by Sean Black

Photographed by Stephen Churchill Downes

More than being an acclaimed photographer and a champion for those, who like himself, are living with HIV, Duane Cramer is a family man. “My mother always reminded us [he and his three sisters] that we ‘came from something.’ I see that every time I look upon my father’s quilt panel,” shares the former member of the board of directors of the NAMES Project/AIDS Memorial Quilt, who lost his father to AIDS-related complications in 1986. Joe J. Cramer, Jr., PhD, “a trailblazer,” states Duane, was a successful “Big Five” accountant and an associate dean of the business school at Howard University in Washington, D.C.

It isn’t just the words of his mother or the image of his father that reminds him that he “came from something,” it’s also the act of sewing itself. “My family [like most] wanted to be seen well and sewing allowed them to dress and present themselves at their very best,” explains Cramer about the textile art that has extended its usefulness throughout the past two and a half decades to the construction of quilted totems for those we’ve lost to AIDS. “It has been a family tradition, passed down generation after generation. It is part of who we are,” he proudly shares.

Perhaps this sense of individualized tailoring is what, in part, drew Duane to become a spokesperson for I Design, a campaign spearheaded by the global healthcare leader Merck already in partnership with fashion designer and Project Runway All-Stars’ Mondo Guerra [A&U, January 2013]. The campaign continues its mission since its inaugural launch last year to encourage patients living with HIV to work with their doctors to “tailor” their HIV treatment plan by approaching HIV treatment “through their own lens,” says Duane. Featuring interactive, Web-based tools, including downloadable digital and mobile apps, a conversation checklist and a digitized textile and design template, which illustrates a personalized approach, I Design creatively assists, engages, and fosters individuals to have meaningful discussions with their doctors about their individualized HIV management needs. It helps keep track of and manage their health. Focusing on designing your future is now as important as our sewn remembrances of the past.

The panel of Joe J. Cramer, Jr., PhD, (block number 4680)

Those of us like Duane and his immediate family, who have served as handmaidens of the Quilt, know firsthand of the heartache attached to this painful yet empowering act of love. But imagine shedding tears over needle and thread alongside your mother and siblings for your father. Delicately pricking the stenciled fabric as each tiny stitch pierces your heart—from the outline of a cloth-transfer of his likeness in his youthful days, to the edges fastening the golden letters bearing his name. Then in the fall of 1996, shortly after returning home from the Quilt display (around your thirty-fourth birthday), you discover that you’re HIV-positive yourself.

“My best friend died of AIDS twenty-seven years ago,” touchingly shares Cramer, now fifty. “My best friend was my father. I really miss him. It is through the experience of my father’s death as well as other relatives and friends who have died from AIDS that I find the power within to make a positive change and to stand up for myself [and others as well]. I think, too, if others can come from a place of empowerment then they are helping their community.”

“At the time of my father’s death the stigma, the shame and the guilt that I felt—it really silenced me,” shares Duane. “It silenced me, and it silenced my sisters and my mother too and it wasn’t until I became HIV-positive myself that I was really able to face my responsibility to talk to people about this disease.”

Drawing from his own experience, he is vocal, not only about his HIV status but about being gay as well. When we spoke this past April, he was presenting at the 5th Annual Bolder Than OUT Conference, which identifies itself as a “change agent” for equality, social justice, and dignity for the black LGBT community. “I was able to encourage people to be honest in every area of their lives in order to make a difference.”

Tirelessly advocating for education-based programs promoting awareness and preventing the spread of HIV is ultimately what prompted Duane to take on his role with the I Design campaign. Moving into its second year of promoting self-expression among individuals in their own HIV treatment regimens, the campaign celebrated a re-launch with Duane on-board this past February 7, in recognition of National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day.

Looking forward, the I Design Campaign will be continuing its aim and soon be rolling out a series of community-based events in different cities across the United States. “It encourages people to share their own truth with their doctors to develop treatment programs that are going to be far better for themselves, so it’s about fostering conversation and open communication,” emphasizes Duane.

Reflecting, he admits, “I have had that experience [miscommunication with his physician] more than one time and it’s frustrating. Sometimes the lack of communication even resulted in misdiagnoses or refusal of treatment. But each time I advocated for myself—I got better results. Active communication is vitally important so that you can talk about side effects, alternative treatments and other health issues. It can make all the difference.”

Duane Cramer uses the “My Health Matters” and the “My Positive Agenda” applications available via desktop or mobile device. “We are all different—some people are more vibrant, some people are more outgoing and some people are more introverted. This a menu of choices and tools that anyone can utilize that will work for them. So if someone is not as verbal, they can track all of this information daily/weekly on their own in one or more of these applications and take their notes or checklist and share it with their doctor. Additionally, this way the information is captured and not lost. It helps so that people don’t forget certain ways they felt, or certain side effects that they may have experienced between their visits.

“I will tell you there were times in the past before I started using these applications and not keeping notes that I may have been having some issues and I’d go to my doctor and, if at that time I was feeling well, I’d forget about sharing important information. These applications make sure I don’t miss anything; it even sets reminders on when to take your meds.” Both “My Health Matters” and “My Positive Agenda” are downloadable from the I Design Web site.

He has a number of other activities coming up that further center around community outreach, a passion of his, for the African-American MSM community across the nation: Philadelphia Black Pride, Houston Splash Pride, DC Black Pride in the nation’s capital, and Miami’s SIZZLE event. “It’s a road show of sorts. I’m doing photography at the events and more.”

Talking candidly about his mission to help as well as the “fabric” of who he is, has been a passion for this former Xerox business executive, University of Southern California degree holder and later VP for Better World Marketing who often shot the final images for their globally hopeful ad campaigns. Emerging as a highly sought-after photographer in the worlds of both fashion and editorial, the warm and engaging photographer has worked for international publications ranging from Harper’s Bazaar, OUT magazine, and the New York Times.

