Living Out Loud with Darian

The names and lives of Tim'm West, Monte J. Wolfe and Erik Chambers are synonymous with strength, courage, and perseverance. These three black gay men collectively breathe life into Brave Soul Collective, a website founded to educate the black gay community on the reality of HIV/AIDS. They all speak from their own personal experiences of being black, gay, and HIV positive. They are extremely honest about their lives and what led to their seroconversion in an attempt to keep others HIV negative.

They recently asked for submissions on their website from people who were willing to tell their stories of living with HIV. Submissions can be entered with a name or anonymously. The first entry comes from Alan Sharpe, director of African -American Collective Theater in Washington, D.C. . Alan tested positive during the early nineties before anti-retroviral drugs were available and HIV/AIDS was still considered a death sentence. His story is one of a proud openly gay man who refused to let HIV control him, but decided to take control of HIV. You can read Alan's story here .



If you would like to submit your story to Brave Soul Collective here's the info you will need.

from Brave Soul Collective.org:

We are now accepting submissions from individuals who would like to tell their stories. It is our hope that we'll have people from all walks of life---male, female, gay, straight, bisexual, all ethnicities, who'll be willing to come forth to share a glimpse into their lives with HIV. The amount of time that you've lived with HIV is not important either. Whether you've been newly infected or have been living with the virus for 20 years and counting...doesn't matter.
Submissions can be published on our site by actual name or anonymously, depending on each individual's personal wishes and their comfort level. Submissions may anywhere from 350-750 words, depending on how detailed the author wishes to be. Any persons interested in more information about this feature or wishing to submit a written piece can email us at: submissions@bravesoulcollective.org.

Labels: HIV/AIDS