Friday, November 27, 2009
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Alone in Sight
Alone in Sight
Alone in sight a vision unseen
Sometimes the puzzle is not what it seems
We loose all the pieces they don’t seem to fit
Are we loosing the focus lets try to admit
Alone in sight a vision unseen
The flame gets higher chase after the dream
Change is around us, Revolution arise
A thing of the past?, lets bring it alive
Alone in sight a vision unseen
I’ll go to my grave with hopes to have seen
The start of change in a positive way
Brothers and sisters its ok
Alone in sight a vision Love knows
Follow the light and go where it goes
Lets bring Love to life planting its seeds
A new day is dawning and flowers they plead
The sun will nurture us with much warm caress
So now really children
Is there much time for rest
Greg Sanchez lll
Alone in sight a vision unseen
Sometimes the puzzle is not what it seems
We loose all the pieces they don’t seem to fit
Are we loosing the focus lets try to admit
Alone in sight a vision unseen
The flame gets higher chase after the dream
Change is around us, Revolution arise
A thing of the past?, lets bring it alive
Alone in sight a vision unseen
I’ll go to my grave with hopes to have seen
The start of change in a positive way
Brothers and sisters its ok
Alone in sight a vision Love knows
Follow the light and go where it goes
Lets bring Love to life planting its seeds
A new day is dawning and flowers they plead
The sun will nurture us with much warm caress
So now really children
Is there much time for rest
Greg Sanchez lll
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Inherit Dysfunction
A man on curbside begging for some money
A lady with teased out hair, how about a night with me honey?
All so overwhelming, is it just their call?
This inherit dysfunction nailing us to the wall
Walking in this city seeing all these faces
Like blueprint we’re made from our past leaving all the traces
I think I’m different from the man that talks to himself
Or the lady in the grocery store that stole something from the shelf
It’s inherit dysfunction it happens to us all
We think if we’re among the elite to this way
We could never fall
When I turn on the TV
If I walk down the street
Our world seems to be feeding on a bigger deceit
Some will seek out therapy, or some pills to do the trick
To reach a sense of normality
Curing what others define as the mentally sick
Abandonment of nurturing in our formative years battered and tattered and so many tears
Layer upon layer wall after wall
Good times always hard to recall
Inherit dysfunction where did it start
Is it just are humanity? I believe it’s a part..
Verbal, physical and emotional abuse are some chains that bound us, there is no excuse
Love is so needed if we want to break free
Of this inherit dysfunction we all hold a key
Greg Sanchez III
Friday, November 13, 2009
My opinion
I am speaking for myself and the countless friends I've lost recently and in the past. I have been HIV positive over half my life. I have concerns about funding for more progressive and realistic education and testing programs ….this is desperately needed especially in schools. I know here in Chicago Illinois funding got cut for some programs that do work in Schools, even so HIV/AIDS doesn’t just deserve 45 minutes of education in the classroom…but it must be a ongoing process. There is so much involved in the disease to bridge the gap to a generation that maybe wasn’t around when the devastation of deaths came..for them there is nothing to connect them to why it’s important information for them to learn. When I was educating at Schools that’s the way it was. One quick education presented..Then gather statistics, then we’re done ….,There were instances that teachers/program organizers wanted more information for the class or the groups, there just wasn't enough time set aside for doing this. Basically you do it, you meet a curriculums basic..very basic needs then it's done and no telling when the audience your speaking to will be reconnected to the HIV/AIDS education they need. There so many things that surround HIV/AIDS that need to be talked about if people are going to really get it.
That’s what governing AIDS/HIV agencies/organizations want us to do…get those numbers for testing, people we test, and the number of boring speeches made to fulfill a grant requirement ….never mind the impact or they learned anything from the education, but it's not always the AIDS agencies either sometimes it's a higher authority within the system that decides it's not important enough and the subject has been given some time....that's better than nothing? I don't think so...again, It is not all the bigger AIDS Agencies/organizations fault but those that govern above them that drive them to get numbers, which in turn drives us with unrealistic expectations…that’s what it boils down to, so our efforts reach so far, but not far enough.
So many agencies are hurting, people burnt out..the agencies are always driven by numbers to obtain for more money, but are the programs affective? There needs to be accountability around the big AIDS agencies/organizations, there needs to be a body of governing people over them.
People aren't getting involved because people are tired of not being heard and a tremendous lack of trust.
If over all we would take the focus that we put into other countries and bring some of that focus to our home here and educate, and focus on HIV/AIDS and STDs as much as people give the attention to breast cancer or any other agencies that people can safely belong to. Still after years and years still the stigmas exist, the silence persists.