When not shooting high-profile notables or everyday people of equal substance, he is an active philanthropist (clearly) who gives generously

Duane’s paternal grandfather, Joe Cramer, Sr., (right) and a friend, circa 1925 in Houston, Texas

of his time to ASOs like the Iris House in Harlem, which focuses specifically on the needs of black women with HIV. He was a founding member of his San Francisco hometown’s first LGBT community center; a co-chair of the Millennium March on Washington in 2000; VP on the board of directors at Frameline, San Francisco’s LGBT film festival, for many years; and an active delegate with both the Black AIDS Institute and the CDC’s “Testing Makes Us Stronger” campaign, the first national HIV awareness and testing campaign sponsored by the federal government under the National AIDS Strategy with a sole focus on increasing the welfare of black gay and bisexual men. (Log on to: http://hivtest.cdc.gov/stronger/index.html.) “This effort is close to my heart and was nominated by GLAAD as one of the top ‘mainstream’ ad campaigns last year,” he happily reports.

Pausing to consider the younger generation of his family, the consummate uncle reminds me of the alarming disproportion that the adolescents of his community and his relations bear. In 2009, the CDC reported that African-American youth accounted for sixty-five percent of new infections for HIV. With concern he concedes, “This is particularly personal to me because all of my four nephews and my one niece are between thirteen and nineteen years of age.”

Beyond his compassion and a deeply rooted respect from whom and where he’s come, an inherent talent and appreciation of photography was planted in his makeup. “Growing up,” he shares, “there were always really beautiful portraits in the homes of my different family members—my grandparents, my aunts, my uncles. The photographs were arresting with lots of expressions of hope and dignity and I knew many of the people in the photos. I was also really struck by the images of people [ancestors] dating back to the 1800s. I later learned that many of the photographs were actually taken by my family members, many by my uncle, Edsel M. Cramer.”

Duane’s eldest uncle was an intellectual and a well-known visual artist born in 1923 and commissioned in his later years by distinguished individuals like the 41st President of the United States, George H. W. Bush, to do large-scale oil-on-canvas portraits in his family home in Houston of his children, including son and future 43rd President George W. Bush.

Duane not only inherited his uncle’s talent, he inherited many pieces of his work including four painted portraits done by Edsel, commissioned by his brother (Duane’s late father) of him, his sisters and his grandparents which now hang in his California studio.
Of the photographs handed down by his maternal grandfather, Freddie Brazos, Duane enlightens. “They [photographs] were on the walls, in family albums, sometimes in very simple wooden frames and other times in very ornate precious metals. A lot of these images too were in personal photo albums. Over time I have become the collector and family historian of these images, which are really inspiring. I see so much perseverance, hope and beauty in them.”

The San Francisco African American Art & Culture Complex (AAACC) has acquired a collection of thirty reproductions of the historic family portraits of the “Cramer-Brazos” clan, which makes the center the largest holder of Cramer’s own work and archive of images handed down to him. Furthering his heritage, he is also planning on releasing a book of African-American historic images later this year.

“They are really aspirational photos and I was able to see a lot of diversity. When I think about very specific images, I think about this one image in particular of my grandfather and a friend of his—another gentleman, circa 1925. They are each sitting on the arms of a high-back chair and their shoulders are touching—it’s clearly a studio portrait and they are both dressed very well and are very distinguished. It is a really beautiful intimate image of two men together. Another of my favorite pictures [of his own making] is of my first nephew, Drake Joseph Brown, and his young cousin, Charles Ervin Phillips III, together. Many pictures are of families that are clearly of mixed race and mixed ethnicity with their children looking so proud. I say “Wow” when I think about what these people had to overcome in order to survive and thrive. These images and stories were burned into my memory at a very early age.”

Recalling a poignant anecdote about his father, Duane shares. “I will never forget one of the quotes my father had typed up on his IBM

Charles Ervin Phillips & Drake Joseph Brown [left to right], Steps of the Church of the Immaculate Conception (Catholic), Washington, D.C., August 20, 2000, Ilford photographic film, silver gelatin print, 16 by 20 inches

“So what I am doing is carrying on the legacy of documenting my family as well as the experiences of so many people whether heads of state, or celebrities or people living with HIV/AIDS. I am able to show to the world [and future generations] that these people existed and embody a shared sense of humanity. “

To see examples of Duane Cramer’s work go to this month’s Gallery and log on to: www.duanecramer.com. Facebook: Duane Cramer, follow Duane on Twitter @DuaneCramer, on Instagram: EyeSeeIt.

For more information about Merck’s campaign I Design log on to: www.projectidesign.com.

For more information about Stephen Churchill Downes, log on to www.scd11.com.

Editor at Large Sean Black interviewed Kylie Minogue for the February cover story.

Read this article in the May 2013 digital issue on our site by clicking here or off-site by clicking here.

Mayhem is a better word for May, the way I look at it. Mayhem from the stresses of living in an uncertain, unsafe world. What with the aftermath of the Boston bombings and the rising cases of a new strain of bird flu coming out of China…life is stressful!

One looks to family to take the stress out of life. And mothers, in particular, for the way they accept us for who we are. Mother’s Day has always been a bittersweet event on my calendar. It’s because whenever it comes around, I feel guilty for all the years that I didn’t tell my mother about my HIV infection. Keeping it from Mom—who, at the age of seventy-eight, still volunteers as a grantwriter for a Southern California science foundation that furthers the careers of young scientists—was disrespectful at best and reckless at worst. After all, isn’t it our mothers who give us life, change our diapers, take our temperatures and give us Children’s Tylenol when we’re not feeling well?

