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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Cecil Dearborne joined AFC's Board in 2020. Since 1992, he has worked in the IT consulting industry, focusing on business transformations and product development. He currently leads operations and strategy within North America for his company's Enterprise Modernization, Platforms, and Cloud service line. Although he is a tech guy at heart, as a...
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By Bailey Williams
Courtney Eshay Key, age 25, was shot and killed Christmas Day , 2020 . Courtney, a Black trans woman, is survived by her mother, brother, and sister , who loved her dearly .
“I know for a fact that Courtney just wanted to thrive,” said longtime friend Beverly Ross. “She just wanted to beat the odds and become...
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By Bailey Williams
Tyianna “Davarea” Alexander, age 28, was shot and killed Saturday, Jan. 6, 2021 in a car with her best friend Brandon Chris, who also died. Tyianna, a Black trans woman, is survived by her sister and mother, who loved her dearly.
Born and raised in Chicago, Tyianna attended Chicago Public Schools (CPS) and graduated from CPS’ Harper High School...
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By Bailey Williams
Shortly after having her son in 2019, Robin Petties found herself without stable housing. Her son stayed with his grandparents, while she couch surfed at friends’ apartments or slept in her car.
Robin’s household was just one of many families with children experiencing homelessness in Chicago. In 2018, the last year for which U.S. Census...
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By Tristan Cabello
Bronzeville is often thought of as one of Chicago’s most prominent, African-American neighborhoods, but it was also home to a vibrant, well-accepted queer culture that emerged in the 1920s. From State Street to Cottage Grove Avenue, along 43rd and 47th Street, Bronzeville’s commercialized and jazz-influenced urban culture offered African-American queers several...
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By Bailey Williams
Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, talks of record unemployment for the general U.S. population filled newspaper headlines and nightly newscasts. Alarm bells sound and talks of economic recovery continue, but not for everyone.
Almost two years before the pandemic, the Prison Policy Initiative found that the rate of unemployment for people...
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By Bailey Williams
When Derrick Kimbrough was growing up on Chicago’s South and West Sides, he loved school so much that he’d often play school in his free time with his cousins. In each skit, Derrick insisted on acting out the role of the teacher by performing a lesson to his eager students. Decades later, Derrick transformed that early love of school into a career.
After...
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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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