battling stigma

Hello, my name is... Ieshia Scott. There are several dots NOT because I didn't want to use my name but because I was hesitant due to the many people who are NOT prepared for this day. There are many...

It's been a year since I sang with Joyful Noise, not for want of trying to get to rehearsals or lack of commitment to the choir, just life getting in the way.

I was invited to attend the Saving Ourselves Symposium in Memphis, Tennessee this past weekend from June 4-7. I made a promise to myself that before I wrote about the experience, I would calm down first.

HIV has opened me up to so many people, places, prejudices, and misconceptions while completely shutting me off from the rest of the world. HIV had me convinced that no one would love or care about me. I would always be stuck in poverty, lack, doubt and hatred. I was a victim of self-induced stigma.

In many ways, one of our greatest success stories in the fight against HIV/AIDS to date has been our ability to reduce dramatically the rate of new HIV infections being passed from mother to child.

Michael Johnson is a young black man living with HIV who has recently been found guilty of recklessly infecting another person with HIV without disclosing his status. It seems befitting that I make my...

"Why do you make such a publicity stunt of yourself?", chided one person. "Why can't you just be happy, shut up and enjoy your marital bliss? After all you have got a loving home and a loving family...

I know so many of us have many ideas and feelings about stigma or just the word itself....perhaps I am naive because I have never really experienced it firsthand. I want to believe it's because of my positive attitude and outlook and a feeling of confidence that nothing anyone says would hurt me.

I have written this over and over again. I was going to write about the things that disappointed me while at AIDSWATCH 2015 but I couldn't. I have no desire to put people on blast. It would not...

If you are hurting let it be known. If you don't know, say it so that you can learn. If you need somebody tell them!! If you need to cry, do it. Confronting and admitting your pain is not a sign of...