How many young men and women stay in the HIV closet far longer than they need to? No studies have been done about this phenomenon, but it’s worth noting that the HIV closet need not exist in the first place. Coming out of the HIV closet was a slow and grueling process for me; one far more difficult than publishing this magazine. The stigma that continues to surround AIDS also surrounds entire families. How many children hide in the medical closet if they happen to have cancer, leukemia, or any other “socially acceptable” form of illness? I suspect very few; I cite two of my sisters who had breast cancer, and they felt no need to hide their ailments. Everyone they knew and who loved them offered their support.

Sadly, my sister Cindy died from cancer. But my other sister, Beth, is thriving and raising three beautiful children. Her strength gives me strength.

But AIDS and HIV infection continue to carry an almost irreversible form of stigma. When Lady Gaga sings “Born This Way,” she is, of course, referring to lesbians and gays being born with their sexual preference. But when it comes to having HIV, it is not, unfortunately, so blame-free in our culture.

See for example Tyler Perry’s scandalous new movie, Tyler Perry’s Temptation, which squarely places blame on the person, rather than the virus. It is an awkward moment for Mr. Perry—hopefully he will help reduce AIDS stigma in his future film projects. Many Americans love his work but I would hate to see his own insensitivity to persons living with HIV replicated in his audiences. This is a role model we don’t need: to give permission to millions to look upon HIV infection as a self-destructive choice, rather than the medical condition that it is.

Speaking of living with a life-threatening but also life-affirming disease such as HIV/AIDS, let’s not overlook the power of the photographic image. In this month’s cover story, photographer and activist Duane Cramer speaks to A&U’s Sean Black about how a picture can dispel a thousand myths: “At the time of my father’s death [from AIDS complications] the stigma, the shame and the guilt that I felt—it really silenced me, and it silenced my sisters and my mother too and it wasn’t until I became HIV-positive myself that I was really able to face my responsibility to talk to people [through my photography] about this disease.”

Others have been energized by families, too. Justin B. Terry-Smith’s column celebrates the fact that those living with HIV can find new “mothers,” who will support and accept them in their search for health and happiness. In Chip Alfred’s interview with Mary Fisher, the artist and advocate expresses how learning about her positive status deepened her sense of motherhood. Now she is helping women in Zambia impacted by HIV, many of them mothers, along the route to empowerment. Let’s take a cue from Duane Cramer and create a family portrait that includes us all.

David Waggoner is Editor-in-Chief and Publisher of A&U magazine. He founded the magazine in 1991.

Read this article in the May 2013 digital issue on our site by clicking here or off-site by clicking here.

Photo by Jason Lockwood

“G’day, me mate!” declares an ever-so-affable voice as I enter Cambridge Hotel in the Surry Hills section of Sydney, Australia. It’s Raj Patel, guest relations officer, and he pleasantly grabs the suitcase out of my hands. Whew, the older I get the more makeup I need—thus my bags get heavier and heavier! This place is conveniently located just off Hyde Park and its contemporary lobby is highlighted with vivid energetic secondary colors. After check-in, Raj and I ride the petite elevator, which sports hypnotic neon lights at its baseboard. They change colors through muted Plexiglas. Anyone for disco?! We arrive on the thirteenth floor and he flings open the door to my grand homey suite with all the comforts. There’s a balcony that has a breathtaking city view to kill for as one sips a glass of Bordeaux! Once settled, I call me ol’ Aussie friend, Steve Bloom.

Steve has quite a story. He was married to a woman for twenty years, had two daughters, and is now partnered with a man, Jason. He’s currently writing about this emotional experience and in the meantime, he facilitates a support group for men in heterosexual relationships who are coming to terms with their same-gender attraction. In the group they deal with many issues surrounding coming out, married life, and HIV issues as well. Steve is also an active participant in AIDS fundraisers, and regularly volunteers for Montefiore Home, an aged care provider. Though his career has been in IT, he’s presently making a move toward being a life coach, while taking courses developed by Anthony Robbins and Cloé Madanes.

After I visit the Australian Federation of AIDS Organizations (AFAO) and OzHarvest, which rescues food from hotels, retailers, and restaurants to help feed the hungry, Steve suggests I meet him in the lobby/cafe of BridgeClimb, in The Rocks area of Sydney. I had no idea what I was in store for.

Ruby Comer: [We greet, and, as we sit down at a tiny table, Steve smacks down a ticket before me—a pass to CLIMB the Sydney Harbour

Adventuresome souls on the BridgeClimb overlooking Sydney Harbour. Photo courtesy BridgeClimb Sydney

Bridge! I’m flabbergasted and shout.] You want me to climb…what?
Steve Bloom: Ruby Comer, trust me, this will be an exciting adventure. I know you’re afraid of heights, but believe me, you’re hooked in all the time and it’s a slow progression until you actually get to the top.

I’m going to the…top…?! Oy vey. [I shake my head as my eyes rise to the ceiling.] Okay…[I could never refuse an escapade with a man.]
Let’s get a bite to eat first.

Since we have about forty-five minutes until the next tour we munch on a chicken, avocado, and lettuce sandwich with soda water.

Tell me about your support group, Steve. I think you mentioned that you’re now president of the group, right?
Yes I am. It’s called GAMMA (Gay And Married Men’s Association) and the group is supported by ACON (AIDS Council of New South Wales). We have regular discussions on sexual health including AIDS, a terrible disease that still scares me.

Do you get tested?
Yes, I go for regular sexual health checkups. My first time was probably 2010 when I came out and started having regular sex with different men. It’s possible I was screened prior to that as I used to donate blood and had several surgeries.