We need a cure we need to get grassroots involved however, alot of big agencies are being paid really good, but have self interest….not all but some do and have been brought down.
I have been positive since th80's and an activist throughout the 90's and 2000's. Some states have their advisory boards of HIV poz people but they aren't doing anything that truly represent the people...the consumer advisory boards are merely a seat on a board to fulfill a need to have input and represent whatever demographic or race that the governing body that receives the money needs as a requirement to fulfill in order to receive monies. The body individuals of HIV poz people that are on these boards are merely set up to be puppets, a distraction to make them feel that they are doing something, but in the bigger picture are they being a voice for me? NO..some are in it for results but when no change comes they leave….we need to truly be heard and see results and change the way things are done from the grassroots up to the top..not the reverse.
We need a vaccine and a cure most importantly, we need to quit making this disease a ok disease to get and giving the public the false idea that people still are surviving with HIV but also the other side of the coin. Often times AIDS organizations play it safe and portray the healthy side … which is great, BUT people are still dying despite the drugs...let’s get real already!
I have a voice and others do too. People in AIDS organizations (again some) are making alot of money and will never get what people on the grassroots go through. At the end of the day they can go home and we remain with our struggles, how to pay the rent, food, spare money just to go out and do something.
If the powers that be keep on trying to soften this awful virus diversity of messages, stories and experience we will never learn or be open to those who went before us and what they did that was radical and worked (past), look at ourselves now and what we are doing wrong/right (present) envision of where we are going (future) we will always have the same broken record if we don’t all wake up and do something radically different. We always get emails when people want something-donate, give ,help, volunteer...
Why are your numbers down for people helping out, volunteering and donating, …well people are numb and their emotions need to wake up, people have to have reason to be connected to a cause, to do something, to be motivated. I am tired of monopolies and politics and the same people thinking they are conveying, representing and sending the right messages for those of us that are HIV/AIDs + affected/infected or those with secondary infection..I'm so tired of this. That's where I think the real problem exist...Accountability/watchdogs needs to be in place over big organizations/agencies who receive money. These big fund raisers some agencies throw for the HIV/AIDS cause (oh my God)...come on… how are those inclusive for the people this really affects,…when asked to spend 125 dollars a ticket, sometime more than that …. for an event, how can we afford that? Maybe it’s affordable in your world, not the one we who struggle to survive live in.
I have lost jobs because I believe in the truth, I have seen some organizations receive money and not know how to manage it..once I worked for a place that wanted me to lie about a fictitious satellite site they were getting money for and when I would go along with the lie to cover it they pushed me out of my job and this is not the first time a large agencies was doing wrong and it didn’t settle with me and I lost my job. I know other people this has happened to as well..it’s very sad when you work for a Health Department or an AIDS organization is aware of (for instance my status and physical problems) but really don’t care. I have gifts to use, to help others and I am good at what I do, however when you don’t kiss someone’s butt, or you don’t go along with what is shady, you are an outcast, you don’t belong and everyone views you as a radical/opinion not warranted or popular. I just stand by my heart, my personal memories and never selling out.
My opinion
G.S. III
That’s what governing AIDS/HIV agencies/organizations want us to do…get those numbers for testing, people we test, and the number of boring speeches made to fulfill a grant requirement ….never mind the impact or they learned anything from the education, but it's not always the AIDS agencies either sometimes it's a higher authority within the system that decides it's not important enough and the subject has been given some time....that's better than nothing? I don't think so...again, It is not all the bigger AIDS Agencies/organizations fault but those that govern above them that drive them to get numbers, which in turn drives us with unrealistic expectations…that’s what it boils down to, so our efforts reach so far, but not far enough.
So many agencies are hurting, people burnt out..the agencies are always driven by numbers to obtain for more money, but are the programs affective? There needs to be accountability around the big AIDS agencies/organizations, there needs to be a body of governing people over them.
People aren't getting involved because people are tired of not being heard and a tremendous lack of trust.
If over all we would take the focus that we put into other countries and bring some of that focus to our home here and educate, and focus on HIV/AIDS and STDs as much as people give the attention to breast cancer or any other agencies that people can safely belong to. Still after years and years still the stigmas exist, the silence persists.
We need a cure we need to get grassroots involved however, alot of big agencies are being paid really good, but have self interest….not all but some do and have been brought down.
I have been positive since th80's and an activist throughout the 90's and 2000's. Some states have their advisory boards of HIV poz people but they aren't doing anything that truly represent the people...the consumer advisory boards are merely a seat on a board to fulfill a need to have input and represent whatever demographic or race that the governing body that receives the money needs as a requirement to fulfill in order to receive monies. The body individuals of HIV poz people that are on these boards are merely set up to be puppets, a distraction to make them feel that they are doing something, but in the bigger picture are they being a voice for me? NO..some are in it for results but when no change comes they leave….we need to truly be heard and see results and change the way things are done from the grassroots up to the top..not the reverse.
