and Hope (2003)
Marina Alvarez, a Latina AIDS educator and community organizer, was the opening speaker at the World AIDS Conference in Amsterdam.
To read PDF, click here.
From PositiveWords
Our Mexican Flower, Our Beloved; Doña Santa (Summer 2002)
In Women Alive Newsletter, from Women Alive
Rural Profile: Maria (Summer 2001)
The story of a 24-year-old Hispanic IV drug-using mother.
In STEP Perspective, from Seattle Treatment Education Project
One-on-One With Sylvia Vázquez-O'Shaughnessy (May/June 2001)
Sylvia discusses her diagnosis in 1983, years of misunderstanding the disease and her path to empowerment.
To read PDF, click here.
In Positively Aware, from Test Positive Aware Network
Powers of Example: Theresa Nieves (September 1997)
"I was one of the few Latinas out there doing advocacy work, and who was not afraid to say 'I have AIDS'".
In Body Positive, from Body Positive