Did you and your wife test during your marriage or before you married?
No, there was no need. She was the first and only woman I had ever had sex with before and after we got married. I also did not have sex with men until I came out.

When you began your relationship with Jason did you get tested?
Yes. I had begun having sex with men so I thought it prudent to have regular tests for the full gamut of sexually transmitted infections. At my request Jason also had testing done. I wanted to make sure we both knew one hundred percent what our health status was.

Good for you guys. Help me understand, mate, about your sexuality….
Well, I have had feelings of same-sex attraction most of my life but growing up I never really could identify with being gay despite the fact that my favorite uncle was openly gay. I came out November 2010 to my family, friends, and co-workers in the space of about two weeks. Soon after, Jason and I became partners, then I helped my wife find a new partner, and all six of us enjoy time with each other as often as possible. My children are well adjusted.

Sydney Harbour. Photo by Davidd Batalon

What a lovely scenario. Y’all created your own extended family.
My daughters are twelve and fourteen, and I was married to a wonderful woman. I still love her and fortunately we have a great relationship, which is a testament to her love and understanding of me.

Do you remember how you first heard about HIV/AIDS?
I remember back in the late eighties there was a famous ad campaign known as “the grim reaper.” I was about twenty-five and living with my parents in a suburb of Sydney called Rose Bay. It seemed that people were dying everywhere from this disease and this campaign certainly painted a very scary picture of the situation.

They call us for our tour. After a short but educational training period, we are out the door with our dynamic, skilled, caring, and lightly comedic guide, Richard Graham, who leads us to the summit. My god what an all encompassing panoramic sight to behold. Steve was right. BridgeClimb is not to be missed.

[As we leave the premises, we walk along Circular Quay.] What concerns you most right now about the epidemic?
I’m concerned about the number of guys, particularly young guys under the age of thirty out there still having unprotected sex when the risks are still high and we still have no cure. I can’t understand it. I’m so conscious of safe sex. It’s a given in my opinion.

Rightly so, but I guess that’s the difference between those kids and us, huh? When you’re young like that, the mentality can be

Ruby’s respite at the Cambridge Hotel after a fun-filled day buzzing around Sydney. Photos courtesy Cambridge Hotel

askew. There’s less experience and more risk. It’s up to us, though, to educate and safeguard them. [Just in front of us is the iconic dreamlike Sydney Opera House.] Steve, you’re right on the brink of a new career. Tell me about it.
I’m not doing it yet, but I’d like to do some individual coaching particularly for guys coming out of heterosexual relationships and into gay relationships. I’d also like to facilitate groups for health, change, and well-being using coaching, MBSR (Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction), and Laughter Yoga.

Laughter? Now that makes healthy sense to me.
[Steve shoots a full-size grin.] I love working with people, Ruby….For me this sort of work is incredibly fulfilling. Helping someone make positive changes in their life and learning about themselves is very rewarding. Pain is reality and inevitable. The suffering, we choose and can avoid.

Ruby Comer is an independent journalist from the Midwest who is happy to call Hollywood her home away from home. Reach her by e-mail at MsRubyComer@aol.com.

Read this article in the May 2013 digital issue on our site by clicking here or off-site by clicking here.

Maasai Women, Four Generations of Family, Maasai Village, Tsavo West, Kenya, Africa, February 2005, Ilford photographic film, silver gelatin print, 16 by 20 inches

Duane Cramer’s clean, intimate photographic style grew out of an ingrained aesthetic that was planted early on in his childhood psyche by the (photographic) representations of his ancestral lineage.

This familial dialogue underscores the diverse collection of creative works by this photographer, activist and family archivist, who is also this month’s cover story subject. Alongside fashion editorials, media campaigns, and portraiture, Cramer has photographed countless celebrities (Samuel L. Jackson, Sheryl Lee Ralph), advocates and politicians (Marjorie Hill, PhD, Bill Clinton, U.S. Rep. Maxine Waters), and writers (Toni Morrison, Armistead Maupin).

While showcasing a rich array of his evocative images Duane Cramer is visually articulating a relationship between the impressionable,

RuPaul, Hollywood, California, November 2004, Ilford photographic film, silver gelatin print, 16 by 20 inches

familial imagery which surrounded him as a child and the richly inspired portraits he crafts today. Look, for example, at his iconic portrait of RuPaul. Classically presented in inky black and white the image is steeped in flattering grey tones throughout. While the “Supermodel” herself is sheathed in a provocative lace stocking-dress splayed with faux fur in tow, Cramer’s mastery softens the camp and undulating sexual ambivalence while placing focus on the sweeping motion of the statuesque and glamorized beauty. Ru is undeniably captured with both vigor, and presence—“boldness” as Cramer describes. The framing breathes while gently containing a personality of grand proportions. Our eyes and attentions are directed to the proud and humanized gaze of his subject—an authenticity to which the creator demands.

A&U was able to catch up with Duane about his vocation (he doesn’t consider it work rather an opportunity to “live”) and zero in on the inspirations of his masterful work:

Sean Black: What led you to photography and why are you so passionate about it as a medium for expression?
Duane Cramer: Growing up, there was a lot of art in my house, family portraits, photo albums, and, looking at them, I fell in love with the idea of recording special people and memorable events. As a child I loved looking through the beautiful photo albums and listening to the stories about the people in them. It gave me a sense of possibility for myself as well as a sense of pride in the accomplishments of my relatives. Capturing those special moments in the lives of others is something that animates and inspires my work to this day. My passion for photography comes from its immediacy and its ability to record unique moments in time like those I saw as a child of relatives and family friends.

