Phill Wilson is the president and CEO of the Black AIDS Institute, a national HIV/AIDS think tank focused exclusively on black people.

Phill Wilson
Special to CNN

Editor’s note: Watch “Hope Survives: 30 Years of AIDS,” an AC360° special, at 9 p.m. ET Friday. Phill Wilson is the president and CEO of the Black AIDS Institute, a national HIV/AIDS think tank focused exclusively on black people. Follow him on Twitter.

(CNN) – I was infected with HIV in 1981, the year the disease was discovered.

Back then, most people died in six to 12 months from horrible diseases like Kaposi’s sarcoma, a skin cancer normally found in older men of Semitic descent; pneunocystis carinii pneumonia, a fungal infection in the lungs; cryptococcal meningitis, which causes the lining of your brain to swell; or toxoplasmosis: You got that from cat feces, and it turned your brain to Swiss cheese.

There were no treatments, really. A “long-time survivor” was someone who lived 18 months.

I was 24 then. In April, I will celebrate my 54th birthday.

I almost didn’t make it. In 1996, my doctor at Kaiser Permanente in Los Angeles called my mother in Chicago to tell her that if she wanted to see me alive again, she should fly to Los Angeles immediately. They had given me less than 24 hours to live. I was in a coma in the ICU.

I eventually came out of that crisis, and my doctor prescribed something brand new: a three-drug regimen, commonly referred to as “the cocktail.” I recovered from that crisis and went on to found the Black AIDS Institute, an organization I still lead.

What a difference three decades can make. We have gone from no drugs to a few very toxic drugs that didn’t really work to more than 25 antiretroviral drugs used to treat HIV. The new drugs are highly effective, and the side effects are much reduced.

Editor’s note:
Greater Than AIDS– a new national movement to respond to AIDS in America– is asking Americans to share their “Deciding Moments,” personal experiences that changed how they think about the disease and inspired them to get involved. For many it is someone close to them who was infected. For some it was their own diagnosis. For others it was a realization that we all have a role to play. Tell us about your “Deciding Moment” by visiting: www.greaterthan.org/moment.

Related: Visit Greater Than AIDS for answers to frequently asked questions about HIV/AIDS, as well as information about local testing centers.

This article was first posted on Jan 14, 2011

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President Obama: Support marriage equality for all

01/14/2011 Nativegrl77

Mr. President, it’s time for you to support marriage equality for all Americans

The President has said that his thinking on the issue is “evolving.”

Help get him over the finish line.

President Obama has done more for the nation’s LGBT community than any other president in history, from hate crimes protections to the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” to hospital visitation rules. This president has proven himself to be an advocate for the LGBT community.

He’s a fair and just man. That’s why we’re calling on him today to publicly and vocally support marriage equality for all Americans.

Earlier today, the Department of Justice filed a brief appealing two federal court rulings that found the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) unconstitutional. The Administration claims that it has a duty to defend the laws that are on the books. We simply do not agree. At the very least, the Justice Department can and should acknowledge that the law is unconstitutional.

All families deserve the recognition and respect of their government. It’s time for President Obama to state his support for full, equal marriage. And we want your help in telling him that it’s time.

Because of DOMA, gay and lesbian families with marriage licenses from Iowa, Connecticut, New Hampshire, Vermont, California, Massachusetts, and the District of Columbia don’t get basic protections like Social Security, pension benefits, and family medical leave – benefits of marriage available to all other married couples. The law is discriminatory and unjust.

The President’s clear and unequivocal support for marriage equality will be a very powerful message that all Americans should be treated fairly and with respect and dignity. It will also send a direct message to LGBT Americans, young and old, that their nation values them.

President Obama has already stated his position on marriage is “evolving.” And he’s already seen the outpouring of support for his successful call to repeal “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.” Let’s help him get over the finish line.

Together, we can move this president to speak out for the right to marry freely. I hope you’ll take a moment to send your message today.

