2013-05-22T08:02:09-04:00 Sheryl Lee Ralph http://www.huffingtonpost.com/author/index.php?author=sheryl-lee-ralph Copyright 2008, HuffingtonPost.com, Inc. HuffingtonPost Blogger Feed for Sheryl Lee Ralph Good old fashioned elbow grease. tag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2011:/theblog//3.1131331 2011-12-06T09:43:59-05:00 2012-02-05T05:12:01-05:00

Sheryl Lee Ralph http://www.huffingtonpost.com/sheryl-lee-ralph/
December 1st we observed World AIDS Day. Two nights before that I wrote my annual letter, and in that letter I said, "Thirty years ago on Broadway, AIDS was killing my friends in silence and shame. Thirty years later AIDS is still killing people around the world in silence and shame with stigma still holding them hostage. Not to mention discrimination, homophobia, sexism, criminalization, deportation and bodily harm. It was gay men thirty years ago but it includes women and children now."

Imagine my surprise when towards the end of World AIDS Day I learned that the respected Milton Hersey School, founded in 1910 by the candy man himself for children who are marginalized and underprivileged, had refused a 13-year-old honor student admission because he is HIV positive. In a statement the school wrote of "their concern for the health and safety of their current students." They only wanted to "protect" the student body of 1,800 against this boy and his disease..

Does anybody remember Ryan White? Well it was discrimination then and it is discrimination now. Discrimination mixed with a lethal dose of ignorance! Has anyone at the Milton Hersey School ever heard of the American with Disabilities Act?! It prohibits discrimination against people with HIV/AIDS. This is not 1981 where you were within your rights of ignorance to deny care, love, and a seat in your school due to fear. It was okay thirty years ago to stand in judgment and point fingers saying we don't want your kind here. But after thirty years, we know more know or at least we should.

As I travel across these United States talking about the disease and writing about what I see, I am shocked at how little people know or don't want to know about AIDS. I shouldn't be surprised that the people at the Milton Hersey School look at HIV/AIDS as a hindrance and are not aware of the advances that have been made in the medical arena of HIV/AIDS. They probably don't know that with early testing and medication people are actually now living longer healthier lives with the virus under control. Somehow the folks at Milton Hershey School missed the lesson that explains that you do not catch HIV, the virus or AIDS, the disease, by casual contact. You don't get it by kissing, holding hands or even sitting on the same toilet. You've got to work at getting this disease!

Thirty years of AIDS in America and it seems we have a very long way to go. I have said it before and I will say it again, thirty years of AIDS in American and AIDS is still killing people in silence and shame with stigma still holding them hostage, not to mention discrimination, and ignorance! Get tested, Get involved, Get informed about HIV/AIDS because the end of AIDS begins with YOU!]]> tag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2011:/theblog//3.1118517 2011-11-30T09:00:48-05:00 2012-01-30T05:12:02-05:00

Sheryl Lee Ralph http://www.huffingtonpost.com/sheryl-lee-ralph/ indicate that approximately 56,300 new infections occur each year in the U.S. alone. In fact, every nine and a half minutes, someone is infected with HIV.

As I look back, it is hard for me to believe that it was thirty years ago that I made my Broadway debut in the iconic musical, Dreamgirls. It was December 20th 1981 and December 2011 marks thirty years of Dreamgirls and AIDS in America. Thirty years ago gay men up and down Broadway just started dropping dead of a mystery disease. Friends and cast members just got sick and died. They were sick today and dead tomorrow. Then the deadly silence set in because nobody wanted to talk about it, much less do anything about it. Thirty years ago death and silence went hand in hand.

This year for World AIDS Day, I will remember the many friends I lost thirty years ago by attending the world premiere of Home at Ailey's New York City Center Season to see the winning photos and essays from the "Fight HIV Your Way" contest literally move through dance. The brave people that told their story through a photo and essay serve an important role in helping to reduce the stigma that many people living with HIV continue to face. Visit www.FightHIVYourWay.com for more information on the contest and to see the winning photos and essays that inspired Home.