You are noted for crafting “insightful images” that “intimately reveal the richness and humanity” of your subjects—could you expand upon this?
I love showcasing the humanity and inner beauty in each person; I have an eye for the unusual and unexpected which allows me to expose what is unique and special in each person. Showing the beauty and boldness, I love being able to show other people what I get to see through my images.

Mayor Willie L. Brown, Jr., San Francisco City Hall, San Francisco, California, May 2003, Ilford photographic film, silver gelatin print, 16 by 20 inches

When did you decide to use your talents to communicate creative messages?
I’m not sure that there was a specific moment or point in time exactly. In my own way, I’ve always tried to imbue my work with a creative spirit, when I worked at a big corporation and now through my photography. When I was diagnosed with HIV I began to advocate on behalf of HIV awareness, prevention education, and social justice. For a decade working full-time on photography, I focused on portraiture and developing and creating concepts and imagery for social marketing campaigns. It’s been my joy.

Who are some of your heroes?
That’s a tough one because I’ve met so many inspiring people over the years. In general, I’m inspired by those who’ve dared to do the unexpected and who both remind me and show me that there is another way in which to see and understand the world in which we live. Heroes that first come to mind outside of my own ancestry are: Gordon Parks, James Van Der Zee, Martin Luther King, Jr., James Baldwin, and President Barack and Michelle Obama.

You reference world leaders, writers, and activists, as well as photographers. How do you think that photography can “show” others a form of hope?
Yes, the actions of our greatest leaders have not only positively changed our point of view, but also our direction. Photographs have the ability to reveal, document and change people’s hearts and minds. I hope my work shifts how people see the world and acts as a catalyst to create a better way.

Having lost your father to an AIDS-related illness and living with HIV yourself since 1996, how have your own life experiences

Raymond, Mission Bay, San Francisco, California, October 1999, Ilford photographic film, silver gelatin print, 16 by 20 inches

advanced your keen sense of portraiture?
HIV forever changed the meaning and importance of life for me. It is now the lens through which I see and experience life. I realize that life is short but offers infinite possibilities through which changes to our situations and life circumstances can occur. Even when we think we are at the end of our own rope a new perspective or opportunity is often right around the corner—I know this firsthand.

The life stories of my family have played a significant role in my sense of portraiture (photographic and paintings). When my father died there was significant stigma and shame attached to HIV/AIDS. Remembering those days animates my activism to eliminate stigma and discrimination. Seeking and identifying the unique aspects of soulful strength in each person comes from my deep belief that true liberation is the freedom to live one’s life with dignity, purpose and a sense of one’s place in the world. I try to bring that out and share that in my work.

Visit duanecramer.com for more of Duane Cramer’s work. Follow him on Instagram at: EyeSeeIt. Sean Black interviewed Duane Cramer for this month’s cover story.

Read this article in the May 2013 digital issue on our site by clicking here or off-site by clicking here.

Sisters shouldn’t always have to do it for themselves

I’m going to admit right away that I’m pro-feminist, and have been for many, many years. That does not make me a “better” person in any way. All it has done is force me to be more aware of issues affecting more than fifty percent of our population, and, if possible, to help work towards making some difference where I can. This particular column deals with women, but I think the information is crucial for all of us.

From its onset more than thirty years ago, HIV/AIDS has traditionally been seen as a “gay man’s” disease, generally punishment for unacceptable behavior. Yes, eventually the world’s medical establishment figured out that the virus was, and had been, running rampant with an overwhelming infection rate in Africa and some other parts of the “Third World.” But even then we were bombarded with images of dying children first, drawing attention to the virus and showcasing its “innocent victims” (in my opinion).

As we all know, infected gay men in the U.S. and around the world took to the streets, demanding action in terms of medical treatment and some dignity (usually gaining neither, and being ignored or arrested or both) since we were seen as nothing more than despicable creatures—though loud and persevering—that “deserved” what we were getting.

It took years for us (and by “us” I mean everyone from the medical establishment to gay men, and basically the rest of society) to realize how many women were being infected at an alarming rate, and yet we really weren’t inviting them to the proverbial table. They/women weren’t silent—we often chose to simply not listen. Historically, that’s pretty much been the norm I’m afraid, perhaps even today: a division or very wide gap between men and women in general, let alone concerning health issues that affect us all.

This magazine has certainly given voice to women and their unique experiences and needs in the past, but I wonder how many men have paid attention?

For instance, are we all aware that according to CDC statistics, in 2010 an estimated twenty-five percent of adults and adolescents aged thirteen or older diagnosed with HIV in the U.S. were women? Do we all know that Black/African-American women and Latinas are disproportionately affected by HIV infection compared with women of other races/ethnicities? Or that one of the biggest risk factors contributing to HIV infection in women is sexual abuse by their husbands/partners who refuse to wear condoms, and are suspected (by their wives/partners) of having unprotected sex outside of the relationship (either with prostitutes or other infected women, or the “down low” syndrome) or using dirty needles during their secretive substance use?

In many cases, women won’t even know they’re infected for years, carrying the virus inside without a clue as they assume their husbands/partners are faithful. And, as the culture of violence against women continues to plague our society, women feel voiceless and ignored, subject to battering, spousal rape (a relatively new term to a long-time problem!) or worse when they ask their man to wear a condom. And then they begin getting sick, and eventually find out the news, often when it’s very late in their illness, and they’re also trying to raise children.

Gay men have learned, for the most part, to protect themselves by wearing condoms themselves, or expecting partners to wear them. Or they practice safer sex. Or they make the decision to throw caution to the wind, roll the dice, and make the conscious choice to not protect themselves. That, too, is a choice between partners, whether anyone else likes it or not.

