Photo Credit: mizar_21984
Last week, we recognized HIV/AIDS Awareness Month with our article, “HIV/AIDS Awareness Month: How Employers Can Combat Stigma for Survivors with HIV/AIDS.” With many employees taking time off for winter break, we want to recommend some reading material that builds on the lessons from our last blog. This week, we’re sharing out some nonfiction recommendations that tell the real stories of people impacted by HIV/AIDS.
The AIDS Generation: Stories of Survival and Resilience by Perry Halkitis
Book Summary: “The AIDS Generation: Stories of Survival and Resilience examines the strategies for survival and coping employed by these HIV-positive gay men, who together constitute the first generation of long-term survivors of the disease. Through interviews conducted by the author, it narrates the stories of gay men who have survived since the early days of the epidemic; documents and delineates the strategies and behaviors enacted by men of this generation to survive it; and examines the extent to which these approaches to survival inform and are informed by the broad body of literature on resilience and health.”
If I Grow Up: Talking with Teens About AIDS, Love and Staying Alive by Scott Fried
Book Summary: “Teenagers are the overlooked heroes in the fight against AIDS – young soldiers of survival in a common battle, defending their right to believe in life. These are their stories and poems. These are their questions and hopes. This is their voice. As one teen puts it, “We need to feel the value of our own lives.” In the words of another, “If my friend had AIDS – no cure, she’d have me, without fail.” And still another, “Dear HIV, some of us will use you as an excuse to fly!”
Highlights include:
-Scott’s story of the night in 1987 when he got infected with HIV.
-Conversations with teens discussing topics ranging from sex and abstinence to death and suicide, as well as AIDS testing, how to say “no” and how to be a hero.
-Heartwarming stories about some of the teens as they learn about AIDS and the value of life.
-Poems written by the teens themselves.
-Scott’s well researched theory as to why teens are putting themselves at risk for HIV and other Sexually Transmitted Infections.
This book is for teenagers who need to be educated about AIDS. It is also for parents and other adults who are concerned about the threat of this disease on today’s youth.”
My Own Country: A Doctor’s Story by Abraham Vergehese
Book Summary: “Nestled in the Smoky Mountains of eastern Tennessee, the town of Johnson City had always seemed exempt from the anxieties of modern American life. But when the local hospital treated its first AIDS patient, a crisis that had once seemed an “urban problem” had arrived in the town to stay.
“Working in Johnson City was Abraham Verghese, a young Indian doctor specializing in infectious diseases. Dr. Verghese became by necessity the local AIDS expert, soon besieged by a shocking number of male and female patients whose stories came to occupy his mind, and even take over his life. Verghese brought a singular perspective to Johnson City: as a doctor unique in his abilities; as an outsider who could talk to people suspicious of local practitioners; above all, as a writer of grace and compassion who saw that what was happening in this conservative community was both a medical and a spiritual emergency.”
Organizing Aids: Workplace and Organizational Responses to the HIV/AIDS Epidemic by David Goss and Derek Adam-Smith
Book Summary: “It is estimated that 90% of those who are HIV positive are in employment. However, the significant body of literature into HIV/AIDS to date has primarily focused on the medical aspects of the disease and its implications for health/social policy. There has been little analysis of the employment implications of HIV/AIDS, and what does exist is essentially descriptive and usually limited to legal features of the employment relationship. This text provides a review of the theoretical and practical issues which bear upon organizational responses to HIV/AIDS. The authors set these responses in a historical and international context, before analyzing recent research findings. In the first three chapters, issues are explored through an analysis which highlights international convergences and divergences. The remaining chapters draw on the authors’ research to explore the “internal” dynamics of HIV/AIDS in the workplace.”
You Get Past the Tears: A Memoir of Love and Survival by Patricia Broadbent, Hydeia Broadbent, and Patricia Romanowski
Book Summary: “In late 1984, Patricia and Loren Broadbent chose to adopt a baby girl named Hydeia, whom they had taken in as a foster child. Hydeia had been abandoned in the hospital at birth by a mother addicted to drugs, and Patricia and Loren were sure they could give her a better chance at life and provide her with the love, support, protection, and guidance that all children need and deserve. In the spring of 1988, however, when Hydeia was just a few months short of four, the Broadbents’ hopes for their child were put to the test when they learned that Hydeia had been infected with HIV at birth. Doctors predicted she wouldn’t live past her fifth birthday.
“More than twelve years later [at the time of this publication], Hydeia is not only still here, but she is also an internationally recognized AIDS activist and, even more remarkably, a typical teenager. She is among the first generation of children with AIDS for whom science has changed the odds—the first generation for which adulthood is a possibility and not just a dream.
“Writes Patricia Broadbent: “It would be easy to tell our story in clichés about miracles and hope, tragedy and the ‘innocent’ victims of the epidemic. I know, too, how easy it is to view Hydeia, myself, and our family as somehow ‘special.’ The truth is, however, we are a family just like any other. I am no stronger or braver than any other mother who loves her child.”
“You Get Past the Tears is the story of a disease for which there is still no cure. But this is also the story of a family living with AIDS, a mother who did everything in her power to defy that first hopeless prognosis, and a young woman who continues to inspire millions with her courage and determination.
“*Hydeia Broadbent passed away in 2024. We include this book in our list in tribute to her memory.”
Stories have immense power. They can educate, build bridges, and inspire broader change. Over the time off that so many employees will be taking in the coming weeks, we hope to see them take the opportunity to learn more from the HIV/AIDS community as well as other marginalized identities. By reading and uplifting these stories, we can start the new year smarter, more well-rounded, and better positioned to create workplace environments that are safe, equitable, and understanding for all.
RALIANCE is a trusted adviser for organizations committed to building cultures that are safe, equitable, and respectful. RALIANCE offers unparalleled expertise in serving survivors of sexual harassment, misconduct, and abuse which drives our mission to help organizations across sectors create inclusive environments for all. For more information, please visit www.RALIANCE.org.