HelloAngel
ONE love, blood, life
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/
U2's Bono Leads U.S. AIDS Day Observance
By JEAN ORTIZ
Associated Press Writer
Posted December 2 2002, 7:40 AM EST
LINCOLN, Neb. -- More than 2,300 people gathered to listen to Irish rocker Bono, even though he wasn't in town to sing.
The U2 lead singer appeared in Lincoln on Sunday to urge Americans to do what they can to help stop the spread of AIDS in Africa, headlining one of the many events held around the nation to mark World AIDS Day.
"It's not about charity. It's about justice and equality," Bono said. "I'm not here to lecture, and even though it's Sunday I'm not here to preach."
The event at the Lied Center for Performing Arts was the singer's first stop in a seven-city tour for an organization called Debt, Aid, Trade for Africa.
Bono has called on Americans to try to persuade their lawmakers to increase funding for the fight against AIDS in Africa. He also wants the American government to forgive the debts of African nations so money can be used to battle the disease.
Bono was also joined in Lincoln by actress Ashley Judd and four-time Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong.
"We're extraordinarily honored to be here to learn and to challenge other people around the world to say, 'You know what, a $4 dollar shot can prevent a mother from transmitting the HIV virus to her infant,'" Judd said.
In New York, the HIV + Sinikithemba Choir, composed of HIV-positive South Africans, marked World Aids Day by singing in Zulu and English on a Harlem church altar.
"To have AIDS is a stigma and we are trying to help people share the information and to accept their illness," said choir member Ntombi Mbuthu, 39, a mother of three children, all of whom have tested negative for the disease.
Mbuthu, who gets medicine through her work as a clinic counselor, is the only one of the 21 traveling choir members who is undergoing treatment for HIV. The others are too poor.
"Most South Africans don't get tested because they know there's no cure, and they cannot get the drug treatment because it's too expensive," said Mimi Badumuti, 32, who supports herself doing beadwork after losing her job as a corporate receptionist.
Former President Clinton, in an opinion column published Sunday in The New York Times, urged governments to do more to bring treatment to the developing world.
"Given that medicine can turn AIDS from a death sentence into a chronic illness and reduce mother-to-child transmission, our withholding of treatment will appear to future historians as medieval, like bloodletting," Clinton wrote.
About 1 million Americans are infected with HIV, which causes AIDS. Worldwide, there are 42 million HIV positive people, with sub-Saharan Africa home to 75 percent of them, according to UNAIDS, the U.N.'s AIDS agency.
President Bush, in his World AIDS Day proclamation, praised groups that are working to combat AIDS and help the people who suffer from it. He noted that his administration is seeking increases in spending for domestic and international AIDS programs.
"By working together, we can provide hope and comfort to all those affected by this devastating disease," Bush said.
The tour that brought Bono to Nebraska will wind its way through the nation's heartland, with stops in Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky and Tennessee. The singer said there was a reason those stops were chosen.
"There is a sense of community, of family, a certain decency that we need to convince the politicians," Bono said. "There is a moral compass in this part of the country that reads clearly when it knows the facts.
In San Francisco's Golden Gate Park, about 250 people, many wearing red ribbons and some carrying flowers, attended a quiet ceremony Sunday in the National AIDS Memorial Grove.
"I came today to remember," said Hank Donat, a 36-year-old San Francisco writer. "The gay community in San Francisco was devastated in the early years. We'll never be able to know the full breadth of the loss to our culture. But we feel it, we measure it with our hearts. "
Singer Jaqui Naylor performed a song written for World AIDS Day and the Rev. G. Penny Nixon of the Metropolitan Community Church spoke about working toward a cure for the disease.
"The theme of World AIDS Day is live and let live, but I want to have a different theme for a moment. I want to talk about hope," Nixon told the crowd. "It is more important than ever that we feed the hope."
In the Los Angeles area, predominantly black churches held services with sermons dedicated to the AIDS theme.
"The black community continues to suffer terribly from the devastation caused by AIDS," said the Rev. Norman S. Johnson Jr. of First New Christian Missionary Baptist Church in Los Angeles. "Therefore, we must stand together and act now."
