C2EA-PSA 07
admin on Nov 15 2007
Campaign to end AIDS —new national mobilization
AIDS Treatment News, June 24, 2005 by Suzy SubwaysThe Campaign to End AIDS, which is planning five days of action in Washington, DC, from October 8th to 12th, has launched an ambitious grassroots effort to revive American AIDS activism by building solid networks in every state and U.S. territory. With demands for universal treatment and services, science-based HIV prevention, more research and an end to stigma, C2EA argues that the world finally has the tools to stop the epidemic–but that those in power lack the political will to make these tools available to people who need them. In the works for October are rallies, lobbying visits, a national organizing summit, a concert on the Mall, and a prayer breakfast.
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Seven playfully self-titled caravans will travel to the nation’s capital, including the Heart O’ the Land Caravan starting in Oakland, the Nor’easter from New England, the Tropical Storm out of Miami, and Paving the Way, whose participants will be walking from New York City. Valerie Jimenez, Paving the Way coordinator, expects at least 100 to brave the entire 21-day hike, plus as many as 1,000 at a time to join up for a day or two between cities, where marchers will demonstrate to draw attention to issues affecting local AIDS communities. Hawaii organizers will hold a PBS telethon October l, complete with hula dancers, to raise money for airfare to LA, where they’ll meet up with the Enchantment Express to drive across the country.
The campaign has directed new energy to enlist faith groups. “A Baptist church in an African-American community just outside Mobile, Alabama, will be hosting a caravan and holding a prayer service,” says Charles King, C2EA co-chair and the CEO of New York City-based Housing Works. “That’s just one example of the churches, which would not traditionally have been seen as a natural alliance for LGBT communities, that have strongly come on board.”
In June, about a hundred young people (ages 16 to 26) converged in Denver for C2EA’s Youth Action Institute to hone their skills for hometown advocacy and meet others doing the same work. “There were young people from Mississippi and Tennessee who feel so isolated in their communities, but who are very experienced organizers,” says Sam Sitrin of ACT UP Philadelphia. Julie Davids, C2EA steering committee member and Nor’easter co-coordinator, urges older folks to join C2EA and become mentors. “This is an unprecedented opportunity to pass on a legacy to the next generation of the AIDS movement,” she says.
Note (JSJ): See The Economist, July 16, 2005, “The Glue of Society” for an overview of what is happening in voluntary associations; it’s in a separate “A Survey of America” section. C2EA is the kind of organizing needed–with local groups and personal involvement, not just a national office where people send checks.