Justin's HIV Journal: Justin gets his degree & is accepted into Gradua...

The one things about having HIV/AIDS is that you really don't think about what you want to accomplish because some of us lose hope, but I'm here to say DO NOT LOSE SIGHT OF YOUR DREAMS!!!! Just because you have HIV/AIDS doesn't mean you have to slow down. You should keep moving forward, keep living, keep loving and definitely keep laughing.

It took me a while to get my degree, BUT I finally got it. I had my Associates Degree from Axia College in Communications. My family has always put an importance on having a degree, and sometimes I've felt like I've disappointed them. Now I have another reason to make my family proud but more importantly to make me proud. My husband is also the driving force that has helped me get where I am with my education.

So knowing this I had no choice but to go for my Bachelor's Degree. It means a lot to me that I earned this degree. But now that I'm on a roll I will not stop. Graduate School here I come. I plan on going to get my Master's in Public Health from Walden University. My classes start in June and I'm so excited and nervous at the same time.

This was emotional for me because when I was diagnosed getting my education was the last thing I would ever think of doing. BUT you have to stay strong and go for your dreams DO NOT STOP

POZ - POZ Exclusives : Protesters Against Hershey Company Hit Times Square Store - by Cristina Gonzalez and Reed Vreeland

POZ - POZ Exclusives : Protesters Against Hershey Company Hit Times Square Store - by Cristina Gonzalez and Reed Vreeland

Justin's HIV Journal: "Write A Letter to HIV Campaign!!!"

Hello, I'm Justin B. Terry-Smith. I was infected with HIV in 2005 and diagnosed in 2006. I've decided to write a letter expressing my feelings about HIV and I'm asking YOU to join me.

You can be HIV negative or positive; this letter is meant to encourage and empower. If you're infected or affected by HIV, I'm asking that you write a letter and then videotape yourself reading the letter aloud. It helps sometimes to get your feelings out, whether you've been recently diagnosed or have been living with HIV for a long period of time.

I'm asking everyone -- including my fellow bloggers here at TheBody.com and others that don't have a blog -- to join me in this campaign, "My Letter to HIV." Check out my letter and video for an example. If you don't want to make a video you don't have to; a simple letter will suffice. You can also send a picture of yourself. Entries will be posted in a series on this article page.

Send your letters and video links to mylettertohiv@gmail.com.

PLEASE JOIN ME IN EMPOWERING YOURSELVES IN THIS FIGHT AGAINST HIV/AIDS!

Justin's HIV Journal: Dr. Philip B. Terry-Smith supports Write A Letter ...

What can I say about my husband other than he is the most incredible man I've ever met. He is supporting me and my campaign and also I commend him. It took a lot for him to do this as it would anyone that would express their feelings in such a way. Baby I love you and thank you.

Here is his letter to HIV

Dear HIV,
I know it has been while since I've communicated but I've frankly been at a loss of words. It finally occurred to me the other day why I've been bothered by you. I don't like being rude, but sometimes there is no other way than through directness. You are the type of acquaintance that shows up at a party, often uninvited and doesn't know when to leave. Just as I was coming into my own, accepting my sexuality and firming up my identity, here you come. I was just barely out of high school and basic training, setting out on my own enjoying new found "adult" freedom when you started rearing your ugly head.
Just a few years after coming to grips with my sexual identity... in the aftermath of the vitriol being spewed by Anita Bryant and her hate induced madness in Florida, you hit the scene, at the time called GRID, Gay Related Immune Deficiency....GAY related...sweeping through San Francisco, New York. No known cause and a host of previously unheard of illnesses literally plaguing the very community that I was just becoming comfortable in. Rare cancers, pneumonias that would kill in literally weeks, previously healthy young men, many not much older than I, wasting away became the norm....AIDS. Fear, anxiety, anger, guilt, remorse...all seemed to feed the societal and religious condemnation of me and my kind. It seemed inevitable....get this thing...die of AIDS.....And then you show up to the party, my party, hanging out with my friends and yes...lovers. The rumors of how you were spread started to give way to the reality that you and your devious ways crashed our most intimate of relations. My dislike of you grew even stronger.
I remember the roll call of close and intimate friends who you seemed to have fondness for. Tom, Bob, Richard...the funerals I was asked to officiate for...Carlos, Nick, Rob....the list grew too large and too painful, sadness, loss, anxiety, wonder...when.... That gave way to why hasn't...it seemed inevitable. The frequent tests, the scares simply because one caught a cold or flu, or because one sweat in one's sleep, a previously unseen skin blemish, a loss of weight...all became cause for alarm, cause for anxiety...cause for anger...paranoia, isolation...the expectation for folks who knew I was gay and medical professionals, guessing, suspecting ...constant vigilance. Why didn't you simply leave...you were never welcome in my home or at my party, you were never invited, but crept your way in, closer and closer.... It seemed inevitable...or even miraculous that we did not become closer years ago. Fear gave way to hope as new less lethal medications emerged and it seemed possible for one to live with a chronic, yet manageable disease. Still none-the-less a troublesome condition, but manageable, less debilitating, less life altering...but still troublesome and still a requirement for hyper vigilance. It seemed inevitable. And your proclivity for crashing parties, especially the ones you seem to like now, other young men and women...just coming into their prime, really bothers me, really shows your devious nature....that parasitic quality to prey on the vulnerable like some sick stalker...some sexual predator... just waiting to strike.
So here we are.... some 30 years since you first crashed my party, my cotillion, you're still hanging out...still the nuisance, unwanted, obnoxious, parasitic guest that simply won't leave. Well, in case you forgot, I've shared this with you once before. I don't like you! You are not welcome in my home, my life or my body...but since you seem to not be able to take a hint and seem to not want to go away anytime soon...in the mean time....if you can refrain from stealing anything or anyone else from me...if you promise not to be too much of a pest....perhaps we can co-exist with a peaceful détente.

