International Carnival of the Pozitivities, number 2

WELCOME to AIDS Combat Zone, host of the Second Edition of the International Carnival of the Pozitivities. As was mentioned in the First Edition of this carnival, the AIDS epidemic turned 25 this summer, and as we reflect on that milestone we're seeing the many ways in which the face of this disease has changed and continues to change. Thanks to blogging and the internet, it is now possible to bring together the voices and faces of the many people whose lives have been touched by HIV and AIDS, and to put their stories into a global context. That's what this carnival is all about.

In looking over the submissions for this month's carnival, we had a good broad range of topics, but two themes kept resurfacing: Friendship and Art. Friendship and Art have been helping people infected and affected by HIV for longer than antiretroviral therapy has been around, and the posts featured in this edition make it certain that they will continue to be a source of strength and support for as long as strength and support are needed.

Friendship

Our first tale of friendship comes from Jody Kuchar at Grey Matter Flatulence. In her post If it flies, it dies, Jody recounts a previous job she had where she was fortunate enough to consider her employers as her close personal friends. As it so happens, one of her two bosses was an HIV positive gay man living in a small rural town. Her story recounts the challenges of living in an area where people were sometimes openly discriminatory against homosexuals, and follows through to her friend's unfortunate descent into depression, drug use, and death. Despite the tragedy of her friend's end, Jody makes it clear that his kindness had touched her and others, and that he will be missed forever.

This month we also heard from Richard at AIDS-Write.org. In his post Flashes from three summer days..., Richard tells the story of where he is now - a long-term HIV survivor - and where that journey began - in 1987 in a testing clinic on a hot Los Angeles day. Though the three days in the story span over 19 years, the friendship of his companion Cherie is with him from start to finish. The value of that friendship is quite apparent to Richard. His closing words are thus: "i am the medicine. we are the cure."

Many of you already know Ron Hudson, the founder of this carnival and author of 2sides2ron. Ron wrote about an experience he had in Portugal and the friendship that can result from the kindness of strangers. Mario is an HIV positive homeless man who lives the streets of Lisbon. On a recent visit there, Ron reached out to Mario, providing him with food, clothing, and company while capturing their conversation on film. To me this is a touching example of a friendship born of HIV/AIDS.

Which brings us to our final friendship post. I mean no disrespect to the previous authors, but I feel like I saved the best for last. This post comes from Steve Schalchlin of Living in the Bonus Round, in which Steve tells a story of spirituality, gratitude, friendship, and love that is both timely and touching. In Sometimes its Enough to say Thank You, Steve tells the story of going to the Hollywood United Methodist Church with an old friend on Pride Sunday in Los Angeles. Hollywood UMC, as Steve explains, was one of the first churches in America to actively and vocally welcome and accept people living with HIV and AIDS, and Steve and his friend were honored guests on that day. Without saying too much about the post let me just encourage you to read it all the way through. The post has already been featured by Andrew Sullivan, and the more people who read it the better.

Art

The art posts from this month were shorter but just as numerous. I'll begin with Mike and Jana's post How Cool Is This in their Peace Corps blog l'aventure africaine. The post points us to the Mother Bear Project, a nonprofit organization which collects knitted and crocheted teddy bears and delivers them to children affected by HIV and AIDS in developing countries. To me this seems like a creative and personal way to make a difference to a young life, and I praise Mike and Jana for spreading the word.

Word of another opportunity to create AIDS-related art comes again from 2sides2ron. Ron is seeking artists to help with the Azuela Project, an AIDS fundraiser book on CD. He is specifically seeking out artists with work that is of Mayan/Aztec influence to be paired with existing poems. If you are interested in participating, please email Ron with the subject line "Azuela Project"

Stephanie Robinson is a visual artist who shares with us her painting Seasons of the Soul, which has been well-received by many in the LGBQT and HIV+ communities. Lithographs of her painting are available, with information on her blog.

Our final art post is the news of the founding of AIDSvideos.org. This news has actually been featured on several of my favorite AIDS blogs including VisualAIDS, Texas AIDS Blog, and 2sides2ron. AIDSvideos.org is particularly exciting to me because it is bringing AIDS education materials to "Web 2.0" services such as YouTube, Google Video, Yahoo Video, and the Open Media Network. My praise goes out to the folks working on AIDSvideos.org for their creative use of these new media options to disseminate a very important educational message.

Odds, Ends

It wasn't all Art and Friendship this past month. In his post Day 16, Brian Finch of Acid Reflux: Life and Times of a Poz Guy relates a day in the life of a "treatment experienced" AIDS survivor. He tells of the lethargy and side effects he's experiencing on his current regimen, and laments the attitude he sees taken by many young gay men today. "I see an entire generation of education being flushed down the toilet," he says, "I think every young gay guy should have to take these pills for a month, just as they do with post-exposure prophylaxis. Then they’d be paying a bit more attention."

Our final post before I go off on a tangent comes from Nightmare Hall, where The Dreamer recounts common questions he used to get during his days volunteering for an HIV positive speakers bureau, and gives his answers. The post serves as a good quick-reference for people who wish to learn more about HIV, as well as an entertaining look into The Dreamer's lively style of fielding people's questions.

Upcoming Events

As many of you know, next week marks the 16th annual International AIDS Conference in Toronto, Canada. What you may not know is that I will be in Toronto to attend the conference and to serve as a correspondent for two brand new collaborative blog projects.

TIME to DELIVER: an activist blog project organized by CHAMP and the Harm Reduction Coalition. See the full press release here.

AIDS Conference International Collaborative Blog: seeks to bring together a variety of perspectives on the International AIDS Conference that are not available through the mainstream press.

Please keep an eye on these two exciting projects over the next two weeks. Better yet, add them to your blogrolls and feed readers and join the conversation. These projects draw their power from grassroots support, and so we're counting on readers and bloggers like you to help them succeed.

Closing

This concludes the Second Edition of the International Carnival of the Pozitivities. Thank you for visiting. While you're here I encourage you to look around AIDS Combat Zone and to subscribe for updates if you are interested in reading more from me and Faith. Also please visit my post on Matthias Rath to learn how you can help fight AIDS in Africa by copying and pasting some HTML into your blog or website.

Next month's carnival will be held at AIDS-Write.org in early September, so go ahead and start submitting HIV/AIDS related blog posts. Also, we're still in need of a host for the October edition of the carnival, so let Ron know if you would like to host this carnival in the future.

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