Tag: aids history
-
Songs That Soundtracked the AIDS Epidemic: Patti LaBelle’s “You Are My Friend”
•
every year, just as pride season is about to kick off, the interwebs argue, fight and debate about who is and who isn’t a queer icon. thankfully, many of these exhausting debates center non-black celebrities who have generally mastered performative allyship, for the sake of rainbow capitalism. frequenting gay clubs…
-
Songs That Soundtracked the AIDS Epidemic: Gwen Guthrie’s “Can’t Love You Tonight”
•
dubbed the queen of paradise garage, legendary 1980’s new york night club, gwen guthrie scored her biggest hit when she topped billboard’s r&b chart in september 1986 with the self-penned and produced “ain’t nothin’ goin’ on but the rent.” that same month, the surgeon general’s report on AIDS was released.…
-
Mourning In My Sleep: (Re)Connecting with My Ancestors
•
i have been mourning in my sleep lately. my grandmother, my mother, and dear my aunts janet and carmen have visited me in my dreams. they all passed in the past six years and admittedly, i struggled with providing myself the space to completely mourn them. there always seemed to…
-
Songs That Soundtracked the AIDS Epidemic: Jermaine Stewart’s “We Don’t Have To Take Our Clothes Off”
•
in january 1986, the CDC reported more people were diagnosed with aids in 1985 than all of the earlier years combined. even as health experts were predicting that the number of diagnoses could double within the year, the US was still without a coordinated effort to address the AIDS pandemic.…
-
Songs That Soundtrack the AIDS Epidemic: Ultra Naté’s “Free”
•
On the cusp of the 25th anniversary of Ultra Naté’s iconic “Free,” originally released in 1997, the single cemented Ultra Naté as one of dance music’s most prolific performers but also soundtracked a new era of hope and liberation for the LGBT community. After years waiting for a medical breakthrough,…
-
The Songs I Loved: Neneh Cherry’s “I’ve Got You Under My Skin”
•
almost 10 years into the AIDS epidemic, and only 4 years removed from the first time president reagan uttered the mentioned AIDS in a public address, the imagination of most americans and mainstream news media, AIDS was just a “gay disease” that was “killing all the right people.” it was…
-
Puerto Rican Day Parade 1990
•
in september 1990, the first queer contingent marched in philadelphia’s 26th annual puerto rican day parade. organized and led by primarily latinx gay men, particularly puerto rican gay men living with AIDS, the collective marched holding signs and posters calling out the puerto rican government’s slow response to the epidemic.…
-
KIYOSHI KUROMIYA
•
in the late 1980’s, the only approved hiv treatment medication available was AZT. when it hit the market in 1987, there was hope that it would save the day. that didn’t happen. in fact, the side effects of AZT were brutal and caused many to discontinue use. this meant that…
-
How To Survive A Plague Again: The Denver Principles
•
About two week ago, I did the very rare thing of going live on Instagram. I asked my comrade and my good, good gurlfriend Abdul-Aliy Muhammad to join me as we discussed “How to Survive A Plague…Again.” For about an hour and a half, Abdul and I talked about what…
-
Quick History of how AIDS Ended AYDS, The Diet Supplement
•
last week social media was abuzz with the “reports” that corona, the beer that i drink when i have too many long islands, was experiencing a financial hit because of the onset of the covid-19 (coronavirus). i wouldn’t be surprised if there was a small segment of the US population…
-
DAVID COLE
•
in the late 1980’s and early 1990’s, david cole, one half of c&c music factory, wrote and produced some of dance music’s biggest pop hits. today we celebrate his life and his musical legacy. david was a brilliant piano player who got his start remixing songs as he was DJing…
-
All Of The Promises I Made To Tina
•
On July 3 1981, The New York Times printed an article with the headline “Rare Cancer seen in 41 homosexuals.” It was the first mainstream media mention of what would become the HIV epidemic. On this date, the epidemic didn’t have a name. Even after 37 years, it is still…