It’s time,

Joe Solmonese
President

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Take Back Democracy on Citizens United Anniversary

01/14/2011 Nativegrl77 1 Comment

Last year, the five-justice conservative majority on the Supreme Court decided to reaffirm its inclination to rule on behalf powerful corporate interests by giving corporations a gift that was not theirs to give: the People’s democracy.

January 21 will mark the one-year anniversary of the Citizens United v. FEC decision, which reinterpreted the Constitution to give corporations the same First Amendment rights as people and opened the floodgates of limitless, undisclosed spending by corporations and their shadowy front groups to influence elections.

PFAW‘s marking the anniversary by joining with our friends at the Coffee Party, Public Citizen, MoveOn and others to hold a weekend of events in Washington and promote citizen-organized local events around the country.

Please be a part of next week’s grassroots actions to take our democracy back for the People.

Find a local event near you here:

http://www.movementforthepeople.org/get-involved/organize-locally/distributed-events/find-an-event/

If you know of an event that is not on this list, please add it or contact Sergio Lopez at slopez@pfaw.org.

If there is not an event near you, and you think you can organize or hold something yourself (anything from a street protest or a small rally to a house party or a town hall-style meeting at a public venue), also please contact Sergio at slopez@pfaw.org for help doing that.

After the D.C. rally on January 21, we’ll be joining with our allies to deliver hundreds of thousands of petition signatures to Congress calling for an amendment to the U.S. Constitution to overturn the Roberts Court‘s disastrous decision by giving lawmakers explicit authority to limit corporate spending in elections.

If you have not yet had a chance to join our petition, please do so now.

And ask others to join at http://www.pfaw.org/Amend.

Thank you for your activism to reel in the corrupting influence of unlimited corporate spending, and to take our democracy back for We the People.

— Diallo Brooks, Director of Field and Mobilization

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Great News! EPA Finally Vetoes Spruce Mine Permit!

01/14/2011 Nativegrl77

Click on the banner above for more information …

Great news came from the coalfields of Appalachia this morning: the EPA vetoed the Spruce No. 1 mountaintop-removal mining permit in West Virginia!

Activists like you from around the country have worked hard to urge the EPA to veto the Spruce Mine permit, and all of your hard work has finally paid off! Thousands of people have emailed comments to the EPA about this issue; many have shared the Spruce Mine story with friends and allies, and still others dumped 1,000 pounds of West Virginian dirt on the front lawn to demand a veto of the Spruce Mine permit. We should all feel proud of this success.

Because the Spruce Mine was the largest proposed mountaintop removal mine site in all of Appalachia, it has been viewed as a bellwether for the MTR industry. While we certainly hope that the EPA’s decision this morning means that the agency is working hard to slow the destruction caused by MTR in Appalachia, it’s important that we don’t forget that there are many more MTR mines in central Appalachia that have devastating impacts on nearby residents.

Thank EPA Administer Lisa Jackson for protecting communities in West Virginia by vetoing the Spruce No.1 Mine Permit and to encourage her to continue to uphold federal laws and regulations for clean water enforcement.

Thank you for helping to stop the Spruce No. 1 mine!

		For the mountains,
		Amanda Starbuck, Annie Sartor and Scott Parkin Global Finance Campaign Team

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No more shootings, no more hate

01/14/2011 Nativegrl77

Hi,
In the wake of the mass shooting of Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords and 19 others in Tucson, we must end the violent rhetoric that has exploded in American politics over the past two years.

That’s why I signed this petition calling on every member of Congress, as well as the major TV news networks, to put an end to any overt or implied appeals to violence in our political debate.

Can you join me at the link below?

http://pol.moveon.org/debatenothate/?r_by=25774-17809870-vPzuBwx&rc=confemail

Can you also take a moment to help spread the word and share this important petition with others?

Even if you don’t usually email petitions around, this is a time to make an exception. We must speak out now to end the extreme and violent rhetoric that is spreading in American politics to ensure that this does not happen again.

Thanks for all you do.
Thanks!