BUILDING UP TO THE

STILL WE RISE MARCH AND RALLY...

(don't forget to check out the HOT MOVIE about the demo!  Click HERE)

DIRECT ACTION WORKS!

MAY 20TH MOBILIZATION IS A HUGE SUCCESS BOTH IN BUILDING OUR MOVEMENT AND IN WINNING CONCRETE VICTORIES!

Victory 1 ) For the first time, the Bush Administration contacted us to complete the AIDS communities candidate questionaire as prepared at www.aidsvote.org

Victory 2) The same day as our 1,500 person march and 100 person non-violent civil disobedience, the Center for Disease Control rushed to release the awardees of their latest RFP--insiders say it's because they wanted to make sure that it looked like this administration was responding to our community!

NYCAHN Board members Louie Jones and Mimi Choy-Brown, leaders Juan Santos and Marvin Lockman and staff member Jennifer Flynn (along with many, many others) all participated in the nonviolent civil disobedience and a bus load of NYCAHN members yelled and screamed throughout the streets of Washington, DC.

Louie Jones honored the memory of our recently deceased co-founders Joe Bostic and Joe Capestany in front of the Capitol kicking off the civil disobedience.  He called for more funding for housing for homeless people living with HIV/AIDS, an end to the federal ban on funding for syringe exchange programs and increased resources for people co-infected with HIV and Hepatitis C.

Click here to see pictures and see some of the press...

Here is a recap...

AIDS Protest Shakes up Political Headquarters in Washington

Contact: Michael Kink, Housing Works 518.527.2787 // Suzy Subways, ACT UP Philadelphia 215.681.5616 // Mark Jason McLaurin, Gay Men's Health Crisis 410.935.7039 // Jennifer Cohn, Health GAP 215.668.1646

WASHINGTON (May 20)—More than 1000 marchers chanted “Wake Up, Times Up” in an election-year march through Capitol Hill to call attention to the global and domestic AIDS crises.

Bearing 1000 alarm clocks, the marchers brought their wake-up call to the headquarters of the Republican and Democratic parties. The march ended on the steps of the Capitol, where over 120 protesters lay in the street until being arrested in one of the largest AIDS-related civil disobedience actions in a decade.

“Our elected officials and presidential contenders need to get serious about battling AIDS,” said Terje Anderson, executive director of the National Association of People with AIDS. “I am participating in civil disobedience today to call attention to the enormous inadequacies of our national response to AIDS: every 11 seconds someone in the world dies of this disease.”

Several prominent AIDS advocates and agency leaders participated in the civil disobedience action, including Sean Strub, chairman and founder of POZ Magazine; Charles King, president of Housing Works, New York City; Jennifer Flynn, executive director of the New York City AIDS Housing Network; Salih Booker, executive director of Africa Action; Kim Nichols, African Services Committee; Anna Forbes, policy director of the Global Campaign for Microbicides; Paul Davis, director of Health GAP; Anne Donnelly and Ryan Clary of Project Inform of San Francisco; and Adam Taylor, executive director of Global Justice.

Participants came to DC for the march from all parts of the nation, including California , Ohio , Pennsylvania , Florida , key states in November’s election.

"In this election year President Bush, John Kerry and Congress must do more to address HIV/AIDS-the greatest health and humanitarian crisis in history," said Salih Booker, Executive Director of Africa Action who was arrested with other demonstrators today. "HIV/AIDS will be an election issue this November and any candidate who expects success at the polls must first show their commitment to fighting AIDS at home and at its epicenter in Africa ."

Stressing that the 8% of voters in a tight election identify HIV/AIDS as their number-one health concern, the protesters pledge continued activity, demanding that elected officials and candidates alike commit to comprehensive programs to prevent HIV transmission, to bring treatment and support services to people living with HIV, and to redouble efforts for a cure, in the United States and around the world.

"Last week, the federally-funded Institute of Medicine gave our elected leaders a report that verifies what we're dealing with every day in our neighborhoods -- at least 59,000 people here in the United States can't get stable access to life-saving AIDS drugs," said Louis Jones of the New York City AIDS Housing Network, a member of the Still We Rise coalition planning events during the Republican and Democratic National Conventions. "Over a thousand of us from across the country are coming to DC to say:

'Wake up! Time's Up! Our lives depend on these medications and support programs, and we're going to be everywhere you are, from here to the national political conventions to the voting booth until we see some real action."

The coalition demands include:

• Full funding of domestic and global efforts to provide lifesaving HIV medications to millions;
• Full funding of the domestic and global HIV/AIDS public health infrastructure;
• Support of comprehensive and honest HIV prevention efforts;
• An end to politically-motivated attacks on scientific research on HIV/AIDS; and
• Full funding for AIDS housing programs.

"There's been a death toll through every presidential administration while we continue to block funding for needle exchange or put up roadblocks to getting AIDS drugs to poor nations," said Waheedah El-Shabazz of ACT UP Philadelphia . "Believe me, those of us who continue to bury our friends and loved ones, here and around the world, are wide awake and ready to do what it takes to stop this epidemic. If you're running around saying stuff like condoms don't work, or cutting funds for the programs our lives depend upon, or even just refusing to talk about AIDS out loud and often, you're dreaming if you think you are fighting AIDS."