We need a vaccine and a cure most importantly, we need to quit making this disease a ok disease to get and giving the public the false idea that people still are surviving with HIV but also the other side of the coin. Often times AIDS organizations play it safe and portray the healthy side … which is great, BUT people are still dying despite the drugs...let’s get real already!
I have a voice and others do too. People in AIDS organizations (again some) are making alot of money and will never get what people on the grassroots go through. At the end of the day they can go home and we remain with our struggles, how to pay the rent, food, spare money just to go out and do something.
If the powers that be keep on trying to soften this awful virus diversity of messages, stories and experience we will never learn or be open to those who went before us and what they did that was radical and worked (past), look at ourselves now and what we are doing wrong/right (present) envision of where we are going (future) we will always have the same broken record if we don’t all wake up and do something radically different. We always get emails when people want something-donate, give ,help, volunteer...
Why are your numbers down for people helping out, volunteering and donating, …well people are numb and their emotions need to wake up, people have to have reason to be connected to a cause, to do something, to be motivated. I am tired of monopolies and politics and the same people thinking they are conveying, representing and sending the right messages for those of us that are HIV/AIDs + affected/infected or those with secondary infection..I'm so tired of this. That's where I think the real problem exist...Accountability/watchdogs needs to be in place over big organizations/agencies who receive money. These big fund raisers some agencies throw for the HIV/AIDS cause (oh my God)...come on… how are those inclusive for the people this really affects,…when asked to spend 125 dollars a ticket, sometime more than that …. for an event, how can we afford that? Maybe it’s affordable in your world, not the one we who struggle to survive live in.
I have lost jobs because I believe in the truth, I have seen some organizations receive money and not know how to manage it..once I worked for a place that wanted me to lie about a fictitious satellite site they were getting money for and when I would go along with the lie to cover it they pushed me out of my job and this is not the first time a large agencies was doing wrong and it didn’t settle with me and I lost my job. I know other people this has happened to as well..it’s very sad when you work for a Health Department or an AIDS organization is aware of (for instance my status and physical problems) but really don’t care. I have gifts to use, to help others and I am good at what I do, however when you don’t kiss someone’s butt, or you don’t go along with what is shady, you are an outcast, you don’t belong and everyone views you as a radical/opinion not warranted or popular. I just stand by my heart, my personal memories and never selling out.
My opinion
G.S. III
Monday, November 9, 2009
Where does my voice belong
24 + years survivor here in the house. I come from old school activism and in my opinion there needs to be more of it. We need not reinvent the wheel but more-so to learn from the ones who have went before us, ..so the past, what we are doing now and where are we going. I find so may conformist in AIDS activism and does not represent the true voice and experience of HIV/AIDS. People are living yes, but people are still dying and suffering from AIDS or related HIV conditions. All organizations want is more money and to get richer and richer while there is no accountability and the so call ed activist that exist today...not all but some , have self driven motives. I believe complacency, volunteerism and the involvement of people that are positive has dropped severely because we have lost trust in the powers that be , even the ones that say they are on our side. A lifestyle living with 50,000 or even 100, 000 verses someone on the grass roots level that is on a fixed income is a great divide, they cannot see through our eyes our struggles..greed seems to lead the way and dictate the roads in which we follow, the trends, the politically correct way. ...Wake up and see the truth, critically think and realize there is such a need to renew the flame, start accountability projects, and quit trying to make HIV/AIDS look ok. There is a balance in this fight...survival and the point where no one imagines the end or the horrible images we once viewed with our eyes that stayed and were burnt in our hearts and memories forever. Let us not forget that we have a voice and others out there need to be encouraged to come out and make a stand and everyone has a story to tell and life experience to contribute....feel, remember, chip the ice off and know it's ok to react in sadness, without our sadness or feeling our losses and remembering that although some of us are in a place of health and hope to survive others give up, isolate still and some just are tired and want to die. I know ALOT of my friends have died, like Rob below,,, 100's and funerals I can't count , and the hospital visits I can't count, and at the funerals or obituaries AIDS the big disease with the little name still get skimmed over or is silenced. Still today we want to say everything is ok and it's not. I am grateful for the 24 years I have been alive . It's been half my life living with this, but I will never compromise what is right, and what my hearts convictions lead me to do. It might not make me popular in some circles but I'd rather live with myself than selling out!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
