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If some one can find a picture of a red ribbon, which is the symbol for the fight against AIDS, and the lives it has
affected and taken; Please email it to thamitchells@aol.com so that we can place it here on our site.
I am not scared to say that AIDS has affected my life as well.
Back in the early 90's I was told that I was HIV positive. A friend, and I, use to give blood once a month, so
that we would have some money to buy marijuana.
When I received the letter I was devastated, but, I didn't want to believe it either. It was possible because I
had sex with several women while on active duty in the military. My wife, and I locked ourselves in the house, and cried,
and prayed for a miracle. All I can say is that some one upstairs loves us. Because, after taking two more test,
they both came up negative. We also had two family members die of AIDS at a young age. Both, African American
males. Yet, it still shocked me when, NAACP leader, Julian Bond, was quoted on my AOL homepage this August, 2006, as
saying that, "Aids Is A Blacks Disease". Abscent minded, and a little ignorant at the moment I became infuriated, thinking
that Mr. Bond's was labeling his on people, and doing it for a publicity stunt. Well, do you remember when I said, that
I was ignorant; Because, I was, and this headline sparked a fire in me too want, too learn more about AIDS / HIV, which
I did.
SO, I started surfing the web for famous people with AIDS, and came across a site called www.answers.com . There I found some pictures, and some short biographies on some of their lives, and how they became infected
with the virus. Thus, you'll see below. But, the research didn't stop there, because it wouldn't be enough nor
would it be informative enough, about HIV / AIDS. Furthur research led me to AOL's Black Voices web site, where I found Bonds original statement, written and quoted
in an article by Black Voices writer, Tanisha Blakely, at an AID's Institute's Conference in Toronto Canada, saying "Aid's
Is Becoming A Blacks Disease". Now that seemed more like it to me, plus I could agree with him on
that; Being how devastating the disease is taking it's toll on the people in Africa, and African American
males ( 64% ) in the United States, Hispanics ( 18% ) and White Americans ( 6% ) also.
Today over 38 million people in the world are living with HIV / AIDS. It's so bad that political, and financial
leaders like Bill Gates and President Bush, and Rev. Jesse Jackson, have made a stand against AIDS / HIV in the last
two months.
The ones that are affected by HIV / AIDS the most, and show very little concern are African Americans. They have
been labeled as the uneducated, and unconcerned ones in the fight against HIV / AIDS, because they aren't doing anything about
it.
Bill Gates, and his wife Melinda, created a Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, in finding a cure for
HIV / AIDS; And, President George Bush was quoted in his 2006 State of The Union Address as saying, "...More than
a million Americans live with HIV, and half of all AIDS cases occur among African Americans...." "We must confront the bad
news about the toll HIV / AIDS is having on the black community."
Bush also said, "We will also head a nationwide effort, working closely with African American churches and faith-based
groups, to deliver rapid HIV tests to millions, end the stigma of Aids, and come closer to the day when there are no new infections
in America."
So, what is this stigma of Aids President Bush is talking about? Well that's the ignorance, and uneducated awareness
I was talking about that we as African Americans have. We don't want to know; plus we keep hanging onto that
old idea that AIDS is a "gay" disease.
25 years ago, on June 5, 1981, The United States Center of Disease Control and Prevention had issued it's first
warning about a rare form of pneumonia among a small group of young gay men in Los Angeles, latered determined to be AIDS
related. This was however repeatedly mentioned in the press as a "gay" disease. And, since 1992, it's been
repeated as a blacks disease.
We as African Americans also forget that bisexuality ( men having sex with men and women ) plays a major factor in the
spread of HIV / AIDS. The U.S. CDC done a study that showed more than 34 percent of black men admitted having sex with
men, and women. The study also showed that 64 percent of those men tested positive for HIV, and didn't know they were
infected.
As we come upon another year of fighting the battle on AIDS, I leave those 13 - 84 years old, in all black
communities, around the world, with these wise words of wisdom. Get to know your partner. Practice
safe sex, and get tested reguarly.
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| Arthur Ashe ( 1943 - 1993 ) |
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| photo from www.usps.com |
Arthur Ashe was born July 10, 1943. He was a tennis player and a social activist, infected with HIV in 1983 during
a blood transfusion while having heart surgery. He was best known for being the first black man to win the U.S. Open
( Wimbledon Championship ) in 1975.
