HIV / AIDS : Causes And Impacts In Art

Alejandro Mendoza - Pena. HIST 2020-005 Last Stand “Last Stand” by Michael Punke follows the decline of the American Buffalo and the movement that was born to protect it from extinction.1 It follows George Bird Grinnell and the significant role he played in helping create the preservation of the bison. While the book goes into detail on this movement, it also goes into detail on what caused it. It explains that it was mostly overhunting and greed that threatened the buffalo. “The American Yawp” by Joseph Locke and Ben Wright goes into detail about America’s history throughout the years.2 Specifically, chapter 17, titled “The West,” talks about westward migrations, the Indian wars, and federal peace policies.

The book I am reading is called The Cellar, written by Natasha Preston. The main character in this book is a 16 year old girl named Summer. Summer lives in a small town with her mom, dad and brother, Henry. One evening Summer wanted to meet some friends at a club to hang out and have fun. The club is only a two minute walk from her house through the woods and she had done it many times. She left the house in a rush, quickly saying goodbye to her parents and boyfriend, Lewis. Never once thinking about the dangers of walking outside alone at night.

In the documentary “The Age of AIDS,” FRONTLINE examines the outbreak of AIDS since its first diagnosed case in 1981. The film investigates different medical, political and social environments under AIDS pandemic in the US and worldwide. The film not only focuses on the scientific research and progress in treating the disease, it also looks at the social stigma, government strategies and public campaigns around different countries.

In order to fully understand the AIDS epidemic in the U.S., we must consider the following determinants of health: biological, psychological, and sociological factors. These three factors had determined the spread of the disease in the late twentieth century, and they still affect the global distribution of AIDS today. In the documentary-film And the Band Played On (1993), director Roger Spottiswoode effectively showcased all three factors. The film is a chronological story of the AIDS epidemic from the 1980s. The story of the epidemic garners attention when gay men in both the west and east coast of the U.S. develop this mysterious disease in large numbers. Scientists at the Center for Disease Control and private labs fiercely work toward understanding the disease and trying to come up with a solution. The film is an epidemiological story, where the viewer sees prominent diagnoses, scientific discovery, political turnovers, psychological turmoil, and societal revolutions as developments in unraveling the AIDS mystery. The viewer is shown the journey involved in discovering the biological basis for the disease, the psychological effects due to the epidemic, political and societal conditions during the time period, and the overall implications of the epidemic.

Mary attempted to bring attention to the quickly spreading disease to an uneducated audience. In her bold and inspiring speech, Mary argues the importance of opening the eyes of Americans and abolishing the hushed whispers of what AIDS really is.

“Two hundred thousand Americans are dead or dying” Two hundred thousand Americans, two hundred thousand brothers, friends, loved ones, all fighting a war; this war is not fought in foreign countries, this war is HIV/AIDS (“American Rhetoric: Mary Fisher”). Sadly, Mary Fisher is one of the many victims that are crushed by the heartbreaking diagnostic of being HIV positive, however, this was her alarm to the severity of the virus. As a result, Fisher dedicated her life to spread awareness of HIV and AIDS. In addition to the jaw-dropping speech, Fisher, has dedicated her whole life to the awareness of AIDS, through her store, biographies, non-profitable organizations, and many more. However, “A Whisper of AIDS” is the first domino in her line of work to break the “shroud of silence” known as AIDS (“American Rhetoric: Mary Fisher”).Fisher spoke from the heart, and as well as the mind in “A Whisper of AIDS”, which effectively touched the hearts of many and did exactly what she hoped it would, turned the whisper of the word AIDS into a shout spoken from numerous to prevent fear in the hearts of many. In order to show the dire importance of awareness of HIV/AIDS, Fisher, Effectively uses heartbreaking pathos, strong logos, and persuasive ethos.

