It's the 20th Anniversary of the World AIDS Day.
this is another thing that has had me kind of down for the last week. it's another thing that there doesn't seem to be a lot of forward movement on doing something.
it's also been 18 years since RT died and he's been on my mind a lot for the last week. i even went to the cemetery on Thanksgiving day [it was his birthday also] and i haven't been there in a couple of years.
i actually was in shock. there were flowers, a balloon and a holiday wreath on his grave. i have never seen this before. i thought that i was the only one who usually did this when i went there. i guess it was his family, but i don't know them to do things like this. they denied what happened. they refused to accept how he died. they blamed others for his death. the family basically fell apart when he died. he was the one who kept them together. i kept in touch with them for a few years, but it got to be too difficult. the only person i have contact with is his aunt, who is our age, and she has nothing to do with the family either anymore.
you see, this is one of the things that this ugly, terrible disease does. it destroys families not only by death but by stigma. it's devastated the continent of Africa. it has left millions of children orphans or sick themselves. it has brought inhuman behaviour by many because of it's ignominy.
it's viewed as a gay disease, when the largest proportion of people infected are straight. sadly, most all are African and can be forgotten because of that. the civilized world can dismiss them because they are on the dark continent.
in this country, because it is seen as a gay disease it can be dismissed because LGBT deserve it. it's our punishment for being..., well, you can insert any epithet you've heard over the years.
the idea behind all of the denial or misdirection or gated-community mindset keeps a lot of people immune from the problem. they are part of the problem.
what can i do? what can you do?
the theme for this years observation of World AIDS Day is LEADERSHIP.
from the World AIDS Day site:
it's also been 18 years since RT died and he's been on my mind a lot for the last week. i even went to the cemetery on Thanksgiving day [it was his birthday also] and i haven't been there in a couple of years.
i actually was in shock. there were flowers, a balloon and a holiday wreath on his grave. i have never seen this before. i thought that i was the only one who usually did this when i went there. i guess it was his family, but i don't know them to do things like this. they denied what happened. they refused to accept how he died. they blamed others for his death. the family basically fell apart when he died. he was the one who kept them together. i kept in touch with them for a few years, but it got to be too difficult. the only person i have contact with is his aunt, who is our age, and she has nothing to do with the family either anymore.
you see, this is one of the things that this ugly, terrible disease does. it destroys families not only by death but by stigma. it's devastated the continent of Africa. it has left millions of children orphans or sick themselves. it has brought inhuman behaviour by many because of it's ignominy.
it's viewed as a gay disease, when the largest proportion of people infected are straight. sadly, most all are African and can be forgotten because of that. the civilized world can dismiss them because they are on the dark continent.
in this country, because it is seen as a gay disease it can be dismissed because LGBT deserve it. it's our punishment for being..., well, you can insert any epithet you've heard over the years.
the idea behind all of the denial or misdirection or gated-community mindset keeps a lot of people immune from the problem. they are part of the problem.
what can i do? what can you do?
the theme for this years observation of World AIDS Day is LEADERSHIP.
from the World AIDS Day site:
The theme for World AIDS Day 2007 and 2008 is “leadership”. This theme will continue to be promoted with the campaigning slogan, “Stop AIDS. Keep the Promise.”
Leadership was selected as the theme for World AIDS Day to encourage leaders at all levels to stop AIDS. Building on the 2006 theme of accountability, leadership highlights the discrepancy between the commitments that have been made to halt the spread of AIDS, and actions taken to follow them through. The theme empowers everyone from individuals to organisations to governments to lead in the response to AIDS.
One of the greatest promises that I see for the U.S. is an end to the ridiculous sanctions that the Bush Administration placed on helping the world fight AIDS by restricting how organizations could wage war against the spread of the disease in order to get the money. In my mind, it was immoral and against every christian belief that he and his minions held.
what can you do to help? click on the links above or Google World AIDS Day
what can you do to help? click on the links above or Google World AIDS Day
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