Quotes from Members of Our Steering Committee:

I’m a very passionate person, but with my day job there is no room to effect change. Participating at the Center gives me an opportunity to do that. It infuriates me to know that my people (people of color) are being infected at such alarming rates. Something is very wrong and something has to change. By all means I’m going to effect change!

An attorney at the Law Project saw potential in me and invited me to attend the Katrina Haslip Law Technical Assistance Program, training to become an advocate. After that, it was full speed ahead for me. Now I stand up for myself, and others who can’t, because I know what can happen if you don’t…

I do this work because someone has to. It’s not about passing the buck. I do this work because I am an infected woman of color, who is a mom and a grandma, and I want to see the end of this epidemic for everyone’s sake.

I have been with the Law Project for eight years. What I have learned is that people are different, so you have to meet them where they’re at. If we come together as a team we can get the big guys. Activism means fighting for a cause and we have always been the little guy being pushed around, stepped on, and cast aside. Enough is enough, now we have to fight back! If you want to know the truth, whether you win or lose, there is a sense of power there.

Even though I came from a background where women do not have the same opportunity as men, I have found that I can open up and become empowered. I have realized that it is never too late to do anything you have a passion for. I feel even more beautiful and confident now then when I was in my 20s or 30s.

When I joined I did not know anyone and hardly interacted, but there was a feeling of belonging in the atmosphere, and I found myself looking forward to Thursday evening to just sit in class to listen. At first I did not understand what was being talked about, but when I looked around the table at all those women who were HIV positive like me, I felt the connection and I knew that there was something I was going to benefit from participating. Being an activist has given me a sense of power. It is a bad feeling to feel powerless. I may not be in a POSITION of power e.g. an elected official, a CEO, or a manager, but I feel I have the power to do something about issues that affect me, and in the long run, this power makes me want to help other people who are vulnerable.

Being a member of the Center has helped with my personal development. I was never much of a talker, now I’ve been groomed to educate my peers on HIV issues thanks to the Center.

Steering Committee Members:

• Deborah Bailey, Brooklyn
• E.T., South Africa
• E.W., Barbados
• M.A., Haiti
• S.A., Zambia
• S.M., Zambia
• Dawn Young, Bronx
• Mary Jorge, Bronx

Staff:

• Hadiyah Charles, Organizer
• Yasmin Tabi, Law Graduate
• Alison Yager, Staff Attorney, Project Manager