What's new, you asked? I know it's been a minute, but I need you to understand that I've been on the grind for HIV/AIDS Awareness hardcore still the same. Simply because so much is going on, but yet so much is still remaining the same. A different name, another relationship, and yet the same old same old "stuff" that so many of us have to deal with. HIV/AIDS is spreading like fungus in our communities. So, a new person came into a small town with their good looks, swag ways, and charming words and enticed & sexed so many lovers (men & women) without a condom, squirting HIV with every drip of...
sonyamallard's blog
Someone once stated "only people who are HIV + can understand HIV", and I so beg to differ. As a person who is negative and gets tested on a regular basis and has been doing HIV activism since the 1980's, understanding whether we are infected or affected HIV/AIDS affects us all. So, are you saying to me that there is no way watching my good friend intentionally spread the disease, hate the world, and curse me and God/Die, had no effect on me? Are you saying to me when I didn't know where my co-worker was when he didn't show up for work, no answer on the telephone, and found him dead in his...
1/2 of my LIFE, I've lived behind a MASK…for a MAN. I hid my true self, true feelings & true sexual desires. I neglected my wants and gave into the desires of my flesh…For a Man! 1/2 of my LIFE, I've lived behind a MASK…not wanting to expose my deep aches & pains, my brokenness and hid behind broken smiles, 1/2 hugs, kind words, so I wouldn't couldn't feel any pain. 1/2 of my LIFE, I've lived behind this MASK...as a Mother, Wife, and Woman. Feeling like my dreams dried up like a raisin in the sun, imprisoned, and bounded by false pre-tenses. 1/2 of my LIFE, I realized that this MASK & me...
Do we truly understand the power of learning to listen with our hearts? Well recently the community has been opening up to me pertaining to HIV/AIDS Awareness, and it's truly amazing! I have been learning to live each moment in love, because life is not promised to us, it is a gift. We are to savor every moment with those we love, care for, and with our community. Everything around us is always speaking to us…The question is, are we willing to listen, learn and grow from everyone and everything around us? If we are teachable in this life, living in existence with people who are infected or...
I really wonder why people are so quick to attend a baby shower vs. attending an HIV Awareness/Testing Event. It blows me away to know that we are willing to bring a gift of diapers, play games and smile, as we try to guess the weight and size of the new baby. We never once mentioned the fact that they should have used a condom! Hmmm…STDs, HIV, and even unwanted pregnancies….Oh, like what just happened here…. What is the real reason why so many people are scared to even say H—I--V? I think about this almost every day, because when I look around my community the handwriting is clearly written...
Too many of my Sisters are winding up dead because they allow smooth-talking brothers to mess with their head! Why should another Sister, full of promise, have to die because a man lied about his sexual preference to shield his male pride? On an endless quest for love and affection, my Sisters are neglecting themselves when they don't insist on using protection. What many consider just a "casual date" often turns deadly due to poor judgment and careless mistakes. They say "you shouldn't hate the playa, instead you should hate the game," To me, a person who treats love and sex as a sport is...
Did you ever stop to think that just maybe, your actions are affecting me? I know you say all the time "what I do is my business, I'm not hurting anyone", but the fact of the matter is that yes, you are hurting me! I sit and watch you day in/day out, and listen to your plight. You tell me how fatigue you are, how you are discharging, and don't have any appetite, but in the same breathe you are also saying "it's nobody business that you are infected with AIDS"…REALLY! Here is a REALITY check my friend…You matter to me, and you matter to the world. I know you are scared right now, and feel all...
Let's Stand up and Applaud each other…for survival, strength, determination, Purpose, and Destiny…Now, take a look around you…look to your neighbors on your left and now look to your neighbors on the right…Startling stats tell us that 1 out of 5 people don't know their status…is that you? I would never have believed or asked to be affected by HIV, but I believe that in all things there is a purpose; and I'm here before you on behalf of the affected people who are unable to speak because of the shock, denial, stigma and humiliation that is associated with this topic HIV/AIDS whose lost their...
When HIV/AIDS first came out in the public eye, a lot of people of color automatically stigmatized HIV as a gay white disease. So they went around with this notion in their heads that they couldn't possibly contract HIV. As time went on, that notion was proven wrong. In the Black community, HIV/AIDS grew and grew and grew. And now we are living in a modern epidemic, in which 46% of Blacks are infected with HIV/AIDS. Every 9 ½ minutes someone in the United States is infected, and if the truth be told, Florida is #3 among the states, along with a waiting list for people who are positive for HIV...