Cynthia Tucker is a woman of excellence.
For decades, she has been a relentless champion of the HIV/AIDS movement, serving currently as director of prevention and community partnerships at the AIDS Foundation of Chicago (AFC).
On April 25, she will receive an honor that’s as fitting as the virtues she embodies: The Chicago Defender will present her with the 2013 Women...
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Michelle wants you to know her name.
She’s proud of it, empowered by it, and she identifies with its deep history.
We can’t publish her last name for confidentiality purposes; however, her enthusiasm is sincere. In fact, she recently spoke at a 100,000 Homes Campaign celebration, sharing her name, her past, and her goals with a large audience over lunch. Michelle...
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John Peller is a perfect 10 for 10.
As the AIDS Foundation of Chicago (AFC) celebrates its tenth year of fighting HIV/AIDS with endurance sports, Peller is doing the same.
He joined the National AIDS Marathon Training Program in 2003 to prepare for his first marathon. Athletics had never been his forte in high school or college, but the urge to run 26.2 miles constantly...
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Individuals with HIV/AIDS, as well as other vulnerable people, will have an easier time accessing health care in the coming months as a result of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), the national health reform law.
But linking them with coverage will be a challenge.
“Essentially, people just don’t know the Illinois Health Insurance Marketplace is here,” quipped...
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A recent arrest under an antiquated Illinois HIV criminalization law challenges how media handle sensitive information when stigma and livelihood are at stake.
The facts of this case are limited:
The individual who filed the complaint was “a 24-year-old man,” according to a press release from the Cook County Sheriff’s Office.
The alleged aggressor,...
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The phrase “patient-centered medical home” has become a buzz word in the field of healthcare, creating competing ideas about what it means.
Some providers assume that comprehensive medical services under one roof constitutes a patient-center medical home (PCMH), while others focus more on patients’ requests without the infrastructure to support this model of care....
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For disadvantaged people with HIV, the road to health and recovery can be a slow and difficult process. For those who persevere—aided by their own determination and accessible, available vital services—a better future awaits.
Consider the path of Carlos (not his real name). He suffered homelessness, drug addiction and alcoholism. To treat his mental and physical illnesses,...
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ATLANTA, GA - The stories we tell ourselves about the world we live in matter. While we celebrate this week’s story of an HIV-miracle cure, let’s not forget the story of injustice that made it possible.
There have been a lot of stories about this week’s “ Mississippi Miracle ”—the apparent functional cure of a two-year-old girl who was born...
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John is a 26-year-old black man on Chicago’s West Side.
He’s HIV-positive.
And his name’s not really John. He wouldn’t tell me his real name, which makes sense, as he hasn’t even told his immediate family that he’s been living with HIV for five years. Nor has he told any of his friends. He hides his pill bottles. He admires women from afar, but rarely...
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A video of the 2008 Dance for Life finale, choreographed by Randy Duncan.
Before Randy Duncan found the world’s stage, he got down in the living room.
Growing up in the Austin neighborhood of Chicago in the 1960s and ‘70s, Duncan would dance with his sister in front of the television, trying to emulate the R&B moves...
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