Boris, New York
Boris is the Program Director of Gay Men of African Descent. Located in Harlem, the organization serves black men in New York City who have sexual encounters with other men.
Boris on National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day
Q: National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day is February 7. What would you like to tell people about HIV vaccine research on this day?
Be open to a conversation about a HIV vaccine. An HIV vaccine, once discovered, is our way of taking control of the virus. It doesn't matter how it got here. It doesn't matter how many of us are impacted. It doesn't matter how many of us are infected or affected. With a successful vaccine we can stop HIV.
Boris on World AIDS Day
Q: What does it mean for you to be a community leader?
I see myself more as a community organizer. As an organizer, I keep my finger on the pulse of the community on a variety of subjects and make sure people have accurate information.
Q: World AIDS Day 2008. What can people do to become leaders for HIV vaccine research?
Everyone can become a leader if they talk to two friends about HIV vaccine research. It is an old theory that if you talk to two friends and they talk to two friends the message will get around the world. It is time for us to take a personal interest and make a personal investment in the sharing of this information.
A great place to start is to get people to acknowledge that they have been vaccinated against a variety of diseases (polio, measles, etc.) and keep in mind the time it took to develop those vaccines. Then you can begin to have a hopeful conversation about the development of an HIV vaccine within the next ten years.
As a community of black people and as a community of gay people we should have an awareness of what that research is looking at so that when an effective vaccine is discovered, we'll be right there.
Comments or questions? Email us.