WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The Lincoln Memorial has been the site of many historical protests, notably the 1963 march on Washington, in which Rev. Martin Luther King gave his landmark "I Have a Dream" speech.
So when TV, stage and screen star Sheryl Lee Ralph decided to protest the impact of AIDS on people of color, she chose the steps of that monument. Ralph led about 50 protestors on Sept. 27 in a sit-in on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial.
Ralph and her supporters -- including her husband, Penn. State Sen. Vincent Hughes, who sat by her side -- sat talking quietly among themselves. They did shout a couple of times in unison. "AIDS affects us all," but their statement was made mainly by their presence. They wore red T-shirts to symbolize their solidarity.
Ralph, an original member of the cast of the landmark Broadway musical DreamGirls, attracted lots of media, of course. As tourists galked and snapped photos, wondering what all the fuss was about, her supporters handed out material documenting AIDS' devastatiing toll on African-Americans.
“People are getting infected with HIV in alarming numbers, the government is not doing enough about it and Americans need to get angry about that,” Ralph said. explaining to one of the reporters why she decided to lead the sit-in.
Ralph became an AIDS activist after seeing a third of the cast and crew of DreamGirls die of AIDS. She decided to lead the sit-in after attending the International Conference on AIDS in August in Mexico City where she heard alarming statistics. For isntance, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that annual HIV infections were 40% higher than they previously had estimated. Black Americans are seven times as likely as whites to get infected. For black women between the ages of 25 and 34, AIDS is now the leading cause of death.
Although the sit-in's turn-out was lower than many of the historic protests that have occurred at the Lincoln Memorial, participants were no less passionate. On a day when streets were blocked off and rain threatened, people came from as far away as New York, Baltimore, and Philadelphia.
“People just don’t care,” Ralph said.” They didn’t care when the disease involved mostly gay, white men; they didn’t care about the impact on women; they don’t care about the impact on children, and they especially don’t care about people of color.”
Ralph added: “We don’t even have a national strategy for AIDS. People need to raise their voices and speak out!”
Hughes added: “We can spend $10 million a month on Iraq,” Hughes said. “Yet we cannot find a billion dollars for just one year for AIDS. We, as black people, must rise up and demand from our government the resources to deal with this disease. We need a Marshall Plan for AIDS.”
Among those in attendance were activists and persons living with AIDS. Luana Clark, a 58-year-old Baltimore resident who has been living with AIDS since 1983, said she came to show that there is life after being diagnosed HIV positive. “Whatever I can do, I will do to show my support,” she said. “We have to stand up and fight this disease.”
George Kerr of D.C. Fights Back, a grassroots education and activist group, said it was a shame that the nation’s capital is known for having one of the highest AIDS rates in the nation.
“The City Council needs to stand up and do something. Look what one woman did today,” he said.
Ralph and Hughes urged funds for testing, prevention and such policies as needle exchange, and for stronger policies regarding discrimination. Ralph noted that anyone who needs to know where to get tested can visit their Web site,
www.testtogether.org.
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Wednesday, October 1st 2008 at 1:56PM
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