POZ I AM Radio

Kalvin Pugh is a social media advocate and HIV Peer Educator in Kansas City Missouri. After being diagnosed HIV+ in 2016 he began sharing his relatively short journey with friends and family on Facebook. After receiving support for his brave honesty he decided to dedicate his focus on social media to show support and demonstrate hope to others living with HIV around the globe as Positively Kalvin. On social media he shares an unapologetic view of living well, and defying stigma with the hopes that it will change others viewpoint on living with HIV.   

After 10 years in the beauty industry he felt the need to translate Positively Kalvin into a real life setting and took a position as HIV Peer Educator at the Kansas City Care Clinic. He daily works with patients newly diagnosed and those whom find difficulty being adherent to their medications and staying in care. In 2017 he was a finalist in the Andrew Christian Trophy Boy model search, has appeared in articles, social media campaigns, and a documentary film discussing the stigma of living with HIV

Guy Anthony is a well-respected HIV/AIDS activist, community leader and author. Diagnosed with HIV as a teen, Guy has dedicated his adult life to the pursuit of neutralizing global HIV/Aids-related stigmas. He released Pos(+)tively Beautiful: Affirmations, Advocacy & Advice on World AIDS Day in 2012. This collection of inspiring narratives, raw imagery, and affirming anecdotes has earned Guy much acclaim, including being named one of the top 100 HIV prevention leaders under 30 by POZ Magazine and as one of the top 100 Black LGBTQ/SGL Emerging Leaders to Watch by National Black Justice Coalition.

Guy served as a Program Manager/Coordinator for the Treatment Adherence program at Us Helping Us, a local AIDS service organization serving Black communities in the Washington, DC area for two years. In his role at US Helping Us, Guy worked with newly diagnosed Black gay men to help them come to terms with their status, navigate the complex health care system so they can access care, and develop plans for them to adhere to their treatment regimen and achieve viral suppression. Guy also serves on Washington, DC’s Ryan White Planning Council, overseeing millions of dollars in HIV funding for the city and is a regular contributor to AIDS.gov and POZ.com. Guy serves as a brand ambassador to ViiV Healthcare, one of the country’s largest pharmaceutical companies. He is the President/CEO the Black, Gifted & Whole Foundation, a two-fold intermediary organization that provides scholarships to Black gay men attending Historically Black Colleges & Universities. Guy is currently focused on mobilizing HIV-positive Black gay men. He hosts POZ-ONLY advocates dinners quarterly, and facilitates a summit entitled “#POZTALK”, which is an intergenerational conversation that transcends age and socio-economic status. He is currently pitching these #POZTALKS to Black Gay Pride Celebrations around the Country.

As a local Foster Youth, LGBTQIA, and HIV/AIDS activist, Prizila Vidal continues to advocate for foster youth both working with youth during the coming out process, and during the transitional age of 18-24, linking young adults to housing, education and employment resources. Her  journey with HIV brought her to the Mother, Child and Adolescent Program (MCAP) at UC San Diego, where she continues to volunteer her time and story as a speaker for events and workshops. At the age of 24 she had aged out of the program and decided to continue advocating for HIV/AIDS Positive individuals but more so for anyone interested in their health and getting some support. She knows that the primary source to one’s health is having support. She unfortunately  did not have that support . Before she was even diagnosed she did not know anything about HIV/AIDS, nor how risky it can be and easy it is to contract it, although she got the disease by being raped. After knowing how easy it easy to contract it and share it she knew that she had to do something. She decided to bring up the so controversial topic to anyone and everyone that she could. These days besides her regular job she is an Educator on HIV/AIDS as well as many other topics I educate on. Furthermore, she  would like to encourage all of you out there that are newly or already diagnosed to find that Support and get your health if not Good then Better!!

I was born in Venezuela in 1964, I was diagnosed with HIV on June 24, 1986 at 22 years old and have lived with this guest in my body for 31 years or more.  Four years earlier in 1982 I had Hodgkin’s disease which was an experience that taught me how to navigate life altering experiences like HIV; I never really thought that I would die, but all the news when I was diagnosed said the longest prognosis was one year or maybe two. I never thought I’d live this long. In March I was diagnosed with Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma and I’m now at the tail end of this Chemotherapy treatment. This kind of Lymphoma is common amongst long time survivors of HIV who’ve been taking HIV medications for a long time.I feel this time the Lymphoma has brought a purpose to my life I hadn’t realized, I’m documenting this process and doing my best to get money out of the medical establishment because then the patient takes a back seat.  I’m not sad or bitter about these experiences, they’ve shaped who I am today and have brought into my life a Massage/Bodywork, Breathwork and Spiritual Coaching practice that supports me and those I serve. Tune in live Sunday August 20th at 2pm EST to hear Juans whole story.