But the reality is that HIV is not solely a woman’s responsibility. Again, most women are infected because of cheating husbands/partners whom the “good little wife/girlfriend” is supposed to trust. Preventing transmission in women is just as much the responsibility of men. Period. In a way it’s like saying rape is a woman’s “problem.” IT IS NOT! Rape is a MAN’S problem. Period. In my eyes, it’s really the same thing.

Until we begin to really change the culture of male dominance and violence against women in our society and around the world—treating them honestly and with the absolute respect and dignity they deserve as human beings—their rate of infection will continue to climb, and many of them won’t even know it.

And the reality is only men can make this change.

Chuck Willman has had poetry, erotica, and essays published or forthcoming in a variety of anthologies, journals, and magazines. He is also the author of After (JMS Books). He lives in Las Vegas with his partner of twenty-four years.

Read this article in the May 2013 digital issue on our site by clicking here or off-site by clicking here.

Reviewed by Sally Hessney

University of South Carolina library science professors Kendra Albright and Karen Gavigan collaborated with incarcerated youths at the South Carolina Department of Juvenile Justice to produce a thirty-one-page graphic novel about HIV and AIDS. Titled AIDS in the End Zone, it features the punchy style and verve of a comic book while conveying weighty information about prevention, testing, and treatment. Albright and Gavigan guided the young men, aged fifteen to nineteen, as they wrote the storyline and dialogue, and illustrator Sarah Petrulis provided the artwork.

Gavigan’s research demonstrates that graphic novels can be used to boost literacy, particularly among teenage boys. Author Jon Scieszka (The Stinky Cheese Man and other Fairly Stupid Tales) points out that boys read less than girls, and they are more likely to call themselves “nonreaders.” Their reading test scores lag behind girls’ scores in every age group, according to the U.S. Department of Education. However, boys can be motivated to read by connecting them with nontraditional reading materials—what Boise State University professor Dr. Jeffrey Wilhelm calls marginalized texts. In a forthcoming book titled Let Them Read Trash, Wilhelm defines marginalized texts as video game novels, vampire books, dystopian fiction, series books, on-line fan fiction, and others. With AIDS in the End Zone, Albright and Gavigan have found an inventive way to capture the interest of teenagers, and to bridge the literacy gap with boys. The book exerts a gravitational pull because it contains visual elements and because it was written by teenaged boys themselves, giving it the edginess and immediacy adolescent readers find appealing. The book is designed to engage so-called reluctant readers and nonreaders who nevertheless persist in reading comic books, manga, graphic novels, and other nontraditional texts.

In AIDS in the End Zone, newcomer Marcus lands a spot as starting quarterback on the varsity football team. Teammate Brad schemes to depose him as star quarterback by setting him up with Maria, who is HIV-positive. This graphic novel, like literature in general, provides a safe space in which teenagers can rehearse what they will do when faced with consequential decisions without suffering the real-life

Left to right: Karen Gavigan (professor/researcher); Sarah Petrulis (illustrator); and Kendra Albright (professor/researcher). Photo courtesy Univ. of South Carolina

repercussions. Not only do the young men at the DJJ write about the dangers of drinking alcohol and having unprotected sex, they explore universal themes of sex, power, and victimhood. The main characters engage in blackmail, bullying, treachery, and retribution. They face moral choices, personified by a devil on their shoulders—and they live with the life-altering consequences of their actions. This book allows teenagers to safely deal with the fallout from bad choices made by kids just like them.

Public health educators are striving to stop the spread of HIV infections in South Carolina, which ranks eighth in the nation for new cases. Interspersed with facts about condom use and impaired judgment caused by alcohol and drugs, this graphic novel may prove to be instrumental in educating teenagers about the disease. Albright’s research examines the impact of information and education campaigns on lowering HIV/AIDS infection rates among Ugandans. Now, Albright and Gavigan will seek to determine if AIDS in the End Zone succeeds in increasing teenagers’ knowledge and understanding of HIV and AIDS while motivating them to avoid the high-risk behaviors that lead to the spread of HIV and other sexually transmittable diseases. ◊

Sally Hessney is a program assistant at a nonprofit organization, where one of the educational missions is to educate teenagers about the dangers of binge drinking, prescription drug abuse, distracted driving, STDs, and other consequential issues.

Read this article in the May 2013 digital issue on our site by clicking here or off-site by clicking here.

Hello Justin,

Photo by Don Harris © Don Harris Photographics, LLC. All rights reserved

I do admire you so much! I added you as a friend [on Facebook] but never wanted to patronize you by coming up with clichés.

I’m an African woman living in the U.K. I have a big family as you can imagine…and I have a cousin who I have supported since he lost his father at the age of eight years. I’m turning forty this August and, for me, he’s the son I was meant to have even though I’m only eleven years older than him. I knew he was gay before he realized it himself. But I let him be so that he could find his own way.

From his first experience, he contracted HIV; now the challenge is saving him! I’m doing my best—he’s ok as he’s on a therapy that is, for now, supporting his immune system! Unfortunately, in our family, there’s no room for a gay man let alone one with HIV! I love my little cuz, and I will support him till the end of my life (I’m constantly researching new discoveries!). I’m here for him and I’m glad you are here for everyone…keep being you and be the best you can be! But don’t forget to live. Anything I could do to give him more support?
—Hannah xoxo

Let me first say thank you so much for being so real with me in your approach. It is amazing to see someone who has taken this young man and stood in as one of his parents when he had none.

They say that usually mothers know about their child’s sexuality even before the child does. My parents did the same with me. They knew I was gay but let me find my own way in my own sexuality.

I’m very sorry that he contracted HIV, and I’m glad you do not feel guilty about it. My parents, I know, felt guilty when they were informed I was HIV-positive. I told them that they did nothing wrong and that they had nothing to do with my contracting HIV.

