HIV/AIDS LONG-TERM SURVIVOR * YOUTH EDUCATION * ADVOCACY * ACTIVISM * RESOURCES
Houston, Texas - United States
aids activist bob bowers - Act up wisconsin - mADISON, WI
ACT UP! FIGHT BACk! FIGHT AIDS!
ACT UP is a diverse, non-partisan group of individuals united in anger
and committed to direct action to end the AIDS crisis.
We advise and inform. We demonstrate.
WE ARE NOT SILENT
SILENCE STILL EQUALS DEATH!
The AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power - ACT UP
ACT UP was a grassroots activist group formed in New York City in 1987 to fight the AIDS epidemic.
AIDS ACtivists/activism
AIDS Activism for The Campaign to END AIDS
AIDS Activism for The Campaign to END AIDS
AIDS Activism for The Campaign to END AIDS
HIV/AIDS activism - The Campaign to END AIDS in Pittsburgh, PA - Bob Bowers and friends
AIDS Activists Rule!
AIDS Activism for The Campaign to END AIDS
AIDS Activism for The Campaign to END AIDS
AIDS activist and long-term survivor Bob Bowers - Houston, Texas
Speaking on behalf of C2EA
A Voice for Change
For over 40 years, I’ve fought not just for my survival, but for the survival of others. From the early days of the AIDS crisis—when fear and stigma ran rampant—to today, I’ve used my voice to educate, advocate, and demand action. Activism isn’t just what I do; it’s who I am.
~ Bob Bowers
Bob Bowers, also known as "Da Pirate" or "One Tough Pirate," is a long-term survivor of HIV/AIDS, having lived with the virus for over four decades.
The Founding of AIDS Project Los Angeles - APLA Health
Long-term HIV/AIDS survivor Bob Bowers is client number 86 at APLA
In October 1982, the four founders of AIDS Project Los Angeles (APLA)—Nancy Cole Sawaya, Matt Redman, Ervin Munro, and Max Drew—attended an emergency meeting at the Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Community Services Center. The meeting featured a presentation by a representative from San Francisco’s Kaposi’s Sarcoma Foundation about Gay Related Immunodeficiency Disease (GRID), one of the early names for AIDS.
Eternal gratitude, APLA!
Realizing that funds were needed to educate the community and prevent the spread of the disease, the founders enlisted the help of other friends (who became many of APLA’s early volunteers) and held a Christmas benefit. The party raised more than $7,000, which became the seed money for a new organization. Recognizing that AIDS was not just a gay disease, the founders named the organization AIDS Project Los Angeles. The first board of directors was elected on January 14, 1983.
AIDS ACtivists/activism - Fight Back, Fight AIDS!
AIDS Activism for ACT UP
HIV/AIDS activism - ACT UP - END AIDS - Bob Bowers - Houston, Texas
AIDS Activists during the Campaign to END AIDS!
ACT UP - Silence = death
COMPASSION IS OUR CURE®
I just wanted to tell you that your site brought both tears to my eyes, chills to my skin, and peace to my heart. I have not been directly affected by AIDS on a personal level, however, being a nurse, my final goal is to be involved in the fight for research and a cure. I never look at people's websites, but something told me to check yours out. I have been directly affected by cancer several times which is another type of research I'd like to do, but I feel like the Lord is pushing me to work with HIV/AIDS patients and I'm not really sure why. And I love your saying Compassion is our cure.... b/c it is the truth in this world through and through. I just really wanted to say I think it's awesome what you are doing, and I wish more people would be on the proactive side of this fight.
~ Erin
one Tough Pirate
You have to be one of the most amazing men. This just shows people that you can't tell from the outside someone is living with AIDS. Protect yourself and others. I love how open and honest you are about your life. And how AIDS hasn't made you lay down and die.
~ Bren
AIDS activist vito russo
From the late Vito Russo
If I'm dying from anything -- I'm dying from the fact that not enough rich, white, heterosexual men have gotten AIDS for anybody to give a shit. You know, living with AIDS in this country is like living in the twilight zone. Living with AIDS is like living through a war which is happening only for those people who happen to be in the trenches. Every time a shell explodes, you look around and you discover that you've lost more of your friends, but nobody else notices. It isn't happening to them. They're walking the streets as though we weren't living through some sort of nightmare. And only you can hear the screams of the people who are dying and their cries for help. No one else seems to be noticing.
Silence still equals death!
"Silence equals death" is an iconic phrase from the AIDS epidemic, originally created by the Silence=Death Project collective in 1987 to protest government and public inaction. It means that staying silent in the face of a crisis, such as the AIDS epidemic, leads directly to death and suffering, and that speaking out and organizing is essential for survival. The phrase, along with a pink triangle, became a central symbol for the ACT UP movement, which demanded more research, better treatment, and government action.
LONG-TERM SURVIVOR
LONG-TERM SURVIVOR
LONG-TERM SURVIVOR
"Long-Term Survivors are defined as having a HIV/AIDS diagnosis before 1996. They share those earliest and darkest years of the epidemic when there were no effective treatments. Effective treatments were available in 1995-96. Protease inhibitors transformed HIV infection from a “death sentence” to a more chronic but manageable condition."
SURVIVE!
LONG-TERM SURVIVOR
LONG-TERM SURVIVOR
"My personal ambition is to inspire and motivate everyone to be victorious in life's challenges. In this process I educate about the cause of HIV/AIDS, the consequences of having it, and how I have survived for 42 years."
~ Bob Bowers
AIDS Isn’t Over
"The world may have moved on, but HIV/AIDS is still here. I’ve lost too many friends, fought too many battles, and seen too much injustice to stop now. I continue this work not just in their memory, but for those still fighting today."
AIDS activist bob bowers - More Than a Survivor
"I’m not just a HIV long-term survivor—I’m a warrior, an AIDS activist, an advocate, and a witness to history. I’ve seen the worst of this epidemic, but I’ve also seen the best of humanity. And as long as I have breath, I’ll keep fighting for a world where no one has to face HIV alone."
~ Bob Bowers
Aging with HIV/AIDS
"Even when my voice quivered, even when the weight of my past tried to pull me down, I kept talking. Because I wasn’t standing up there as some perfect example. I was standing up there as proof that imperfection doesn’t disqualify you from making a difference."
~ Bob Bowers
Even when HIV is well-controlled, people may develop aging-related conditions at a younger age. People living with HIV are significantly more likely to develop cardiovascular disease than people without HIV. Older people living with HIV also have an increased risk of dementia, diabetes, osteoporosis, frailty, some cancers, and falls. It is common for older adults with HIV to experience mental illness, especially depression and addiction, and they tend to be more isolated, according to the National Institute on Aging.
Compassion is Our Cure -- HIV/AIDS Advocacy and the Power of Compassion in Action
