Over the weekend of February
23-24, 2002 a large group of HIV activists, treatment advocates
and people living with HIV met in Seattle under the umbrella
of the AIDS Treatment Advocates Coalition (ATAC) and the Coalition
for Salvage Therapy (CST) to discuss the past, present and
future of activism.
ATAC is a national coalition
of people living with HIV/AIDS and advocates working together
to end the AIDS epidemic by improving HIV research and treatment
access. ATAC, like the Black Treatment Activist Network (BTAN),
is driven by a core group of activists committed to building
a national coalition to improve AIDS research, treatment access,
and empowerment of new activists in communities most affected
by the epidemic. These groups seek to encourage greater and
more effective involvement of all people with HIV in the decisions
that affect their lives by identifying, mentoring and empowering
new treatment activists in all communities affected by the
epidemic. The goals are very ambitious, but basically revolve
around enabling people with HIV/AIDS and their advocates to
provide meaningful input into HIV disease (visit www.atac-usa.org
and www.blackaids.org).
Now, it would be much easier
to sit on the sidelines and throw daggers like, “Not another
HIV coalition.” “Those people who have been in control for
so long they will never share their power.” “What’s the sense
in wasting my energy and time?” However, we are at a critical
point in the HIV/AIDS struggle given the current political,
social and economic climate in the U.S. We can no longer afford
to sit on the sidelines and bitch and moan about what’s not
being done, or how it’s being done wrong.
If you are living with HIV,
if you are a service provider, if you work for or volunteer
for a community based organization, or if you’re a member
of a local HIV planning group the reality is that doing business
as usual is not going to cut it any longer. Being apolitical
and fixing blame is no longer an option. Nothing is guaranteed
any longer. The very future of HIV drug development, ADAP
and HOPWA programs are all up for grabs. And if you believe
that slogan “use a condom every time” is outdated, try to
imagine a future where the distribution of condoms (as a risk
reduction tool) is no longer an option. It’s possible.
What power do we have against
the pharmaceutical industry and government? One answer voiced
at the meeting was that our power is housed in the ability
to make change. Our charge is to overcome the urge to resist
collaboration. To assume good faith in each other when conflict
and tension arises; to communicate without condemnation. And
as activist Julie Davids of Philadelphia reminded us, as a
coalition we should “strive for power among, not over, each
other.”
Everything changes. Leadership
changes. Administrations change. Public policy changes. Drug
development changes. Relationships change. It’s a fact of
life and it’s a good thing. But the facts are that when processes
don’t reflect change, they become stale, people become frustrated
and bitter, while others take flight.
However, the reality of change
is that all change includes loss. And because loss is involved
in the process of change, many people are resistant to change.
So how should we navigate in these troubled times?
I believe that the indicator
of a vibrant movement or strong leadership is knowing when
it is time to shake things up, when it is time to share knowledge,
when it is time to pass the torch, and encourage the “next
generation” to assume leadership and responsibility, for better
or worse. It’s not an easy task, but ATAC and BTAN have demonstrated
an initial commitment to this process.
A core group of national
HIV activists have been very successful at working the “insider”
and “outsider” strategy to effectively improve HIV research
and treatment access during the last 20 years. However, this
group of highly experienced activists is overcommitted. Therefore,
they are dead-serious about their efforts to encourage more
people living with and impacted by HIV to engage in the decision-making
process on the level of drug development, clinical research
and public policy.
We are at a critical point
in the fight against AIDS. A change is upon us. How will you,
your organization, and the groups in your area respond at
this moment? Will you be part of the problem or part of the
solution?
If you don’t become political
about HIV/AIDS now, you may have nothing at all to be political
about.