By therapy I think you mean treatment and this is good. Remember, though, that he needs to stay on that treatment and he might want to seek out a counselor or someone to talk to when he feels a little depressed.

Family can be tough at times. Remember to be there for him and make sure he knows that you are there for him. He might not want to talk about it now with you, but he will eventually come around. When my mother was told about my HIV status I hadn’t had a chance to tell her myself. It turns out my own cousin told her mother, who told my mother.

I got a phone call from my family with all of them crying on speaker phone. They asked me sobbing, “Do you have AIDS? We heard you had AIDS!”
I replied, “No I do not have AIDS.”

They asked again, “Justin do you have HIV?”

Then I replied, “Yes I have HIV.”

They started crying even more.

I told them, “You have to be strong with me and not cry for me.”

After that moment they stopped crying and started supporting. For example, my mother and other family members sponsor me for the Washington, D.C. AIDS Walk/5K. They call to check up on me and they still treat me the same as if I didn’t have HIV.

For more support I would suggest that he find a support group. Depending on age/race, etc., he might feel more comfortable with a certain demographic. The analogy that I made up is “Being with others in the same boat might make you want to paddle faster to get to your destination.” It might help him stick to his treatment regimen and keep his doctor’s appointments,as well.

It sounds like you love him like a mother would and I think that is fantastic. Happy Mother’s Day!

Justin B. Terry-Smith has been fighting the good fight since 1999. He’s garnered recognition and awards for his work, but he’s more concerned about looking for new ways to transform society for the better than resting on his laurels. He started up in gay rights and HIV activism in 2005, published an HIV-themed children’s book, I Have A Secret (Creative House Press) in 2011, and created his own award-winning video blog called, “Justin’s HIV Journal”: justinshivjournal.blogspot.com. Now, with this column, Justin has found a way to give voice to the issues that people write to him about. Visit his main Web site at www.justinbsmith.com. He welcomes your questions at jsmithco98@hotmail.com.

Read this article in the May 2013 digital issue on our site by clicking here or off-site by clicking here.

Photo by Shell Photographics

It was the summer of 1992. A beautiful blonde woman stepped up to the podium at the Republican National Convention and twenty seven million viewers watched in stunned silence as she spoke. Mary Fisher delivered a thirteen-minute oration that, according to the New York Times, “brought AIDS home to America.” For most people, Fisher didn’t look like their perception of a person living with HIV—which made her remarks that much more powerful. “I have come tonight to bring our silence to an end,” she said. And so she did.

Fisher grew up in Detroit, the product of a prominent, privileged Republican family. In private school, she nurtured her passion for art, but didn’t seriously pursue it until later in life. “In those days, being an artist was not something you worked at,” she recalls. “It wasn’t what my father would say was a good vocation.” She attended University of Michigan, but left to pursue her first career as a television producer. Fisher worked in broadcasting until the mid-1970s, when she was offered an opportunity to join President Gerald Ford’s advance team—the first woman to hold such a position. After a short-lived first marriage, she moved to New York City and met Brian Campbell. The couple married in 1987, gave birth to a son, Max, and a few years later adopted a second child, Zach. In 1990, Campbell asked for a divorce. A year later he told his ex-wife he was HIV-positive.

At first, Mary’s focus was on Brian. “I found myself just being there for him. I didn’t think I was at risk. I really didn’t understand.” But her biggest concern was for Max, then two years old, who tested negative. After she tested positive, “that’s when my life changed really. The world started spinning. I just almost couldn’t believe that it would be true.” And the inevitable self-questioning began. “Why me? Am I going to die?” Fisher went public with her diagnosis in a front-page story in the Detroit Free Press, then she persuaded GOP leaders to allow her to speak at the national convention in Houston. Her speech, “A Whisper of AIDS,” has been recognized as one of the greatest of the twentieth century. It is included in Words of a Century: The Top 100 American Speeches, 1900–1999, along with other monumental addresses like “I Have a Dream” by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Not only was Fisher’s an eloquent, stirring plea for compassion and public attention to AIDS, it was a game-changing moment in history—especially for women. On the heels of Elizabeth Glaser speaking about AIDS at the Democratic National Convention, Fisher’s comments made it clear to the American public this wasn’t a gay men’s disease and that everyone needed to join the fight.

In “A Whisper of AIDS,” she said: “I represent an AIDS community whose members have been reluctantly drafted from every segment of American society. Though I am white and a mother, I am one with a black infant struggling with tubes in a Philadelphia hospital. Though I am female and contracted this disease in marriage and enjoy the warm support of my family, I am one with the lonely gay man sheltering a flickering candle from the cold wind of his family’s rejection.”

Nobody—especially Fisher—anticipated the impact her remarks would have or the doors it would open. Speaking invitations and media interview requests came pouring in from all over the world. “It changed the way people looked at the disease and gave me an opportunity to speak to people in power,” she remembers. “I talked to many groups of women that looked just like me. Maybe they would never have heard that message.” That same year, Fisher founded the Family AIDS Network, a support and advocacy group which later evolved into a research foundation at the University of Alabama, the Mary Fisher CARE (Clinical AIDS Research and Education) Fund. Fisher has served on the Leadership Council of the

Mary Fisher speaking at Goldenstein Gallery in Sedona last fall. Photo by Mal Cooper

Global Coalition on Women and AIDS and as an ambassador for the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS). She has authored six books, from My Name is Mary in 1996 to her most recent autobiographical tome released in 2012, Messenger: A Self Portrait. She describes the first book as a last will and testament to her sons—believing at the time her children would soon be orphaned. (Brian Campbell died from AIDS-related complications in 1993.) The author refers to her latest book as the one she had to write because she didn’t die. Messenger chronicles Fisher’s journey as “a pilgrim on the road to AIDS” with humor and hope, as she becomes a courageous, savvy survivor. Her story is one of an individual who’s been a source of inspiration and strength for women across the globe. In a candid memoir, she shares her struggles with alcoholism, AIDS and breast cancer, and how she learned to heal with dignity and faith.