U2's Bono Leads U.S. AIDS Day Observance
By JEAN ORTIZ
Associated Press Writer
Posted December 2 2002, 7:40 AM EST
LINCOLN, Neb. -- More than 2,300 people gathered to listen to Irish rocker Bono, even though he wasn't in town to sing.
The U2 lead singer appeared in Lincoln on Sunday to urge Americans to do what they can to help stop the spread of AIDS in Africa, headlining one of the many events held around the nation to mark World AIDS Day.
"It's not about charity. It's about justice and equality," Bono said. "I'm not here to lecture, and even though it's Sunday I'm not here to preach."
The event at the Lied Center for Performing Arts was the singer's first stop in a seven-city tour for an organization called Debt, Aid, Trade for Africa.
Bono has called on Americans to try to persuade their lawmakers to increase funding for the fight against AIDS in Africa. He also wants the American government to forgive the debts of African nations so money can be used to battle the disease.
Bono was also joined in Lincoln by actress Ashley Judd and four-time Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong.
"We're extraordinarily honored to be here to learn and to challenge other people around the world to say, 'You know what, a $4 dollar shot can prevent a mother from transmitting the HIV virus to her infant,'" Judd said.
In New York, the HIV + Sinikithemba Choir, composed of HIV-positive South Africans, marked World Aids Day by singing in Zulu and English on a Harlem church altar.
"To have AIDS is a stigma and we are trying to help people share the information and to accept their illness," said choir member Ntombi Mbuthu, 39, a mother of three children, all of whom have tested negative for the disease.
Mbuthu, who gets medicine through her work as a clinic counselor, is the only one of the 21 traveling choir members who is undergoing treatment for HIV. The others are too poor.
"Most South Africans don't get tested because they know there's no cure, and they cannot get the drug treatment because it's too expensive," said Mimi Badumuti, 32, who supports herself doing beadwork after losing her job as a corporate receptionist.
Former President Clinton, in an opinion column published Sunday in The New York Times, urged governments to do more to bring treatment to the developing world.
"Given that medicine can turn AIDS from a death sentence into a chronic illness and reduce mother-to-child transmission, our withholding of treatment will appear to future historians as medieval, like bloodletting," Clinton wrote.
About 1 million Americans are infected with HIV, which causes AIDS. Worldwide, there are 42 million HIV positive people, with sub-Saharan Africa home to 75 percent of them, according to UNAIDS, the U.N.'s AIDS agency.
President Bush, in his World AIDS Day proclamation, praised groups that are working to combat AIDS and help the people who suffer from it. He noted that his administration is seeking increases in spending for domestic and international AIDS programs.
"By working together, we can provide hope and comfort to all those affected by this devastating disease," Bush said.
The tour that brought Bono to Nebraska will wind its way through the nation's heartland, with stops in Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky and Tennessee. The singer said there was a reason those stops were chosen.
"There is a sense of community, of family, a certain decency that we need to convince the politicians," Bono said. "There is a moral compass in this part of the country that reads clearly when it knows the facts.
In San Francisco's Golden Gate Park, about 250 people, many wearing red ribbons and some carrying flowers, attended a quiet ceremony Sunday in the National AIDS Memorial Grove.
"I came today to remember," said Hank Donat, a 36-year-old San Francisco writer. "The gay community in San Francisco was devastated in the early years. We'll never be able to know the full breadth of the loss to our culture. But we feel it, we measure it with our hearts. "
Singer Jaqui Naylor performed a song written for World AIDS Day and the Rev. G. Penny Nixon of the Metropolitan Community Church spoke about working toward a cure for the disease.
"The theme of World AIDS Day is live and let live, but I want to have a different theme for a moment. I want to talk about hope," Nixon told the crowd. "It is more important than ever that we feed the hope."
In the Los Angeles area, predominantly black churches held services with sermons dedicated to the AIDS theme.
"The black community continues to suffer terribly from the devastation caused by AIDS," said the Rev. Norman S. Johnson Jr. of First New Christian Missionary Baptist Church in Los Angeles. "Therefore, we must stand together and act now."
