The day my mother announced that she had been diagnosed with AIDS, my entire world shifted. Through tear-filled eyes, she explained that she contracted the illness from her recently deceased ex-fiance and wasn't sure how much longer she had to live. I instantly wailed as if she was already gone. At the time, I was a 17-year-old high school senior filled with the anticipation that accompanies graduation and college plans. When my wailing ended, a different conversation began. My mother reached under her bed, retrieved a thick, evergreen book, and began thumbing through the pages. She landed on...
ConnieLJohnson's blog
A couple of weeks ago, I attended a community town hall meeting hosted by a local AIDS organization via Facebook live.
"Family isn't always blood. It's the people in your life who want you in theirs. The ones who accept you for who you are. The ones who would do anything to see you smile, and who love you no matter what." Unknown In 2002, I sat in an office no bigger than my bathroom across the desk from a short, pale balding man whose job it was to inform me that my HIV test results came back positive. "You've got it." he declared. "Got what?" I responded. During a testing drive three weeks earlier, I was tested for several STIs. "Prepare for the worst and hope for the best" was the advice given by the best...
During the summer of 2012, I spent twelve days trekking across Kenya with eight colleagues and two professors. My initial mission, fulfill the requirements of a graduate level course titled, Kenya Immersion Course.
I had the immense pleasure of attending and participating in PWN's First Annual Women's Conference in Fort Walton Beach, Florida in October compliments of The Well Project and A Girl Like Me. While there I was offered the opportunity to co-facilitate a workshop that focused on encouraging women to utilize their natural gifts to promote community and build political and social power within that community. This experience was indeed one of many highlights of 2014. Oftentimes I am dismissed from workshops, conferences, meetings, etc. temporarily excited about the experiences shared, the...
"I've learned that courage is not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave person is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear."- Madiba When I moved to Chicago a little over two years ago, I chose to disclose my HIV status on a need to know basis. For the first year here, only the director and assistant director of my graduate program and the principal of the school where I'm employed were made aware of my status. I was very intentional in my decision not to disclose. Embarking upon a new opportunity, in a new city, surrounded by new faces, I wanted to be...
Since my last A Girl Like Me blog entry I have earned a Master’s degree, traveled to California, South Carolina and Kenya and made the decision to settle in the Second City (Chicago) for a second round. My trip to California was prompted by the invitation of a professor to participate in a conference presentation with several colleagues. My time in South Carolina was spent reuniting with and loving on family and friends that I hadn’t seen in several months and mentally preparing myself for my journey back to Kenya. In Kenya I spent seven weeks with a dynamic group of women who taught me much...
I’ll be the first person to admit that I am not a huge fan of Tyler Perry’s projects therefore I had no interest in viewing his newest film Temptation. Less than a week after the movie’s release, a social media storm of criticism surfaced rebuking Mr. Perry for the film’s imagery of people living with HIV/AIDS. Amid this controversy, I attended a conference call which included people living with HIV/AIDS and professionals within the field. The call was designed to discuss and unpack what the film’s imagery means to and for the HIV/AIDS community. Of course I couldn’t add any useful, informed...
Like every good television detective, I have a knack for investigating a case until the truth is uncovered. As the detective carefully combs through the evidence, tension builds as he\she rules out the obvious suspects. The person that has the most evidence stacked against them or the most clear motive is usually the first one we as viewers direct our attention to. The truth is, that if the first person most people suspect was the actual perpetrator then the show would end within the first five minutes. The true entertainment is in watching the plot slowly unfold as new characters are...
“Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take but by the moments that take our breath away.” ~Hilary Cooper There was a time in my life when the thought of taking my last breath frightened me. I wasn’t so much afraid of death as I was of leaving this earth without accomplishing anything worthwhile. It wasn’t until I was diagnosed that I realized that I no longer had the privilege of spare time. As my fear morphed into faith, I began living a life that confronted my hopes, illuminated my dreams and eventually exposed my purpose. As my vision became clearer I discovered that life can...