Still an in-demand public speaker, Fisher, sixty-five, is now an internationally-exhibited artist living in Sedona, Arizona. Her collections include quilts, sketches, jewelry and prints. “My art has always been part of my life,” she explains. “A lot of it is using art to get out my message.” She founded the ABATAKA (a pan-African term for “community”) Project, after several trips to Africa meeting with HIV-positive women. “I saw the need to create for them empowerment,” she discloses, “to give them skills so they would be able to perhaps get a job, finish school, send their children to school, buy food.” She taught them the art of hand-beading and began incorporating their work into the jewelry she designs and sells on-line. Proceeds from the collection benefit African women affected by HIV and the ABATAKA Foundation.

Amazed that the famous speech she made twenty years ago is relevant to a new generation, Fisher says, “I am grateful that it lives on.” At the same time she’s saddened that we continue to face some of these obstacles today—stigma, shame and stereotypes. She acknowledges the strides we’ve made in AIDS awareness and prevention, but emphasizes we still have our work cut out for us. “We are not talking about it enough and letting people know it’s still an issue,” she asserts. “We’re not doing the education, so we’re not doing what it takes to keep the epidemic from growing.” As an HIV-positive parent, her greatest wish is this: “I want my children to know that their mother was not a victim. She was a messenger.” The message? “Stand up for what you believe in…and try to inspire people to love and to serve others.”

Watch “A Whisper of AIDS” at www.youtube.com/user/maryfisherart. Visit www.maryfisher.com for more information about Mary Fisher’s art and advocacy. To purchase any of Mary Fisher’s books, log onto www.maryfisher.com/advocacy/books-publications.

Chip Alfred is an Editor at Large for A&U and a nationally published freelance journalist based in Philadelphia.

Read this article in the May 2013 digital issue on our site by clicking here or off-site by clicking here.

The Valiant Ones

they left so abruptly
the valiant ones
countless
many known
many more nameless

the truest sons and singers
husbands and poets
lovers and wives
daughters and farmers
workers and sisters
brothers and friends

they left so abruptly
with quiet pride
steely courage
gentle dignity

they left so abruptly
leaving us our tomorrows
brighter
hopeful
filled with promise

they left so abruptly
so that we may breathe
the breath of liberty
the air of freedom
the warmth of justice

they left so abruptly
leaving with us their parting gift

freedom
nkululeko
swatantrata
liberté
azadi
vhudilangi
libertad

they left so abruptly
yet we remember them all
today
in the days that slipped away
and in the many more that we await

they left so abruptly
yet they remain
hewed into our memories
etched in our consciences
engraved in our hearts
they left so abruptly
and yet they endure
with us
within us
now and forever more

Afzal Moolla was born in exile in New Delhi, where his South African parents represented the African National Congress in the liberation struggle against Apartheid in South Africa. Moolla traveled with his parents, spending time in Cairo and Helsinki, before returning to South Africa in 1990 following the release of Nelson Mandela and other political prisoners and the unbanning of the ANC and other Liberation Movements. He currently works in Johannesburg.

Read this article in the May 2013 digital issue on our site by clicking here or off-site by clicking here.

Christopher Hewitt Literary Award

Fiction/Poetry/Drama/Nonfiction contest

This year marks A&U’s first annual contest in fiction, poetry, drama, and creative nonfiction. The winner in each genre will receive a $50 prize and will have his/her work featured in A&U’s annual Summer Reading Issue. Winners will be selected by our editors. If any genre lacks a clear winner, fewer than four awards may be given. All entries will be considered for publication.

A&U is a national HIV/AIDS magazine with a focus on advocacy, prevention and care, and literature and the arts. Our annual Summer Reading Issues have featured cover story interviews with Tony Kushner, Gore Vidal, E. Lynn Harris, and others; each month we publish work by established and emerging writers including Emanuel Xavier, Patrick Donnelly, and Julie E. Bloemeke.

Guidelines:

-All submissions must be related directly or indirectly to HIV/AIDS, including but not limited to personal, historical, international, and political perspectives on HIV/AIDS.

-Poetry can be any length/style; Fiction, Drama, and Creative Nonfiction (includes essays/memoirs) should be no longer than 1200 words. Excerpts from longer works are accepted. All entries must be previously unpublished.

-Email submissions as Word or PDF attachments to aumaglit [at] gmail [dot] com. Include your name and title of the piece(s) in the subject heading of your email, followed by the word “Award.” Do NOT include your name on the manuscript itself.

Multiple submissions accepted. Deadline is June 10, 2013. There is no entry fee.

About Christopher Hewitt:

A native of Worcestershire, Christopher Hewitt emigrated from England to the United States in 1974. He received an undergraduate degree from University of Birmingham in England in 1971 and went on to earn master’s degrees in English and creative writing from UC Davis and the Iowa Writer’s Workshop at University of Iowa. Over the course of his career as a writer, he published poems and translations in The New Yorker, American Poetry Review, The Advocate, The James White Review, and BENT, among others. His work has been anthologized in Queer Crips: Disabled Gay Men Tell Their Stories. At the time of his death, he was working on a memoir titled Brittle Bones, in part about living with osteogenesis imperfecta. He taught writing at University of San Francisco, Fordham University and John Jay College of Criminal Justice, among others. Chris helped inaugurate A&U’s premiere issue and filled several editorial posts at the magazine, including Literary Editor, until his death in 2004 at the age of fifty-eight.