Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1991. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
Miami Herald; Thursday, November 28, 1991
Yvette Ousley, Herald Staff Writer
She scanned the room. Took a deep breath. Sat down. Then began to speak.
"Visualize what a person who is HIV positive looks like," she told the teen-agers from Central, Jackson and Northwestern high schools. "Now look around this room. Do any of us look like we could have AIDS?"
The question drew inquiring looks and grimaces, and finally rested on blank stares. That's when Sarah told them she had the virus that causes AIDS.
Sarah, a telephone operator, was one of four speakers discussing sex, AIDS, and HIV during an AIDS seminar at the Miami-Dade Community Entrepreneurial Center in Liberty City Saturday morning.
She asked that her last name not be published for fear of job discrimination and because her children -- ages 17 and 22 -- do not know that she is HIV-positive.
"See, do I look like I'm HIV positive?" asked Sarah, who would later tell of bouts of diarrhea and night sweats and of large lumps on her neck that lead her to suspect that she had AIDS. "I could be in the supermarket squeezing the fruit next to you and you'd never know."
The seminar came on the heels of Earvin "Magic" Johnson's announcement earlier this month that he is HIV positive. It was intended to emphasize the dangers of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome, promote responsible sexual behavior among teen-agers and discuss traditional family values.
"We're trying to get teen-agers to do their part in educating their friends and peers about AIDS because AIDS doesn't discriminate," said Nadine Gay, AIDS information officer for Dade County Public Schools. "And anyone who is sexually active is at risk."
Including teen-agers; 691 teens between the ages of 13 and 19 had been diagnosed with AIDS as of May 31, according to the Centers for Disease Control, she said.
"It was truly informative and it gave me insight on how to approach my peers," said Northwestern senior Shameka Nixon of the dramatic presentation. "People are not concerned about it now because they don't think it can happen to them."
The seminar was one in a series sponsored by the Family Christian Association of America, a nonprofit community based organization in Liberty City. Anthony McPhee, youth service manager for the FCAA, contacted Gay because he felt a need to hold an AIDS seminar.
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