names:InterviewMary Yehde

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names:InterviewMary Yehdego, 25Mate Masie Kwanzaa Yoga Youth ProjectShani Robertson, 24One Night Your Choice, Take ControlDavid Lewis-Peart, 24Black Men’s HIV Prevention Programlocation:organization:Toronto, ONBlack Coalition for AIDS Prevention(Black CAP)How did you get started? What led youto pursue HIV/AIDS activism?Mary: My first position at Black CAP was aYouth Site Coordinator position for the MateMasie Kwanzaa & Yoga Youth LeadershipProject. Shortly after being introduced to BlackCAP, I began my placement here for the SocialService Worker Program at Sheridan College.David: I started working in the HIV/AIDSService Sector in 2005 while I was finishingup my college training in Social ServicesCounseling. I began volunteering on the boardfor the African Caribbean Council on HIV/AIDS(ACCHO) and then was hired by Black CAP in2006. I have always had an interest in workingwith marginalized communities, and HIV/AIDSwas one issue that seemed to most affect thecommunities I wanted to work within.Shani: I was part of the generation that grewup with HIV, so it wasn’t as much of a lifechangingevent to my world, in the same wayit was to my parents’. There was this distanceof “Yeah. Ok. It’s out there.” Also people inthe West Indies, where I grew up, were verysecretive about their status. No one said “He/she died of AIDS”. It was covered up as cancerCurrently, 2/3 of women in Toronto who testpositive for HIV are Black women.In 2005, Blacks accounted for 18.5% of all newHIV infections. Since Black people accountfor only 9% of Toronto’s entire population,one can see the disproportionate impact ofHIV on Toronto’s Black communities.Taken From Quick Facts,One Night Your Choice Websiteor some other common terminal illness. But asI got older, I learned of close family membersbeing diagnosed with HIV, and watched themlose their partners. I saw my friends who’dbecome infected endure harsh insults andsocial isolation. This closed the gap for me. Irealized that we all as youth, myself included,needed to do something, or our generationwould suffer.What about your project got you fired up?David: The Black Men’s Program reallyinterested and engaged me as a Black, queer,male. Not only would I be working to educatethis community on HIV and other sexualhealth issues, but I’d be working to educateand engage people from a community that Iwas very much a part of. I couldn’t imagine asa gay male living in the “post-AIDS” era, notthinking about where you are in relation to HIV,however, so many of us don’t. The apathy andlack of knowledge in my peer group drove meto look at different ways of engaging youngmen on this issue. Focus grouping with young,Black men around what issues they wereexperiencing in their lives was a really excitingpart of the process.Mary: What truly inspiredme about Mate Masie wasthe opportunity for Black youthin Toronto’s high priorityneighbourhoods to be exposed toHIV/AIDS and STI Preventioneducation through a holisticapproach. The Kwanzaa and Yogaworkshops support participantsto explore the many factors thatinfluence their own choices inthe areas of sexual health andcareer choices. Participants havemany opportunities to strengthenconfidence, healthy decision-making andconflict-resolution skills.Shani: It was the main goal of the project thatreally got me: to ensure that young Black womenreally understand their risk of contractingHIV, to the point where they and their friendsdon’t take chances anymore. Also, I’m avery creative person, so being able to usemy talents to create meaningful change inlasting way, allows me to fulfill my desire to dosomething in the area of HIV/AIDS. I loved thebrainstorming sessions where we could justspew the craziest ideas, and then refine theminto something more suitable for public viewing.Why do you do this work?David: My interest in this work is very muchabout the fact that, all professionalism aside,this disease is affecting the communities I’ma part of the most. I recognize that given adifferent set of circumstances in my life, HIVcould have become my own lived reality hadit not been for the things I had been taughtabout keeping myself sexually safe duringmy teens. I know that isn’t always a commonstory for gay men. I want to change that normfor youth out there. This campaign and ourprogram intend to create conversations amongyoung gay and bisexual men about our healthand relationships. Prevention starts first andforemost with education.Shani: Young Black women, myself included,are desensitized about the risk of contractingHIV. We know there’s a risk, but when you’rewith someone you care about, it’s hard to thinkabout being in danger. I mean if they care,then they’ll take care of you right? Not really,especially if they don’t care for themselves.Being able to be part of a project that remindsyoung Black women to take care of themselves,50
and not leave it to someone else, drives me.Mary: I do this work because I have realizedthat there is a great need for programs andservices for marginalized youth in Toronto’shigh priority neighborhoods. My experiencehas led me to believe that mentorship andsupport through peer-led initiatives are the mosteffective ways of engaging Black youth in theseareas. These youth are often misrepresented inour community and lack resources.Why Art?Shani: You get to push boundaries more withart than policy. You can create more awareness,spark more discussion and actually create anopening for policy to be created. Policy can’tdo the same for art.Mary: Projects like MATE MASIE create accessto the healing practice of yoga to marginalizedcommunities who are able to reclaim this as atool for living well, and an affirmation that we comefrom a long line of brilliant and evolved people.David: In my particular program, it was decidedthat the use of illustration would be able toreach the broadest range of gay and bisexualBlack, male youth. The sexy, colourful andengaging images seemed to tell the stories,and send the prevention messages, that all thejargoned text couldn’t.Do you have any suggestions or tips foryouth who are interested in pursuing oralready working on HIV/AIDS arts activism?David: The issue of HIV/AIDS isn’t aboutThem and Us, it’s about all of us. Getting thepeople you are working with and ultimatelyfor, to understand—that should be your aim.The interesting thing about doing work onHIV/AIDS, is that you end up addressing a lotof other related social issues and concerns.AIDS work is really about working to improvethe social conditions for oppressed andmarginalized communities, and in turn workingto curb this disease that seems to have hitthese groups the most.Shani: Whomever you’re targeting, ensurethat they’re part of the process, so that there’sa sense of group ownership. It’ll be accepted alot easier this way. Also, any idea you have, nomatter how insane it sounds, save it in an ideabook. It may not work for a current project, butit could be useful later on, or could be useful tosomeone else’s project.Mary: If you are a youth who is interested inpursuing or already working on HIV/AIDS activismit is crucial to tackle HIV/AIDS related stigma inorder to effectively deliver HIV/AIDS information.It is also essential to creatively engage youthand ensure that they are in a safe space wherethey feel comfortable enough to ask importantquestions without feeling embarrassed.HIV/AIDS lasts longerthan 9 monthsMany women only worry about gettingpregnant. Being on the pill won’t protect youfrom HIV/AIDS and other Sexually TransmittedInfections (STIs) like Chlamydia. If sperm canget through so can HIV/AIDS.51
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Page 10 and 11: Let’s talkby Ciann WilsonAs I did
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Page 20 and 21: Photo: Patrick StruysCREATIVITY,fea
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Page 37 and 38: Why do you do this work?I do this w
Page 39 and 40: Project DescriptionLaunched in Mont
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Page 60 and 61: HIV/AIDS ActivismAIDS Activist: Mic
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