I know from my experience on the stage that the performing arts can be vital in shedding light and bringing to life the real stories of those touched by HIV and that is why as an artist I will also be performing my critically acclaimed one woman show Sometimes I Cry in Buffalo, N.Y. on Dec. 2nd to provide another artistic platform to highlight the personal stories and struggles of real women touched by HIV/AIDS. Visit www.thedivafoundation.org for more information. We must all continue to help raise awareness about HIV/AIDS among the public and inspire people impacted by the disease to continue their fight.

Thirty years ago on Broadway, AIDS was killing my friends in silence and shame. Thirty years later AIDS is still killing people around the world in silence and shame with stigma still holding them hostage. Not to mention discrimination, homophobia, sexism, criminalization, deportation and bodily harm. It was gay men thirty years ago but it includes women and children now.

AIDS affects us all and we need to get more people tested and connected to CARE and TREATMENT quickly. The earlier people become aware of their HIV status the better it is for them and their community. Spread love not the disease!

I will never forget what happened thirty years ago. ]]> tag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2011:/theblog//3.875007 2011-06-14T10:30:00-04:00 2011-08-14T05:12:02-04:00

Sheryl Lee Ralph http://www.huffingtonpost.com/sheryl-lee-ralph/ "I am an endangered species but I sing no victim song. I am a woman, I am an artist and I know where my voice belongs." - Jeanne Pisano and Dianne Reeves

December 20th 1981 I made my Broadway debut in what has become one of the iconic musicals of the 80s, Dreamgirls. As I look back, it is hard for me to believe that it was thirty years ago just as it is hard for me to believe that June 5th, 2011 marks thirty years of AIDS in America. Thirty years of Dreamgirls and AIDS and this is where my story begins.

Dreamgirls was the best and worst of all times for me. As a young woman full of dreams herself, the best was being an original Dream Girl, creating the role of Deena Jones, being nominated for the prestigious Antoinette Perry Award, the Tony for Best Actress. Win or lose, I would forever be referred to as "Tony nominated Actress, Sheryl Lee Ralph." Wonderful!

Night after magical night, The Dreams brought audiences to their feet in thunderous applause letting us know that we were loved, really, truly, deeply loved. You couldn't get a cab once the curtain came down, but that's another story. This was one of the best times in my life and in the middle of it came the worst.

The worst was when men, gay men of every race, color and class, up and down Broadway just started dropping dead of a mysterious disease. It was frightening. Friends and cast members just got sick and died. They were sick today and dead tomorrow. They got sick, some of them developed those strange purple marks and they died. There was no dying process like the one we have become accustomed to nowadays. They just got sick and died. Then the deadly silence would set in because nobody wanted to talk about it, much less do anything about that disease, that shhhhh, gay disease. The silence was deafening.

Death and silence went hand in hand and at times it seemed to me that the silence was killing people quicker than the disease. Every night I was on stage in one of the greatest musicals ever written but the real life show was devastating as I stood witness to such an ugly time in America. I watched as good people, kind people, people of all religions, faiths and beliefs took comfort in passing judgment and pointing fingers at they, them and those people. Saying, "That's what they get. That's what they deserve. GOD will take care of them!"

Hospitals were unkind. There were no rooms for many of the sick and dying. You would find them stretched out on a gurney, pushed up against a wall out in the hallway, dying for help. But, there was no help for them! Nurses and hospital administrators were hostile and afraid and they wore their fear like armor! They were afraid of those strange purple marks, afraid of it all. Some doctors even refused to give treatment.

Thirty years ago, we stood idly by as gay people suffered and died. I was taught in church, "If one of us suffers, we all suffer." And we are all suffering now, suffering from our silence, suffering from denial, suffering from inhumanity because thirty years later every time Dreamgirls is performed or the film is shown, The Dreams, (young women) represent one of the fastest growing groups of people in America to become infected with HIV, women, especially women of color.

