By Gary B. Beringer,
Dr. P. H.
Co-Chair, Policy & Advocacy Committee, AFC Board of Directors
I am an epidemiologist. Today, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, my profession now is understood by many people who inquire about it. This is the backstory of an important occurrence in my rehabilitation from a stroke.
In October 2003, I had the first of my four strokes over...
Read more...
By Nilah Foster
Even far far away
from home I still
am turning my head
at all times
double checking corners
I’ve already swept
I am convinced my
dad knows a third
of the city-
Or my moms side will spot
me coincidentally
who will my face be familiar to?
I am too paranoid
to be outside
with her...
Read more...
By Bailey Williams
When the new coronavirus (COVID-19) sent most AIDS Foundation Chicago (AFC) staff home to work remotely, many members of our finance and contracts team continued to come to the office. A lot of the work this team does cannot be done remotely. Though this work often happens behind the scenes, it is essential to the many services AFC provides to help people living with HIV...
Read more...
By Bailey Williams
I spent most mornings in the summer of 2016 running before work. I’d run a neighborhood route, often in the streets when cars were few, the sun was rising, and nothing but birds and insects could be heard. I was in the best shape of my life and had finally gotten down to easily running 7-minute miles. When the annual AIDS Run & Walk Chicago came around...
Read more...
By Bailey Williams
After receiving an eviction letter, a man in emotional distress called the HIV Resource Coordination HUB. The phone line led by AIDS Foundation Chicago (AFC) and Center on Halsted is dedicated to providing information and resources related to HIV. By the time Oscar Solis, a Rapid Responder for the HUB at Center on Halsted, answered his call, the man was extremely upset,...
Read more...
Big dyke Energy
By Onyx Appleberry
always been just a dyke
when i was born? baby dyke
as a kid? dyke in training
as an adult? prime dyke
& when i’m dead i’ll be dusty dyke
hopefully legend dyke
i’m so dyke the dutch accidentally invented me
had to reinvent when they realized i don’t stop
floods, but start them
so dyke that i...
Read more...
By Ashley Brown
July is Minority Mental Health Month! Created in 2008, the Bebe Moore Campbell National Minority Mental Health Awareness Month is observed each July to bring awareness to the distinct challenges faced by marginalized groups in accessing resources and care for mental illness. It is named in honor of Bebe Moore Campbell , an American author, journalist and teacher who advocated...
Read more...
By Bailey Williams
It happens once a year: The pesky little reminder goes off in your phone letting you know it’s time to schedule your annual gynecology exam. You try to mentally prepare yourself, but this visit, your OB-GYN says something unexpected. “Have you heard of PrEP?” When you shake your head, she goes on to inform you that PrEP (pre-exposure prophylaxis)...
Read more...
Photo credit: Louie Ortiz-Fonseca, The gran varones
By Bailey Williams
You might not know the name Abdul-Aliy Muhammad, but you probably know about Philadelphia’s More Color More Pride Flag: the one that expanded the colors of the original rainbow flag to include black and brown stripes with the traditional rainbow...
Read more...
By Bailey Williams
A 26-year-old pregnant woman started experiencing sinus-related symptoms and assumed it was pneumonia. Instead, she tested positive for the new coronavirus (COVID-19) and had to be intubated at MacNeal Hospital in Berwyn, Illinois. An older woman in the same hospital also tested positive for COVID-19 but begged to not receive a breathing tube. If it came...
Read more...
