Meet Roy Ferguson: AFC board member
By Ella Shapiro
One of Roy Ferguson's greatest pleasures in life is spending time with his granddaughters. Every morning the 70-year-old Chicagoan and his partner, Michael, each take one of their youngest granddaughter’s hands and walk her to school. The pair’s eldest granddaughter just got onto her high school’s...
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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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By Coleman Goode
The dictionary definition of community is “a group of people living in the same place or having a particular characteristic in common.” I like to think of community as a social group with commonalities such as norms, religion, values, customs or identity — basically, you all want the same thing for yourselves. The term “community mobilization”...
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By Ella Shapiro
Before the COVID-19 pandemic, Milani Varela, 33, used to take the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) twice a week to a clinic where she attended individual and group therapy sessions. When her clinic closed to support social distancing, Milani's therapy sessions moved to Zoom. This let Milani sleep in later, save money on transportation and reduce her risk of exposure...
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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 Ella Shapiro
For 35-year-old Chicago-based community activist Jo MaMa, attending their doctor appointments used to be a nightmare. At the time, Jo wasn’t comfortable with their HIV status being public. When Jo went to the doctor in-person, they felt they ran the risk of seeing someone they knew and compromising their privacy. As a result, Jo would experience severe anxiety...
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Legislation was introduced in Springfield today to end criminal penalties against people living with HIV (PLWH), which serve only to stigmatize and discriminate against PLWH. Current Illinois law makes legal behavior – like consensual sex – illegal, and adds harsh penalties for ordinarily minor crimes such as sharing injection-drug equipment. Under current law, PLWH face the threat...
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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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2021 AFC State Budget Address Statement
Standing at the site of a former makeshift hospital on the Illinois State Fairgrounds used to treat those afflicted with the 1918 Influenza Pandemic, Illinois Governor JB Pritzker delivered an unconventional — and virtual — State of the State and Budget Address on Wednesday, Feb. 17, 2021. Speaking in a room used to administer COVID-19...
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Editor's Note: This piece was originally published in conjunction with the Building Power Through Advocacy media training on January 29, 2020.
By George M. Johnson
Social media has allowed us the space to share important information in the form of a tweet and within minutes reach millions throughout the world. As it continues to grow as the leading force that is driving news...
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