Miami Herald - December 8, 2005
Helen Berggren, hberggren@herald.com

Wearing a red shirt, Renita D'C Holmes waves a home made sign declaring "World AIDS Day" at the passing drivers.

"Do you know your status?" Holmes asks. "Don't be afraid of me; be afraid of AIDS. I'm not ashamed to tell the truth; are you ashamed to hear it? We need to talk about the number-one killer in the inner city."

Holmes was one of four people who walked in the Dec. 1 AIDS awareness march in Liberty City, which, according to the Miami-Dade Health Department's website, "has the highest number of cumulative AIDS and HIV cases in the county."

"Two weeks ago I started thinking about doing this because nothing was being done here," said march organizer Marva Lightbourne. "We wanted to encourage [Liberty City residents] to walk with us in the community. Do you see any candlelight services in Liberty City? We have the highest percentage of AIDS cases in the community but who is having a rally here? No one."

The county Health Department's website confirms that fact: "Zone IV that includes Liberty City has 5,559 adult AIDS cases and 1,779 adult HIV cases. This zone represents nine percent of the county's total population but over 20 percent of the reported AIDS cases and over 18 percent of the reported HIV cases."

Holmes also had questions about the lack of World AIDS Day activities in her community.

"If Liberty City has the highest percentage of AIDS cases in the community, why aren't there any marches or candlelight vigils here?" Holmes said. "We should have billboards on every corner telling people to get tested and to use a condom, not a walking billboard."

Wearing a billboard for the cause, Paul Williams, who was diagnosed with HIV three years ago, came to the march to give a speech about AIDS.

"I am grateful to be here, Williams read from a sheet to his audience of one, a Herald reporter assigned to cover the event.

Thanking the organizers of the march and his nurses for taking care of him, Williams ended his speech by saying, "Hopefully they find a cure for this monster of a disease."

Undeterred by the low turnout, the group began their march at 5 p.m., with Holmes saying 9-5 "is a great time to educate."

"The parents roll their eyes," she said, "but I made eye contact with some of the kids in the back seat. They were looking and pointing. Maybe I got to them."

Holmes is frustrated by people who are "embarrassed" to talk about the disease.

"AIDS is the killer that does not discriminate," she said. "People need to get tested, they need to wake up and realize they might already be infected.

"If you don't get tested and you don't know your status, then how can you take care of yourself if you are infected with HIV?"

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