When historical villains die, at least if they are white, male Americans, Conventional Wisdom and Miss Manners say one should simply move on neutrally, "not speaking ill of the dead." Or something.

I strongly disagree. Whereas I philosophically agree that there is no such thing as a totally evil person without contradictions, it is quite appropriate to draw a balance sheet on public figures who have greatly and directly impacted our lives ... in this case for ill.

Helms was such a voluble and prolific person, Rush-Limbaugh-cum-Senator-Claghorn, and his ascendance so felicitously intersected the rightward moving Zeitgeist, that his legacy of harm extends far and wide – from making overt racism politically acceptable in modernized ways, to eliminating civil liberties and the right to organize as workers, to restricting women's reproductive freedom domestically and around the world, to banning public support for art with any erotic or sexual content, to extending the HIV epidemic by forbidding any federal funds to be used on any materials that frankly portray and discuss sex and drug use.  read more »

The women’s Liberation movement of the 1960’s was undoubtedly a major contributor toward the achievement of women’s empowerment. As we feel our strength and recognize our worth as women we seize and create opportunities for ourselves and for the upliftment of all women. We mobilize to challenge systems and governments that could not, would not or that simply were not responding to our needs as women. We educate ourselves; we fight for our own causes: We build coalitions that strengthen our positions. Why we even run for president of the United States. We have become makers, shapers and writers of our own history and our own destinies. Now then, another page in Women’s History was written in San Francisco June 15, 2008. Twenty-five (25) bold, brave, beautiful HIV Positive Women held the 1^st ever convening for the establishment and solidification of what history will come to know as “The Positive Women’s  read more »

Overlapping Epidemics, Innovative Interventions: How Do Psychosocial "Syndemics" Drive HIV Among Gay Men - And What Can We Do About It? • Call Recording and Presentations Now Available

Download call recording and presentations here: mp3 file • Ron Stall: slides • Jim Pickett: slides

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On June 11th, CHAMP held another of our monthly community forums in New York City – Does Gender Engender HIV? Vulnerability and Resilience Across the Gender Spectrum. The forum was a great success, attracting a good-sized crowd despite occurring smack in the middle of Pride month! Our panelists were Vanessa Brocato of GMHC, Nathan Levitt of Callen-Lorde Community Health Center, and Kim Watson of the Community Healthcare Network – each one dynamic and informative. CHAMP's very own Coco Jervis facilitated a lively discussion about ways that the social, economic and political aspects of gender and gender expression are entwined with the HIV epidemic.  read more »

ACT-UP Philadelphia; AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power Commemorates 20 years of Fighting Back to End the AIDS Crisis (Part1)

By

Waheedah Shabazz-El

June 2008, was an excitingly historical month in the city of Philadelphia Pa where the work of ACT-UP Philadelphia, The AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power was distinguished for 20 years of chronological contributions as “Prize Fighters” in the AIDS Activist Movement.ACT-UP Philadelphia commemorated it 20^th year of direct action organizing, ACTing Up and Fighting Back to give rise to the end of the AIDScrisis, the group was honoredthroughout Philadelphia Fight’s14^th Annual AIDS Education Month.  read more »