T oday, AIDS Foundation Chicago (AFC) is thrilled to join Getting to Zero Illinois (GTZ-IL) in announcing the grant recipients for the first-ever Getting to Zero Illinois Community Grant Program, a pool of grants totaling $350,000. Fourteen organizations across the state have each received one-time grants of up to $30,000 for new projects that will help...
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On Thursday, April 8, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) echoed a deep, unconscionable truth that Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC) have known and experienced all along: racism is a public health threat . CDC’s new agency-wide initiative called Racism and Health aims to “refocus the CDC’s public health efforts on recognizing, acknowledging,...
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The jury in the murder trial of Derek Chauvin has returned guilty verdicts for the Minneapolis police officer who murdered George Floyd in May 2020. Chauvin was found guilty of second-degree murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter.
George Floyd’s death reignited a nationwide movement to reform policing and law enforcement practices, systems that were developed to...
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A police shooting near Decatur, Georgia has led to the killing of yet another Black man.
Matthew Zadok Williams, the youngest of six children and the only son, was killed by Dekalb County Police in his own home on April 12, 2021. His mother and family were not notified until nearly 24 hours later.
In the words of Matthew’s sister, “Matthew was a son, brother, uncle, cousin,...
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We are hurt and angered by Daunte Wright’s death at the hands of a police officer in Minnesota on Sunday, April 11. Daunte’s murder tells the same story of broken policing and law enforcement systems throughout our country that continue to ravage Black, Indigenous, and Latinx communities, and take the lives of the very individuals the police are sworn to protect.
The...
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On March 29, 13-year-old Adam Toledo was fatally shot by a police officer during a foot pursuit in Chicago’s Little Village neighborhood. Despite outcry from both the community and his family, the City of Chicago has not released full details surrounding his death. AIDS Foundation Chicago stands with Enlace Chicago , ACLU-IL and other organizations in demanding a full and transparent investigation...
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Over a year into the pandemic, equitable progress has not been made to address the racial disparities in health outcomes that have existed and been exacerbated throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. In short, systemic racism made Black, Indigenous and Latinx/e communities deeply vulnerable to increased risk of illness, and as a result, we have seen disproportionate numbers of deaths from COVID-19 complications...
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by Timothy Jackson, Director of Government Relations
AIDS Foundation Chicago (AFC) applauds Illinois Governor JB Pritzker for signing House Bill 3653, the Illinois Criminal Justice Omnibus Bill —landmark legislation that brings significant criminal justice reforms to Illinois. These reforms include the end of cash bail, new police accountability standards, and new pretrial release...
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By Aisha N. Davis, Esq., Director of Policy
After centuries, after genocide, after chattel slavery. After civil war, after three-fifths, after fugitive slave acts. After reservations, after trails of tears, after residential schools. After railroads, after internment camps, after exclusion acts. After xenophobia, after forced deportation, after segregation. After sunset towns, after MOVE,...
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AFC is heartbroken to learn that long-time HIV advocate Ben Montgomery passed away. Ben was a campaigner from the West Side of Chicago and fought for health care access, HIV funding and equity and justice. Ben raised hell when he needed to — and got results. He was one of the driving forces behind the first-in-the-nation HIV/AIDS Quality of Life scratch-off lottery ticket, which has raised...
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