David the Piano Player

The trailer for David the Piano Player screened at the New York Academy of Medicine's conference on housing, health and serial displacement yesterday. It was very well received. David's story teaches volumes about dignity and how to heal from trauma. Many thanks to the talented editor and co-producer Sabrina Gordon, of Vespertine Media and Film Productions, DP/post-production supervisor Amir Ebrahimi of Metric Nine Productions, and Tiona McClodden (second camera) for signing on to make this project possible.

Please stay tuned for updates on this project which will be complete by Summer of 2009. I can't wait to share it with all of you.

Social vulnerabilities and HIV prevention

I have been getting a lot of questions lately about who is responsible for addressing social vulnerabilities. This is a big question. My answer, in short, is everybody! Professionals, researchers, concerned citizens, advocates, and infected communities all have a stake to claim.

Poverty, homelessness, racism, sexism, violence and homophobia are all forms of social vulnerability that predispose communities to ill health. These problems are not specific to HIV prevention and are rooted in long histories of oppression. So then the question becomes, how do we get free? We start by not repeating mistakes from the past and focusing future efforts on collective emancipation. The operative word being collective. You don't need to be an expert to start addressing social vulnerabilities. In the words of Arthur Ashe: "Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can."

I touched on these issues while speaking on a CHAMP community forum panel last fall that was focused on HIV prevention. Check it out below. If you still have questions... you know where to find me.

Who feels it knows it

I was recently on a panel about HIV and got asked a tough question about empowerment. The question was: “What does empowerment mean to you? What does it look like?” I gave an answer about jobs and economic security because those were the issues coming up over and over again in my work in Philadelphia. But I left the panel very unsatisfied with my response. My dissatisfaction was less at my ability to respond than at the limited constructs we have to understand the true meaning of empowerment.

Empowerment is an expansive topic. There is a totality about the phenomenon that is bigger than what any individual can see or say. That’s why it’s hard to explain. To understand empowerment we have to think collectively for the idea to fit in our world. I think ultimately it’s about freedom and having whatever you need to be free. In my case, my friends and family are critical.

An important aspect of staying free are supportive relationships. I just got a video from a kindred soul that prompted this blog entry. People can help keep you free. So part of what empowerment looks like to me is a web of nurturing relationships. Relationships that find you at the right time and at the right place. A lot of people don’t have this web. I would be lost without mine.

On that note, I have attached the video that inspired the lesson. Not surprisingly it is none other than Nina Simone. Enjoy and stay free…