According to the Institute for Community Research, “Hartford has the highest rate of new HIV infections and the highest number of people living with AIDS of any city in the state.” Having come of age when AIDS prevention was actually talked about everywhere, it seems odd whenever I realize that upcoming generations have not been taught to view AIDS as this horrible, deadly plague. Growing up, I saw public service announcements urging condom use for the explicit reason of preventing the spread of HIV. I remember when hip hop and pop artists changed or added lyrics to their songs to include safer sex messages. This seems to have been since lost. I could be wrong, but it seems like HIV is either considered to be a long term nuisance like Herpes, or is totally beyond the realm of possibility.
There have been people close to me who are HIV positive, and some who have developed AIDS. There are others in my life who I care about who have been much more profoundly affected by this virus, syndrome, whatever you want to call it. What I do know is that for those who are fortunate enough to have that privilege to be oblivious to AIDS, unfortunately, statistics show that eventually they will have to deal with it at some point.
In Hartford, there are World AIDS Day events running from Nov. 30-December 21. You can get a schedule here.