Filed under: HIV/AIDS
"I am an endangered species but I sing no victim song. I am a woman, I am an artist and I know where my voice belongs." --written by Jeanne Pisano and Dianne Reeves
Somehow those lyrics just resonate with me, "I know where my voice belongs!"
For the past twenty five years I have been speaking up and out about HIV/AIDS. WHY? Well, let's go back twenty nine years. December 20th, 1981, I opened on Broadway in what has become the iconic musical of the 80's, 'Dreamgirls.'
'Dreamgirls' was the best and worst of all times for me. The best of course was being an original Dreamgirl, creating the role of Deena Jones, being nominated for the prestigious Tony Award (and a list of others) as Best Actress, sharing the stage each and every night with some of the most talented people of a generation including my dear friends Loretta Devine and Jennifer Holiday.
It was such an exciting, magical time. And night after night, audiences stood to their feet, showering us with the kind of applause that let you know that you were loved, really, truly loved. You couldn't get a cab home once the curtain came down, but that's another story for another day. This was one of the best times in my life!
And in the middle of those good times came the worst.The worst was when men, gay men up and down Broadway just started dropping dead of a mystery disease. They died one right after the other. It was frightening! Friends and cast members just got sick and died. They were sick today and dead tomorrow. They got sick, some of them developed those strange purple marks and they died. There was no dying process like the one we have become accustomed to nowadays; no "cocktail" mixture of pills to ward off one infectious disease or the other. They just got sick and they died.
Then the deadly silence would set in because nobody wanted to talk about it, much less do anything about that disease, "that shhhhh, gay disease." The silence was deafening! Death and silence seemed to go hand in hand and silently that mysterious disease, AIDS, blew out the flame of life on Broadway like candles on a birthday cake, funeral after funeral, memorial after memorial. It got to the point where I couldn't cross one more name out of my address book.It was a death storm and I stood witness to such an ugly time in America. A time when good people, kind people, people of every faith and belief took comfort in passing judgment and pointing fingers at people who suffered beyond belief. People disowned and abandoned their sick and dying children, ignoring them in their time of need. They easily turned their backs on their own flesh and blood when they needed them most!
Over twenty seven years into this disease, I know that we have come so far with the development of new medications but I also know we have so much farther to go because I now stand witness as HIV cripples our communities and the immune systems of human beings allowing opportunistic infections to take place, infections that include stigma, shame and silence.
After all these years, I am shocked as to how little people know or want to know about HIV/AIDS. How people don't know that HIV/AIDS killed more than 3,000,000 last year, and every year, it kills more people than it did the year before. People still want to believe that AIDS is a "Gay" disease -- absolutely refusing to acknowledge the fact that the new #1 way to transmit HIV is unprotected heterosexual sex. That's right, male to female sex. And I could go on with facts that would make you say "What the ?!"
As an original Dreamgirl, I cared to speak up about HIV/AIDS because AIDS was killing my friends in silence and shame. It was gay men then, black women and young people now and the silence remains deadly. I know where my voice belongs and we have been silent for too long and silence will not protect us.
Silence is killing us quicker than the disease.
Today is December 1st, World AIDS Day, and "I know where my voice belongs," "And I am Telling You" that in just "One Night Only," as you slept last night; over five thousand people became infected with HIV. I hope one of them wasn't you.
AIDS really does affects us all!
Black Stars Lost To HIV/AIDS
Black Stars Lost To HIV/AIDS
Over the past 30 years, several high-profile celebrities have succumbed to death from complications from HIV/AIDS. Their work has run the gamut of arts and culture - from sports and dance, to music and fashion. In commemoration of World AIDS Day, BlackVoices.com remembers the lasting impression of several notable African-Americans whose work has lived on through today.
Howard Rollins
Actor Howard Ellsworth Rollins, Jr. is best-known for his Academy Award nominated performance in the film 'Ragtime.' The Baltimore native made notable appearances on television as Virgil TIbbs on 'In the Heat of the Night' and on the soap 'Another World,' which he was nominated for a Daytime Emmy Award before he got into trouble with the law and battled both drug habits and a myriad of legal issues. Rollins died on Dec.8, 1996.
Alvin Ailey
Famed choreographer Alvin Ailey is best known for founding the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre. The New York-based modern dance troupe has become one of the most traveled in the world and is known for its signature piece 'Revelations.' Ailey died at the age of 58 years old in 1989 and on his deathbed asked his dear friend and muse Judith Jamison to run his beloved company, which she has successfully grown for the past twenty years.
Willi Smith
Though he enrolled at Parsons School of Design, Willi Donnell Smith dropped out to design his own fashion line, Williwear. The openly gay, Philadelphia native designed both wedding dresses and suits for the wedding parties of public figures like Caroline Kennedy and also dressed the cast of Spike Lee's 1987 film 'School Daze.' At the time of his death, at age 39, Williwear sold $25 million worth of clothing per year.
Kenny Greene
Kenny Greene may be remembered as the front-man for the 1990s R&B trio Intro, but he was also a notable songwriter. In addition to penning 'Reminisce' and 'Love No Limit' for Mary J. Blige, the Songwriter of the Year winner also wrote tracks for Will Smith and 98 Degrees. Before his passing, at age 32, Greene opened up to Sister 2 Sister magazine in 2001 admitting that he was suffering from AIDS and revealed he was bisexual.
Sylvester
Several famous ladies may hold the title of 'Queen of Disco,' but in the 70s none was more memorable than gay, cross-dressing vocal powerhouse born as Sylvester James. The 'You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)' singer won three Billboard awards in 1979 and even appeared in the Bette Midler film 'The Rose' before dying in San Francisco in 1988. He was inducted into the Dance Music Hall of Fame just one year later.
Gene Anthony Rae
The early 1980s were all about the film 'Fame' and the television series of the same name. Gene Anthony Ray played the lovable, street-smart dancer Leroy Johnson on both. The Harlem native choreographed and danced in the Whoopi Goldberg flick 'Eddie,' before suffering a stroke in 2003. He died at age 41.
Max Robinson
Max Robinson was the first African-American broadcast network news anchor in America. After breaking race barriers as a co-anchor on 'ABC News World News Tonight,' the Richmond, Virginia native worked tirelessly to get the network to portray Black Americans in an accurate light. He also founded the National Association of Black Journalists. He died Dec. 20, 1988 at age 49.
Arthur Ashe
After attending UCLA on a tennis scholarship in 1963, this Richmond, Virginia native became the first black player ever selected to the United States Davis Cup team. The former U.S. Army first lieutenant went on to win three Grand Slam titles and became the most well-known African-American tennis player of his day paving the way for future black tennis stars like Venus and Serena Williams. He worked tirelessly to bring awareness to AIDS Awareness from 1992 -- when he revealed the illness -- until his death on Feb.6, 1993.
Fela Kuti
This Nigerian singer and songwriter, who the 2010 Tony Award-nominated musical was based, created a new genre of music called Afro-beat inspired by jazz, the funk of James Brown and West African traditional music. Fela was influenced by the Black Panthers and became a political activist in his native, Nigeria, speaking out about government corruption. He also infamously married upwards to 27 women in a single ceremony in 1978.