The NAMES Project AIDS Memorial Quilt is a place for people to celebrates the lives of people who have died for the causes that related to AIDS. It works as a commemoration for social and personally expressive. During the 20 centuries, many people who died of AIDS related causes did not have funerals since the surviving family members felt social imputation of AIDS, and many funeral homes or cemeteries refused to accept the deceased’s remains. This social phenomenon made AIDS activist, Cleve Jones, have an idea for the AIDS Memorial Quilt. In the candlelight March in1985, Jones asked people to write the names of their family members who were killed by the AIDS-related causes on signs. Then he was inspired by the signs that were taped on the San Francisco Federal Building. To Jones, all the signs looked like a huge patchwork quilt. In 1987, Cleve Jones, Mike Smith, and volunteers first started the NAMES project in San Francisco. “The goal of the Quilt is to bring awareness to how massive the AIDS pandemic really is, and to bring support and healing to those affected by it. Another goal is to raise funds for community based AIDS Service Organization to increase

“We live in a completely interdependent world, which simply means we cannot escape each other. How we respond to AIDs depends, in part, on whether we understand this interdependence” Bill Clinton spoke these words to an ever-changing, and ever-accepting nation. This idea of interdependence, no matter how evident, was a concept many people In the late 80’s could not grasp. The war on AID’s first started in 1981 when the first case of aids was diagnosed in the U.S. but it wasn't until Clinton took presidency in 1993 that the nation took this epidemic to heart. For over 10 years this outbreak that killed over 70 million was overlooked by many religions and government officials that turned there heads due to the judgment they would receive when affiliating themselves with the lgbt community.

Throughout the Age of AIDS film many topics that were related to AIDS were brought up that I did not know anything about before. I did not know that there could so many strings attached to a disease and have such an influence in people’s lives whether it was negative or positive.

When you are asked if AIDS is still a crisis in America “it does depend on who you are”, As stated by Sarah Schulman in the article “Is There Still an AIDS Crisis in the U.S? It Depends on Who You Are”. “If you are the type of person that is able to afford all of the treatments and are able to live a lifestyle of tolerating a lot of awful side effects”. If you are the type of person that can not afford all the of treatments, then you are in a crisis. The perception of AIDS as a “gay disease” limited the efforts to combats the disease. It limited the efforts because people did not want to do anything or engage with anything that had to do with the issue. And as stated in our text books, by 2000 AIDS had claimed almost 300,000 American lives.

When the AIDS and HIV virus crept its way into the human-race, it quickly, and without warning, claimed the lives of millions. Then when its destructive wake had finally been abated, it left behind several untold mysteries. Throughout the course of this class, all the new material we have been exposed to has added some unique piece to the puzzle of the AIDS epidemic. Each puzzle pieces have ranged from speculations on how the AIDS epidemic had begun, to what exactly has the epidemic done. We have also tackled the question and how it forced a change in society. Our newest piece of the puzzle is the documentary “The Age of AIDS,” by William Cran. Although this documentary did not surprise me in its content, it did, however, affirm certain types

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Mary Fisher’s speech entitled “A Whisper of Aids,” is an appeal to the emotional and political moods of the Republican National Conference on August 19, 1992. In this speech she talks about her disease, but unlike most people, who become depressed when they learn about contracting the disease, Mary Fisher stands up and fights for everyone who has AIDS as well as bringing the statics of HIV and AIDS to light. Mary Fisher’s speech can be analyzed from three different standpoints: structure, delivery, and appeal.

“Let’s create an AIDS/HIV-free generation”, which is not only a slogan that was proposed by President Obama but also a goal that I would like to achieve on my future career path. My practicum project at the Department of Health and Human Services was to generate dataset of new AIDS/HIV cases in Houston/Harris area required by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, and then to use ArcGIS software to make a map describing the new diagnosed in Houston area. The final products can be spatially lined to other sources to enhance understanding of social determinants of health affecting populations impacted by HIV. This practicum experience let me realize that AIDS spreads so quickly is because most people have insufficient knowledge or misconception about the disease and prevention. Becoming a pharmacist to provide prevention service and educate people to improve their health and wellbeing is how I want to reach the goal of creating an AIDS/HIV-free generation.

In the 1980s, a mysterious disease began to take the lives of Americans. With the cause unknown, a fear grew among Americans. An unusually high rate of people was becoming sick with strange and rare diseases. When experimental treatments failed to work, people died. This mysterious disease is what we now know as HIV–Human Immunodeficiency Virus. In the past thirty-five years, the HIV has taken many turns in history. Although we do not hear about HIV and AIDS now, it is still a prevalent issue in the United States and in the world.