Chicago commemorates World AIDS Day
In recognition of World AIDS Day, Chicagoans in nearly every corner of the city gathered on Tuesday to remember those lost to the devastating epidemic.
Festivities began in the morning at Center on Halsted with the unveiling of the Keiskamma Art Project. The project, designed by Nozeti Makhubalo specifically for the Center, is an altarpiece tapestry created over a period of nine months by more than 100 women in the South African coastal town of Hamburg. Revenue from the project is used to bring support to AIDS-stricken community.
Center spokesperson Danny Kopelson said he feels the tapestry’s theme of "fraternity all over the world" could not have been more fitting.
"It is all about community, working together and unity and it is certainly a hopeful message," he said. "We need to remember that AIDS is still an epidemic in our community and it’s important to keep the dialogue going."
In the evening, the Center hosted the world premiere of the Chicago Opera Vanguard’s Chicago AIDS Quilt Songbook.The event featured musicians from a wide array of genres who came together to add a "song panel" to a musical quilt of remembrance.
A bit further north, the Howard Brown Health Center hosted several events throughout the day. In addition to a candlelight vigil and presentations on the intersection of HIV and mental health and women’s health, Latino health specialist Julio Maldonado presented "HIV and the Latino Community." The presentation was intended to battle additional stigmas this group faces with a peer education format.
Maldonado said he feels outreach to Latinos needs to include culturally competent, tailored prevention messages to support a safe environment for speaking openly on risky behaviors.
"We need to be consistent with our message to work against the stigma. That can have a huge impact and we can’t do it alone," he told EDGE. "And it’s not just one day with World AIDS Day. It needs to be done every day, encouraging people to getting tested, educating and providing prevention."
HIV/AIDS statistics in the Windy City indicate infection rates remain alarmingly high for the men who have sex with men, and other at-risk groups. A study the city’s Department of Public Health commissioned earlier this year found half of the gay men found to live with HIV were unaware of their status. All told, more than 17 percent of gay men in the comprehensive study were HIV positive, and those rates were higher for black men. An estimated 20,000 Chicagoans are currently living with HIV/AIDS, and nationwide and Illinois ranks seventh in the number of reported AIDS cases since 1981.
Johnathon Briggs, spokesperson for the AIDS Foundation of Chicago, said he sensed a lack of urgency with current messages about HIV/AIDS in the media, particularly when compared with the fervor around reporting and federal action on the H1N1 virus or HIV abroad. He agreed a continued dialogue on the disease’s impact in the United States remains lacking.
"There needs to be continued mobilization around HIV," Briggs said as he noted infection rates for black MSMs are on par with sub-Saharan African rates in some parts of the country."With H1N1, there were ads everywhere. Public health departments mobilized around it and money was behind getting the message out there. I think if we could do a similar thing for HIV, we could see some real gains in stopping the spread of the epidemic."
In recognition of World AIDS Day, the AIDS Foundation will host its eighth annual World of Chocolate today at the downtown Hilton. Briggs described the "bittersweet" gathering, at which guests can sample treats from more than 30 of the city’s finest chocolatiers, as one of the foundation’s signature events.
"Today, there are more people in need of our services and non-profits themselves are under pressure to meet the capacity of the demand out there," Briggs said. "We need to get people talking about it more and more. It’s true that we are doing better than Africa overall, but we still need to address the challenge of getting resources and medication to the people and communities who need it."