Justin's HIV Journal: "Write A Letter to HIV Campaign!!!"

Hello, I'm Justin B. Terry-Smith. I was infected with HIV in 2005 and diagnosed in 2006. I've decided to write a letter expressing my feelings about HIV and I'm asking YOU to join me.

You can be HIV negative or positive; this letter is meant to encourage and empower. If you're infected or affected by HIV, I'm asking that you write a letter and then videotape yourself reading the letter aloud. It helps sometimes to get your feelings out, whether you've been recently diagnosed or have been living with HIV for a long period of time.

I'm asking everyone -- including my fellow bloggers here at TheBody.com and others that don't have a blog -- to join me in this campaign, "My Letter to HIV." Check out my letter and video for an example. If you don't want to make a video you don't have to; a simple letter will suffice. You can also send a picture of yourself. Entries will be posted in a series on this article page.

Send your letters and video links to mylettertohiv@gmail.com.

PLEASE JOIN ME IN EMPOWERING YOURSELVES IN THIS FIGHT AGAINST HIV/AIDS!

Justin's HIV Journal: PROTEST MILTON HERSHEY SCHOOL END HIV STIGMA NOW

Justin's HIV Journal: "Write a Letter to HIV" Campaign!

"Write a Letter to HIV" Campaign!

By Justin B. Terry-Smith
From TheBody.com

March 6, 2012
Justin B. Terry-Smith

Hello, I'm Justin B. Terry-Smith. I was infected with HIV in 2005 and diagnosed in 2006. I've decided to write a letter expressing my feelings about HIV and I'm asking YOU to join me.

You can be HIV negative or positive; this letter is meant to encourage and empower. If you're infected or affected by HIV, I'm asking that you write a letter and then videotape yourself reading the letter aloud. It helps sometimes to get your feelings out, whether you've been recently diagnosed or have been living with HIV for a long period of time.

I'm asking EVERYONE-- including my fellow bloggers here at TheBody.com and others that don't have a blog -- to join me in this campaign, "My Letter to HIV." Check out my letter and video for an example. If you don't want to make a video you don't have to; a simple letter will suffice. You can also send a picture of yourself. Entries will be posted in a series on this article page. You can go to YouTube and upload your video there and send us the Embedded or URL Link

Send your letters and video links via e-mail Please be advised that your entry will be on thebody.com's website

Here is an example about what we are doing
http://www.thebody.com/content/66043/dear-hiv-my-letter-to-hiv.html

PLEASE JOIN ME IN EMPOWERING YOURSELVES IN THIS FIGHT AGAINST HIV/AIDS!

Mr. Justin B. Terry-Smith
Author of children's HIV book "I Have A Secret"
Creator of Justin's HIV Journal & Write A Letter To HIV Campaign
http://www.justinbsmith.com

Justin's HIV Journal: HIV Positive Zimbabwe Woman Laced Child's Porridge with Menstrual Blood !!!!

HIV Positive Zimbabwe Woman Laced Child’s Porridge with Menstrual Blood

SO THIS HAS GOT TO BE ONE OF THE MOST DISGUSTING STORIES I’VE EVER HEARD

A 17 year old maid, Pelagia Mureya from Zimbabwe was caught lacing a baby’s porridge with her menstrual blood. WTF that in itself is probably one of the most degusting things I’ve ever hear on the news. The 17 years old maid is also confirmed to be HIV –positive.

According to sources at the MSN the maid had repeated this act several times before. So Mureya would cook the porridge and put her menstrual blood in it then give it to the 4 year old child to eat. But one time the parent actually noticed a spot of blood in the porridge and asked Mureya about it. Mureya claimed to be ignorant about the whole act. The parent became suspicious and took the maid and the blood spotted porridge to the hospital. Blood tests were taken from both the spot of blood and Mureya. The hospital then confirmed that the spot of blood did match Mureya’s blood. The parent of the 4 year old quickly pressed charges against the Mureya.

Authorities arrested Mureya and she has been sentenced to 10 years in prison, if she is on good behavior she could be released in 8 years.

HIV Criminalization is wrong, but this woman intentionally wanted to spread HIV. There is a difference between the two. There are laws in place now in several different states that d not specifically go into detail much of what is involved when spreading the HIV virus. For example if one man with HIV bites someone who does not have HIV chances are that they will not spread the virus unless there is a laceration in the person mouth and the person who is being bite’s skin is broken and bleeding. In some states the person who not only go to jail for assault which they should BUT they might go to jail for trying to spread the HIV virus, even if self defense was the intention and NOT trying to spread the HIV virus.