This Sunday, August 13th at 2pm EST, Robert will have the pleasure of speaking with Butch Mckay the Founder of the Positive Living conferences that take place each year in Ft. Walton Beach, Florida. This September 15th-17th Butch and the OASIS family will be celebrating the 20th year Anniversary of Positive Living. Butch Mckay is currently Executive Director of Okaloosa AIDS Support and Informational Services, Inc. (OASIS), a position he has held since 1996. He founded the Positive Living Conference Series in 1997.

We will also be joined by Cathy Robinson-Pickett who will be sharing about her experience as a attendee and presenter at Positive Living.

Jack Mackenroth is most widely known for his participation as a fashion designer on season 4 of Project Runway. He became one of the nations most visible HIV activists when he disclosed his positive HIV status on the show. It was the first public television disclosure since Pedro Zamora in 1994. Jack currently works as a media strategist for Housing Works in New York. There he art directed the New York based #PrEPheroes campaign to promote PrEP and he is currently promoting the Housing Works fundraiser, Braking AIDS Ride. He also plans to personally raise $75,000 and participate in the 300 mile bike ride in September. (He raised $56,000 in 2014) In 2013 he was the creator of the multi-media anti-stigma and HIV testing initiative, “HIV Equal”. On World AIDS Day 2014, he conceptualized and launched the HIV Shower Selfie Challenge with the hashtag #weareALLclean, which went globally viral in multiple countries with over 26 million social media impressions and translations in over 10 languages. From 2014 to 2016, Jack was the Senior Communications Officer of MSMGF—The Global Forum On MSM and HIV.Jack has two bachelor’s degrees from the University of California at Berkeley and one from Parson School of Design. He has been HIV positive for 28 years, since the age of 20.

Hank is a 64-year-old Gay man, a 37-year resident of San Francisco, a 28-year Long-Term HIV/AIDS Survivor (diagnosed in 1989), a writer and occasional editor.  In the early 1980s, He wrote a lot of fiction and edited Drummer, Malebox, and Folsom Magazines.  Then AIDS hit, and suddenly the act of writing fiction seemed frivolous, almost disrespectful, and so Hank stopped writing.  For more than thirty years, He stopped writing -- the things that He knew He needed to write about were simply too painful even to contemplate, let alone write about.  Then, finally, in 2015 his fiance Rick convinced him, that it was time to push through that pain and get back to writing.  His "second act" began with the publication of his poem "Tornado" in A&U: America's AIDS Magazine, where he has published since January 2016 and have recently been named an Editor-at-Large. His bi-monthly column in A&U, "For the Long Run," addresses issues we Long-Term HIV/AIDS Survivors face.

On Sunday July 9th we have the pleasure of speaking our friend the amazing Jamar Rogers. Most of you will recognize Jamar from his time as a contestant on The Voice a few years ago. Jamar first shared his story with us when he appeared on The Voice and then again after he was eliminated from the show. After being a semi-finalist on The Voice, he appeared on The Ellen Show, and was also seen on a host of TV shows and media outlets such as E! Entertainment News, The Today Show, Rolling Stone Online, USA Today, US Weekly, People Magazine, The Hollywood Reporter, The Huffington Post, CNN, HLN’s Showbiz Tonight, Billboard, POZ I AM Radio, POZ Magazine, MTV News, Popcrush, Sway In The Morning, BET, The Root Top 100, Saturday Night Live, The Tonight Show and many more social projects such as the World AIDS Conference and The Clinton Global Initiative. He is signed to Tommy Boy Entertainment and has announced a July 2017 release for his debut album "Lazarus".

Connie Rose, a long term survivor since 1996, lives in Las Vegas with her daughter, grandson and best fur buddy, Sugar Bear. She is the founder of Livingapozlife on WordPress, trying to change the world one blog at a time. You can follow her on Twitter @Cricketlv and other social media sites.

Danny was born in Watertown, NY, lived there until he moved to SW Florida where he still resides.While Danny was in treatment for substance abuse he was asked to speak about living with HIV, and that he did. He continues to speak publicly and is very humble when he receives praise for his story. Danny lives in Orlando, Fl with his husband. In the past, he has been involved with the Ryan White planning council serving as the PWLH/A representative. Additionally,  he has acted as the chair for the Orange County health department's consumer advisory board. In December of 2016, Danny was awarded POZ magazine's top 100 for the southern region.