December 1, 2008 is World AIDS Day. Current statistics on HIV/AIDS can be found at the UNAIDS website.
Like so many of you, I know what it’s like to lose a loved one to this pandemic. Well, it is more correct to say I know what it’s like to lose too many loved ones to the AIDS pandemic. I think of my brother Darrell and my best friend Alvin often and wished they had lived long enough to benefit from what advances have been made to date.
This year’s theme is Leadership. It is being used to ask leaders to get involved with helping, as the campaign slogan states, “Stop AIDS. Keep the Promise.” I encourage each of you to do just that, get involved. A good resource is the World AIDS Campaign: http://www.worldaidscampaign.org/en
Today Ayman al-Zawahri, an al-Qaida leader denounced our new President-elect Barack Obama as no more than a “house slave” for US interests. Calling on the memory of Malcolm X, al-Zawahri condemned President-elect Obama as his direct opposite. Say what!
I was in Grant Park on November 4, 2008. It was electrifying. I wept like a baby. I cannot describe to you the solidarity of human spirit present that night in Grant Park. Surely I was proud as an African American woman but I was equally as proud as an American. We walked around in a combination of euphoria, shock and agape. Amazing! Strangers were hi-fiving strangers; hugs were in abundance; at times we simply looked knowingly at one another traversing a path that required not one word. We looked at one another with joy, and shook our heads as if to say, “yes, in this lifetime!” Read the rest of this entry »
I’m looking for a REAL maverick within the McCain campaign! Instead, I’m forced to witness one of the most virulent presidential campaigns in history. The GOP party has certainly NOT conducted a “respectful” campaign as they vowed. But, if you read my April blog, “Getting On My Nerves,” you’ll know I never expected it. As much as it was hinted that the Democratic presidential endorsement of Sen. Obama was sign that America had moved into being a “post-racist” nation, the comments I’m hearing from the “regular folk” attending the GOP campaign events prove otherwise. Read the rest of this entry »
Bear Stearns, Lehman Bros., Merrill Lynch, and perhaps AIG….hmmm. The stock market is descending, foreclosure rates continue to rise, Americans continue to experience rising living expenses, decreasing value in their dollars and significant unemployment. Yet, our political leadership continues to stand before us painting a picture of a strong economy and rosy days ahead. So much for being in touch with the experiences of the “average American.” A photo op with a factory worker is about as “in touch” as most of our politicians ever get. I’m worried, about my retirement pension, about our children attending college and now unable to find adequate employment, about leadership who tell us that everything is alright and that the economy is, as John McCain put it, “fundamentally sound.” This is a crisis which our leadership have allowed to continuously worsen! So much attention on homeland security and wars, little attention, little regulating of the mortgage industry. Read the rest of this entry »
December 1, 2008 is World AIDS Day. Current statistics on HIV/AIDS can be found at the UNAIDS website.