CBH Talk | Still Here, HIV/AIDS

December 1 is World AIDS Day, a time of solidarity for people around the world who are affected by Human Immunodeficiency Virus or HIV – and a time for all of us to reckon with its long legacy. Almost 40 million live with the virus, 1.3 million acquired it in 2023, and 630,000 people died of AIDS last year.

While many things have changed since HIV was first recognized in the 1980s, one thing that has not is its devastating burden on communities of color. Today we acknowledge that we were late to pay attention to this deadly epidemic. But how many realize that we stopped paying attention too soon?

The Center for Brooklyn History partners with the makers of the podcast Blindspot: The Plague in the Shadows, for a discussion/reality check. Blindspot reporter Lizzy Ratner leads a panel with AIDS expert Dr. Andrew Wiznia, advocate and PLWH (Person Living with HIV) Michelle Lopez, and Housing Works activist Johnny Guaylupo. Excerpts from the groundbreaking AIDS/Brooklyn project undertaken by the Brooklyn Historical Society in the early 1990s are presented by CBH archivist Alice Griffin. Join us as we travel back to that terrifying time, turn to today, and envision a different future.

Offered in partnership with The Nation and WNYC.