POZ I AM Radio

On Sunday October 14th at 9pm EST we will be speaking with Rebecca Denison  the Founder of WORLD (Women Organized to Respond to Life-threatening Diseeases). Rebecca is an Oakland-based information, support and advocacy network for HIV-positive women and their loved ones. In 1990, a month before she was scheduled to begin law school, Rebecca was diagnosed with HIV. In 1991, with support from her husband Daniel, Rebecca started the WORLD newsletter in her living room with a mailing list of 200. Six months later WORLD held their first retreat for HIV+ women, and a year later Rebecca helped start the International Community of Women Living with HIV/AIDS.  In 1995, Rebecca and Daniel decided to become parents, and in March 1996 their twin girls, Sophia and Sarah were born, both HIV-free. . Her children are now 16 years old and thriving, having recently attended the International AIDS Conference in Washington DC, while she stayed home to work in Oakland. Her husband remains HIV-negative. She has been living with HIV for 29 years.

On Sunday September  30th at 9pm EST Danielle Rogers aka “Mama D” will be sharing what it is like to be a parent of an HIV+ child. Danielle embraced the “learning how to make lemonade from lemons” mentality very early in life. As a child she endured a turbulent household and parental instability which meant little encouragement; while emotional abuse defined her daily life. She therefore, developed an inferiority complex and a sense of worthlessness. As an adult she conceded estrangement from her adult child (Jamar Rogers) who suffered through the self-destructive pain of a six year drug addiction and reckless living. He ultimately contracted HIV. Her son, Jamar Rogers was a recent contestant on The Voice and publicly broke down barriers of stigma by revealing his HIV status on national television. Danielle supported him by showing unconditional love through out his reign on the show. Danielle is an inspirational speaker, writer, mentor, parent-coach and motivator. However, her greatest love and achievement to date, is her cherished role as the mother of two vivacious, gifted, well-respected adult children and “GrandDiva” to two little princesses! We will be taking your questions for Danielle at 347-215-9442 throughout the show.

Timothy Ray Brown is returning to POZ I AM Radio to talk about the Timothy Ray Brown Foundation the world’s first AIDS foundation devoted exclusively to finding a cure for the disease

Timothy Ray Brown is “The Berlin patient”, the man who once had HIV. Although American, he was living in Berlin and receiving treatment for HIV when he was diagnosed in 2006 with leukemia. He was treated by Dr Gero Huetter who had a cutting-edge idea of treating his leukemia with a stem cell transplant from a person who was born immune to HIV infection. The rest is medical history. Timothy is recognized by international researchers as the first and only documented case of a person being cured of HIV. Now, almost 20 years after he was diagnosed, the 45-year-old is, essentially, cured. He now lives in San Francisco and since he decided to out himself as the person who had been known only as “The Berlin Patient”, he has become a bit of a celebrity at various AIDS functions. His most important goal is to assist in making his cure provide an impetus for creating a universal cure for HIV which will be accessible and available to everyone regardless of their economic means or background. He believes that this is one of the most important challenges to medical scientists of our time. He is counting on your support in assisting the achievement of this goal.

Each day across the globe almost 7,000 people, including 900 children, will contract HIV, joining an estimated 34.2 million people already living with HIV. During any 24 hours more than 4,600 people around the world will die of an AIDS-related cause.But on one day, Friday, September 21, people everywhere, both HIV positive and negative, can share an image of coping and care through the lens of a camera.

On that day, Positively Aware (www.positivelyaware.com), is asking people to take a digital photograph to record a moment of their day that will focus the world’s attention on the daily trials and triumphs of people living with HIV. For the third year A Day with HIV (www.adaywithhiv.com) will help remove the stigma of HIV and to advance an international community of care through this collective photographic portrait.

On Friday, September 21 anyone can record a special image, a time with friends and family, at work or play, or any moment in the day that helps people better understand how HIV impacts people, loved ones, colleagues and communities. Photos need to be submitted by Tuesday, September 25 on the A Day with HIV web site. People can follow A Day with HIV’s Facebook page (www.facebook.com/ADayWithHIV)) or on Twitter @A_Day_With_HIV (https://twitter.com/a_day_with_hiv to see updates and selected photographs, and to share the site and its vision with friends to help spread the word.