After thirty years HIV/AIDS is fast becoming a woman's disease and still silence equals death. Thirty years of information and activism and I am still shocked as I travel across the country at how little women and young women know about the risk they take in having unprotected sex. So many women don't know that the #1 way to transmit the disease is unprotected heterosexual sex, male to female sex. How many women don't know the basics like, HIV/AIDS is not just one disease but two very different ones. HIV is the virus and AIDS is the disease. And the growing numbers of women who have never been tested for HIV/AIDS because of the deadly stigma still associated to the disease is staggering. So, let me be clear ladies, DO NOT walk around with a time bomb in your vagina. Get tested! The earlier you get into treatment if you are positive, the better quality of life you are likely to lead.

And here are some facts, women comprise the fastest-growing population of new HIV infections in the U.S. women are 8 times more likely than men to contract HIV from one act of intercourse. Women are becoming increasingly affected by HIV -- about 47% of the 34.7 million adults living with HIV or AIDS worldwide are women. 1,000,000 Americans are infected with HIV and most of them don't know it. Don't let one of them be you.

In the silence of AIDS I found my voice as a young woman 30 years ago on the Broadway stage and have been asked over and over why I have remained so deeply committed to speaking up and out about HIV/AIDS. Why do I take the time to raise funds and awareness? Why do I care? I care because I am human. I care because I am a woman and there but for the grace of God go I." ]]> tag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2010:/theblog//3.789366 2010-11-29T15:18:38-05:00 2011-05-25T18:15:22-04:00

Sheryl Lee Ralph http://www.huffingtonpost.com/sheryl-lee-ralph/ Dreamgirls. Actually, I made my Broadway debut in one of two flops too disastrous to mention and therefore I rewrite the facts to suit myself. I made my debut on December 20, 1981 the same year five men presented in a San Francisco hospital with mysterious symptoms that sent the whole world into shock and the dying began. Up and down Broadway, men were dropping dead and with each sudden death came the deadly silence and I stood witness as that disease blew out the creative flame of life on Broadway like candles on a birthday cake.

It was definitely the best and worst of times for me as I watched too many of my friends die under stigma, shame and silence. Nobody wanted to talk about "that disease" much less do anything about it. "SHHHH! We don't talk about THAT disease!" But in that silence I found my voice on HIV/AIDS. I founded the DIVA; Divinely Inspired Victoriously AIDS Aware Foundation in memory of the many friends I had lost to AIDS, a cause that many told me was a waste of my time. A cause that would not help me further my career. I remember how so many people called me a fool and refused to help me simply raise awareness about HIV/AIDS and the threat I felt it was for women.

I always thought that if sex could be a problem for men, then women couldn't be far behind. People were not shy about telling me to shut up with that crazy talk. But the years have passed and I have watched the face of AIDS change as it spreads across the world with deadly consequences. I am deeply saddened to see that millions of people continue to be infected with HIV every year and less and less is being done to help those most in need. HIV/AIDS has become feminized and grows younger and younger. Women and children locally and globally are bearing the burden of this disease.

So here we are at another World AIDS Day with many people poised to overlook it or forget about it all together. With others asking what can I do? Well to start, it is good to know that World AIDS Day was started back in 1988 as a way to raise money, increase awareness, and unite us in the fight against the deadly twins, stigma and silence. You can help break the silence by talking about HIV/AIDS with people. If you have a personal story to tell, tell it! You can do something for someone affected by HIV/AIDS. A simple act of kindness does so much. Wear a Red Ribbon. Post one on your social media and pin one on your shirt. Remind people of the Red Ribbons meaning. People have forgotten that the Red Ribbon was created to raise awareness of and draw attention to HIV/AIDS. Visit TheDivaFoundation.org and order a Red Ribbon DIVA T-Shirt. Your donation will help so many.

You can get tested! Knowing your status is powerful knowledge. The number one reason most people in America don't tell people they have HIV is because they don't know it. Visit TestTogether.org and put in your zip code to find a test site near you, many of them are free. We know that getting tested for HIV/AIDS really works and more people need to do it. Remind people that HIV has not gone away, and that there are many things still to be done.

