In this issue:

  • Meet Our July 2020 Shero of the Month: Bré Anne Rivera
  • Digital Organizing to Get Out the Vote for Houston Runoff Elections
  • Webinars You Won’t Want to Miss
  • PWN Is Hiring an Administrative Assistant

Meet Our July 2020 Shero of the Month: Bré Anne Rivera

Our July 2020 Shero of the Month is Bré Anne Rivera, originally from Detroit, Michigan, but currently residing in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Bré is currently the vice-chair of the board of directors at Positive Women’s Network – USA. Tiommi Luckett, PWN-USA communications and training assistant, said, “Bré is the real deal. When I met her in 2015, she had this vision of providing much-needed resources to the trans community in Detroit. She got it done, and Trans Sistas of Color Project (TSOCP) was birthed. Her love for community extends far beyond Detroit and she knows she has a sista in Arkansas.”

Bré does not identify as an activist. She said, “I am a shifter of resources for Black trans communities. Many folx won’t talk about it, but I was the highest employer and largest resource provider for Black trans women during my tenure with Trans Sistas of Color Project.”

From a fierce love for her community, she created the Black Trans Fund through Groundswell Fund, where she is a program fellow. Black trans-led organizations are often overlooked by funders due to the nuanced needs of the Black TGNC community. Bré wanted to ensure that Black trans-led organizations had a place to build power and access resources that are specific to them and that Black trans leaders are the decision-makers in funding decisions.

“I know how it feels to be overlooked, disrespected, and left out of funding decisions,” she explained. “I put my own money into building TSOCP because I believe in the leadership of Black trans people. I created the Black Trans Fund as a way for Black trans communities to receive justice now and on our terms! The Black Trans Fund is revolutionary and vital to building sustainable Black trans leadership.”

Read more about Bré here

Digital Organizing to Get Out the Vote for Houston Runoff Elections

The COVID-19 pandemic has changed a lot of things in our day-to-day lives. The response to the pandemic by many elected officials in America, from state houses to the White House, has been dismal. But elections are still happening–and they are more important than ever. Organizers have been scrambling to meet the challenges of mobilizing communities to get to the polls.

The Greater Houston Area chapter of PWN-USA Texas and Vote Positive USA H-Town Power moved to digital organizing to reach their communities, make sure voters knew there was a run-off election happening and what was on the ballot.

It was hard work, but they made a big impact! We caught up with their leaders and talked about what they did and how it went.

Q. Because of COVID-19, you had to switch your organizing strategy to digital. What did that entail in preparing for the runoff elections? How did you stay engaged with your voter lists?

A. We knew that our previous plans for voter registration tables, in-person educational events, as well as any door-to-door canvassing, were halted due to COVID. We still wanted to encourage people to get out to vote but stay safe while doing so. We felt it best to “regroup” by planning a series of virtual events to educate and inform people of the importance of voting while offering tips on voting in a COVID 19 environment.

Read the full article here!

Webinars You Won’t Want to Miss

Centering Lived & Living Experiences of Surveillance & Diagnosis

Wed., Aug. 5 at 3pm EDT/12pm PDT

In this Road to HINAC IV Community Conversation, speakers will reflect on some of the consequences of the failure to adequately center peoples’ lived and living experiences of surveillance and diagnosis in discussions of the HIV and COVID-19 pandemics.

These include a failure to adequately address injuries of inequality and questions of economic justice, as well as the problematic complicity of public health (data) with punitive efforts to police pandemics and with HIV and COVID-19 criminalization.

This conversation will open up a public dialogue about how to put conditions in place to foster greater community control over surveillance.

Register here

PWNCares Sister Circle Community Event: U=U and Me

Thurs., Aug 6, at 1pm EDT/10am PDT

A person living with HIV who maintains an undetectable viral load through adherence to effective treatment cannot transmit HIV to their sexual partners. Period. Even without condoms.

This is life-changing–and potentially lifesaving–information, grounded in scientific fact and proven over and over again by multiple large-scale studies. The word is finally getting out, even though unfortunately many medical providers are still not telling their patients diagnosed with HIV.

All people living with HIV deserve to know the facts about our bodies, the condition we live with, and what we can do to stay healthy and to prevent our partners from acquiring HIV.

Thursday, August 6, we invite you to join a live conversation with Deirdre Johnson, Sherryl Lamm, Tiommi Luckett, Heather O’Connor, and Masonia Traylor about what U=U means for cis and trans women living with HIV when it comes to:

  • intimacy,
  • dating,
  • conception,
  • breast-feeding,
  • stigma,
  • choosing a care regimen,
  • and more.
Register for the live conversation here!


IHAA Webinar: HIV Criminalization and Black Femmes

Wed., Aug. 5, at 1pm EDT/12pm CDT/10am PDT

Join the discussion as we unpack Illinois laws that specifically criminalize people living with HIV, how these laws impact Black femmes, and ways you can work to end HIV criminalization alongside the Illinois HIV Action Alliance (IHAA) — a coalition seeking to eliminate HIV-based social stigma and criminalization by centering the voices of people living with HIV.

Moderated by: Erma Standley, Affinity Community Services

Panelists:

+ Kenya Garrett-Burnett, Legal Council for Health Justice
+ Venita Ray, Positive Women’s Network
+ Khadine Bennett, ACLU of Illinois

PWN Is Hiring an Administrative Assistant

The Administrative Assistant for PWN-USA provides administrative support for a national advocacy organization to staff, the board of directors, and members. We strongly encourage people with personal experience with HIV, people of color, and queer, trans, and gender non-conforming folks to apply for this position.

This is an hourly, part time position, at approximately 15-18 hours per week.

View the full job description and instructions to apply here!