Devarah 'Dee' Borrego is a 28-year-old, HIV+ transwoman originally from Denver, Colorado, who grew up mostly in suburban Connecticut. She acquired HIV at age 20; the same year as she began her transition. She has been living in the Boston area since 2004 where she has worked with and at a number of different community organizations in the Boston area, including JRI Health, TransCEND, the Boston Living Center and Cambridge Cares About AIDS. She's also a polyglot who speaks Spanish, French, Norwegian, American Sign Language, and a variety of other languages to various degrees.

On the national scene, Dee was also a founding member of the US Positive Women’s Network (US PWN), an organization led by and for HIV+ American women to address the way HIV disproportionately affects women in the US. She currently serves as a Steering Committee member of the US PWN, as well as a member of their Strategic Communications Action Team. She's also a member of the Global Network of People Living with HIV/AIDS (GNP+) North America's Young Leaders Caucus, and the co-chair of the Economic Justice Working Group for the HIV Prevention Justice Alliance (HIV PJA).

In 2010, Dee was chosen to speak at the Opening Plenary of the US Conference on AIDS (USCA) to discuss how HIV affects transgender youth. Dee attended the International AIDS Conference in Washington, DC during the summer of 2012. At the Conference, she gave presentations along with colleagues for AIDS Alliance for Youth, Families, and Children - now a part of AIDS United - geared at HIV+ youth and their providers on the topic of disclosure. Dee is passionate about the issues surrounding young, HIV+ people, especially transgender women, HIV prevention, HIV criminalization, and youth outreach and education around HIV.

The founder of The Stigma Project Chris Richey and Scott McPherson will join the POZ I AM Radio Hosts.

The Stigma Project is an up and coming grassroots organization that aims to lower the HIV infection rate and neutralize the stigma associated with HIV/AIDS through education and awareness via social media and advertising. The Stigma Project seeks to create an HIV neutral world, free of judgement and fear by working with both positive and negative individuals from all walks of life, regardless of their gender, sexual orientation, race, or background. Social media has rapidly become one of today's largest mediums of news, culture, and education. They hope to embrace that with effective campaigns each season that bring awareness to the current state of HIV.

Dab Garner and William Herndon will be sitting in with the POZ I AM Radio hosts to discuss some hot topics and about his recent Teddy Bear Touchdown fundraiser featuring HIV+ Escape Artist Daniel Bauer - Beyond Belief

Call in with questions and comments at 347-215-9442

Christopher Barnhill is an award-winning HIV/AIDS activist and Founder/CEO of POZitive Impact, LLC. At 16 he discovered that he was infected at birth with HIV, which inspired him to dedicate his life to promote the awareness of knowing one’s status. For the past 8 years he has been speaking publicly about being positive and has been featured on numerous media outlets such as NPR, BET's 106 & Park, LOGO, MTV, ABC Nightline, Black Enterprise Magazine, and profiled in the book “Travels of a Gay Nation” by Phil Gambone. His goal is to be the hope for other young HIV-positive people, by demonstrating that you can live a productive life. In addition to his many accomplishments, he also has worked on the Obama Administration’s National HIV Strategy in regards to HIV and Youth and a licensed youth minister for The Community Church of Washington DC

2012 has been a wonderful year for Christopher as he was the National Spokesmodel for The National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day Organization (NBHAAD), featured in the International AIDS Society Documentary "Passing the Torch", and received "The Next Generation Award" from Metro Weekly.

Call the show with your questions at 347-215-9442

On Sunday August 5th at 9pm EST Maria Mejia will be talking with Robert & Jeromy on the POZ I AM Radio Show. Maria Mejia is a a 39-year-old Colombian female who lives in Miami, Florida. She has been positive for 20 years. Although almost all my life she has been in long-term relationships with HIV-negative men,She is happily married to a woman who is wonderful and caring. We have been together almost three years and she is HIV negative. Maria is a activist, a peer educator, a caregiver. She volunteered for the Red Cross in education for the Hispanic HIV community and also the American community. She was a pre- and post-test counselor. She has spoke at many conferences and done a lot of outreach in the community, especially in the schools for prevention and education. It is part of her everyday life to educate everyone she can on this subject. Maria also blogs for TheBody.com - Check out her blog here

" Being HIV positive is nothing to be ashamed about! We are strong women, and we will take away all the stigmas slowly but we have to open up." - Maria Mejia

This past week Robert and Jeromy attended the International AIDS Conference in Washington D.C. During tonights live show they will be sharing what it was like attending the conference and meeting people from around the world who were either living with HIV or working to end HIV. Our special guest is the amazing Aaron Laxton

If you attended the IAC  we want you to call into the show at 347-215-9442 and share what your expereince was like.