Too many of us think of AIDS as something that occurred in the past, and see it as a manageable, if unfortunate disease that is well on its way to being eradicated.
The truth is that as of 2012, over 1591 Rhode Islanders has died because of this epidemic. Though the rate of new infections has decreased over the last 30 years, there were 74 new cases of AIDS in RI in 2013. This is an increase of over 17%, according to Dr. Amy Nunn of Brown University who spoke at the State House yesterday for World AIDS Day. She was joined by Governor Linc Chafee and US Rep. David Cicilline and many public health advocates.
“Today, over half of the new infections are among men, in Rhode Island, and we know from Dr. Philip Chan’s study that a lot of these people are meeting on line, on the Internet,” says Dr. Nunn, “The problem is that our preventative response hasn’t been as quick as those websites which are making money hand over fist and helping people hook up online.”
Dr. Nunn would like to avoid stigmatizing high risk lifestyles and instead concentrate on education as a means of protection.
The answer is “to get our preventive response aligned with how people are getting infected.” Dr. Nunn sees the answer as partnering with these online hook up sites like Grindr, “I would posit that they do a much better job of reaching the highest risk people than we have done in the public health community, and it’s time for a revolution.”
“I would like to challenge every one in the room that we really need to think about how we can enhance our prevention strategies by working with these companies online and also shaming them into corporate social responsibility. Why aren’t they doing more?”
Dr. Nunn would also like to implement AIDS screening as part of our regular checkups, as routine as blood pressure and temperature checks.
If we do this, says Dr. Nunn, we have a good chance of getting our AIDS infection rates down to zero.
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Civil rights activists spoke yesterday in South Providence as part of the seventh annual 
Yesterday’s “
The crowd started to build around 7pm at Burnside Park, with marchers working on their signs in the park with the materials provided by the organizers. There were less marchers this time and the crowd tended to be whiter, though there was substantial representation of people of color.
The plan was to rally at Burnside Park, march past the Providence Place Mall and to the steps of the State House, where there would be a four minute moment of silence for Mike Brown (one minute for every hour his body laid in the street) and then a “speak out” in which anyone could step forward and let loose whatever was on their mind.
The march through downtown and to the state house was guided by the police, whose red and blue lights provided an almost stereoscopic illumination. There were chants of “Hands up, don’t shoot” and “This is what democracy looks like” among others. There were many signs of support from passing motorists and mall patrons, but also one or two negative reactions.
The big surprise of the evening was finding, upon our arrival at the State House, a phalanx of police officers standing at the top of the state house steps, protecting the building. It was an intimidating reminder of police power to have between 15 and 20 armed officers silently observe the protest from on high.
There was a solemn and somber four minutes of silence, interrupted only by the occasional chime of an unmuted cellphone, then the speak out began. I’ll have a rundown of what the speakers spoke about in a later post, after I’ve sorted out all the video, but for now let me present some highlights.
The growing militarization of police forces and the crackdown on human rights is world wide, from Hong Kong to Mexico to Ferguson.
As the night wore on, and a light drizzle of rain and dropping temperatures thinned the crowd of protesters, over twenty people participated in the speak out. For the most part the listeners were polite and patient, and everyone who wanted to speak had their chance.
