WAD 2004

I don't usually look forward to World AIDS Day. Although it's a worthy and important day, I often feel that too little is done about the pandemic. Many will feel as if they're doing something important by simply linking to (or just reading) a dozen or less blogs and/or links.

Even Link & Think isn't participating this year. Or so it seems. Here's a few links that I want to highlight:

International World AIDS Day 2004

The Black AIDS Institute focuses on the impact and devastation HIV/AIDS has had on African American communities. Comedian Mo'Nique shares her sense of lose and a call to arms:

Yes, I did lose my best friend to AIDS and I don't want you to lose yours. As Black women and as a community we need to start speaking up and speaking out on HIV/AIDS. It’s chilling to think that over half of all new HIV cases are a result of heterosexual sex, and Black women account for 72% of new HIV/AIDS cases among women in the U.S.? (The link to her entire Op-Ed is faulty; here's hoping that the Institute will have it fixed later today)

The U. N.'s WAD 2004 page

The same org focuses on the impact of HIV/AIDS on women and girls:

Many women and girls are vulnerable to HIV because of the high-risk behavior of others. This year’s World AIDS Campaign, with the strapline Have you heard me today?, seeks to raise awareness about, and help address, the many issues affecting women and girls around HIV and AIDS.

And because I'm not in the mood to write on a more personal note this year, here's my entry on WAD 2003.

I'm currently thinking about a more positive and reflective way to discuss and think about HIV/AIDS. Hopefully, I'll have some friends who will participate and spread the idea. I'll post about it again later this week. *fingers crossed*

Writer & Archivist Steven G. Fullwood has a heart-felt post remembering Cynthia Faye Fullwood. After reading this entry, I'm more determined to put in place the idea hinted at above.

Posted by ronn at December 1, 2004 08:30 AM