A Thousand Words
by Jennifer Schiavone
B.D. Wong helps announce the “I Talk Because...” Video Project.
Photo Courtesy William Alatriste,
New York City Council
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Today’s online social networks connect millions of people all over the world. Can they be used to spark an important conversation about HIV and AIDS?
INTERNET RESOURCES for those at risk for and impacted by HIV/AIDS have been an important part of MetroHIV (you can find several @ metrosource.com under the MetroHIV tab),
but
one subject we haven’t yet had the opportunity to address is the
increasingly relevant topic of online social networking in the
HIV-positive community. |
Given the broad reach of today’s online social networks (Facebook alone has over 400 million users), it’s no surprise that advocacy organizations are exploring ways to take advantage of these connections to spread awareness about HIV and reduce the stigma often associated with even speaking about the disease. One project that seeks to blend together video content, social networking and celebrity caché in an effort to get the word out is the “I Talk Because…” Video Project.
A collaborative effort by some 21 advocacy groups, including Gay Men’s Health Crisis, God’s Love We Deliver and the New York City Council, the project aims to restart the conversation about HIV in the online communities where a large number of people today connect and share. Participants upload clips of themselves speaking about why it’s still important for them to talk about HIV today; these are displayed on the official YouTube channel, Twitter feed and Facebook page. Several well-known activists, politicians and celebrities have made contributions revealing their own personal reasons for continuing the fight against HIV in this simple and powerful way.
“Talk about HIV and AIDS in the places you think it’s least appropriate, because those are the places where it is probably the most necessary. Sometimes talk is cheap, but as it relates to HIV and AIDS, talking can literally save lives,” said out New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn. Actress Veronica Webb echoed those sentiments in her own video contribution. “The most important thing we can do to stop HIV/AIDS is to talk about it,” she said.
Others got personal — and sometimes emotional — as they revealed how their lives and families have been touched by HIV and AIDS. “I don’t want to see anyone that I love, or that I don’t know, contract AIDS. I’ve seen it. I’ve watched my friends die. My mom died of it. I don’t want anyone else to die of it,” said actress Rosie Perez. Barbara Corcoran, real estate investor and one of the “sharks” on ABC’s Shark Tank, shared similarly personal reasons to keep the fight going. “I talk about AIDS because I have a brother who lives with AIDS, and it’s a struggle every day of his life that just shouldn’t be... I lost four of my colleagues, each in their own way special to this world, and they should all be here. So I talk about AIDS. It’s not over.”
Among celebrities who participated, many mentioned friends and colleagues in the industry that were affected, became infected or died of the illness. Members of the theater community had a particularly close vantage point when AIDS was first diagnosed. “I believe it’s a responsibility of those of us who were around when it all started to continue to discuss and share, and I always worry about whether the generations [to] come [will] fully comprehend the importance that we eradicate this thing from our lives,” said Tony Award winner B.D. Wong. “It’s a part of our everyday lives that we cannot turn our back on.”
Are you ready to share the reasons you talk about HIV and AIDS? To participate in the project or to view more of the over 150 videos submitted so far (including spots by Wendy Williams, Alan Cumming, Cynthia Rowley and Kristen Johnston), head to one of the following: youtube.com/italkbecause, facebook.com/italkbecause or twitter.com/italkbecause. If you’d like to add your own video to the collection, film and upload it to YouTube and submit a link to your video in an email to italkbecause@gmail.com to have it included in the official channel.
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