We know that a disease that is 100% preventable is silently set to become a major cause of death for people all around the world. According to UNAIDS estimates, there are now 33.3 million people living with HIV, including 2.5 million children. During 2009 some 2.6 million people became newly infected with the virus and an estimated 1.8 million people died from AIDS. We know that American women especially women of color, are becoming infected in numbers that are unacceptable and too many do not have access to adequate care services. We know the fact and the reality but what are we going to do about it?

Breaking the deadly silence still attached to HIV/AIDS will take the involvement and assistance of people around the world, small nations and world powers, organizations, state and local governments, elementary, high school and college administrations, churches, mosques, synagogues and many others. We must all encourage people to speak up, volunteer, get involved and get informed. Armed with proper information, we can combat the spread of this disease together. We must acknowledge the need for better health care for everyone including the sex worker and intravenous drug user. We must protect everyone's human rights especially those who are stigmatized and marginalized.

I know HIV/AIDS is a difficult subject for people to address, but through my life experiences I have seen that extraordinary things happen when ordinary people decide to make a change. We must see a change in the way the world views AIDS and those infected and affected because AIDS affects us all! And all of us must do something to effect change. It's hard to remember a time when people died in numbers to great to imagine and families turned their backs on loved ones dying in silence, stigma and shame. It's hard to remember but I will never forget.

The song asks, "How did you get here?" All those years ago I had no idea that I would still be here raising my voice on this subject. I didn't think we would all be here for another World AIDS Day, "Nobodies supposed to be here." So I will recognize World AIDS Day again this year and I will continue to create artistic activism and simply dare to care about those infected and affected by HIV/AIDS. What will you do?
]]> tag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2009:/theblog//3.356098 2009-11-20T08:31:00-05:00 2011-05-25T14:40:23-04:00

Sheryl Lee Ralph http://www.huffingtonpost.com/sheryl-lee-ralph/
"It is just not sexy?!" Well, here are some very unsexy facts. Swine flu has killed 1000 people to date and that's bad, HIV and AIDS killed more than 3,000,000 last year, and every year, it kills more than the year before. About 1 in every 300 Americans is HIV positive. 35,000 Americans are infected with HIV and don't know it because they haven't been tested. By the time they do get tested, HIV has already compromised their immune system and had become AIDS. AIDS and HIV infection takes 8,200 lives per day. 1,000,000 Americans are infected with HIV/AIDS. And I'm not finished! When the CDC can announce that one in four young women of all races and colors is already infected with some sort of sexual transmitted disease (STD)and we do nothing about it, something is very wrong here at home! As a mother, I am not about to bury America's children because of a disease that is 100% preventable.

I know HIV/AIDS is a difficult subject, I know it's not "sexy." I know it's hard to remember a time in America when people died in numbers too great to imagine and families turned their backs on loved ones dying of AIDS under an umbrella of silence, stigma and shame. It's hard to remember but I will never forget. As an original company member of Dreamgirls on Broadway, I stood witness as men, gay men up and down Broadway, just started dropping dead. It was frightening. They got sick and died. They were sick today and dead tomorrow. They got sick, some of them developed those strange purple marks and they died. There was no dying process like the one we have become accustomed to nowadays. They just got sick and they died.

People found it easy to disown and abandoned their sick and dying children. It has been over twenty-five years since the debut of Dreamgirls on Broadway and now as it opens at the Apollo just in time for World AIDS Day, every time the show is performed the Dreamgirls cast represents two of the fastest growing groups of people in America to become infected with HIV, young men and young women and that is not sexy!

HIV/AIDS awareness and education will take the involvement and assistance of people around the world, small nations and world powers, talk shows, newspapers, organizations, state and local governments, elementary, high school and college administrations, churches, mosques, synagogues and many others for us all to stop the spread of HIV/AIDS. We must all encourage people to speak up, get informed, Get TESTED! Knowing your positive or negative status is to be armed with powerful information. Get the facts and talk to your children, age appropriately. You would be surprised the choices children will make if you talk to them openly and honestly. And of course, use condoms each and every time you have sex. Hey, this isn't a talk show but maybe after you read this you'll talk and make it sexy. ]]>