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| Eric "Eazy-E" Wright ( 1964 - 1995 ) |
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| photo from www.eazy-e.info/photo.html |
Eric "Eazy-E" Wright was born September 7, 1964. He is famously known as the Godfather of Gangster Rap and founder
of the rap group N.W.A. He also founded Ruthless Records. In 1988, N.W.A.'s record "Straight Outta Compton", made
them famous. Eazy-E entered the hospital in 1995, where he learned he had aids. Later, he told the public. On March
26, 1995, he passed.
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| Earvin "Magic" Johnson ( 1959 - ) |
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| photo from www.answers.com |
Earvin "Magic" Johnson was born August 14, 1959. He was a famous point guard for the Los Angeles Lakers
( 1979 - 1991 ). He was also on the U.S.A. Olympic Basketball Team known as "The Dream Team". Magic led the Lakers
to five world championships and was named the N.B.A.'s most valuable player three times ( 87, 89, 90 ). He retired after
being diagnosed with HIV, but returned for a brief moment as a player, and a coach. Magic is currently still
alive, and working as an activist and spokesperson for AIDS.
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| www.dygg.org |
| Kevin Peter Hall ( 1955 - 1991 ) |
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| photo from www.fantafilm.net |
Kevin Peter Hall was born May 9, 1955. He grew up to be 7 feet 2 1/2 inches tall. He was an actor known famously
for playing Dr. Elvin Lincoln in the "Misfits & Science" ( 1985 ), but, Kevin usually played monsters because of his tall
stature. He played the monster in "Harry & The Hendersons" ( 1987 ), and in "Predator" ( 1987 ) and "Predator 2"
( 1990 ). You can see his face at the end of Predator. He is the helicopter pilot. Kevin was in a major
car accident in Los Angeles. He contracted the AIDS virus during a blood transfusion while in surgery for his fatal
wounds. He died shortly afterwards due to the virus.
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| Joseph "Bobby" Debarge ( 1956 - 1995 ) |
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| photo from groups.yahoo.com |
Joseph Bobby Debarge -aka- Robert Louis Bobby Debarge, was born March 5, 1956. In the 1970's he was the lead singer
for a Mowtown R & B group, Switch. In the 1980"s he and his siblings formed the group Debarge. They
recorded hits "There'll Never Be", "I call Your Name", "I want To Be Closer", "Love Over and Over", and "My Friend In The
Sky". In 1986, Bobby Debarge, and his brother Chico was sentenced to six years time in a federal prison in
Milan Michigan for Cocaine trafficking. When Bobby died from AIDS, his brother Chico made a statement that he believed
Bobby contracted the disease while in prison.
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| Howard E Rollins Jr (Oct. 17, 1950-Dec. 8, 1996) |
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| www.amazon.com |
Howard Rollins was an actor nominated for an Emmy in his role on As The World Turns, and for an Oscar as Coalhouse
Walker Jr. in Ragtime (1981). He also played Andrew Young in the 1978 ministries King; George Haley
in the 1979 multipartar Roots: The Next Generation; Bannister Parks on the 1985 western series Wildside;
Virgil Tibbs (1988-1992) Heat of The Night and in Drunks (1995).
Six weeks before he died he was diagnosed with lymphoid.
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| Max Robinson (May 1, 1939-Dec. 20, 1989) |
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| www.blackvoices.com |
Max Robinson was a journalist known as the first African American network news anchor in th United States in his time.
He was a founder of the National Association of Black Journalists. He won six journalism awards for his coverage on
civil rights events during the Martin Luther King Jr. era.
Robinson became ill in the fall of 1988. On December 20, 1988 he passed at Howard Universitiy Hospital from AIDS.
It is said that he had the disease when hospitalized in Chicago for pneumonia, but he kept it a secret.
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| Gene Anthony Ray (May 24,1962 - Nov. 14, 2003) |
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| www.lacrimedipioggia.clarence.com |
Gene Anthony Ray is famously known for his role as Leroy on the movie (1980), and TV show Fame (1982-1987).
Ray died from complications of a stroke. He was HIV positive when he died but it is unknown how, or when he
contracted the disease.
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Stay in touch, and read about The Maglinium Info's upcoming article on Violence in the United
States.
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