Thriving Grandmother Movements Are a Feminist Issue
As the International AIDS Conference in Rio de Janeiro comes to a close, reflections on community leadership, aging bodies, and the dangerous myth that 'the AIDS crisis is over.' As the global health community returns home from Rio de Janeiro following the conclusion of the International AIDS Conference, I find myself reflecting deeply on a fundamental truth: our greatest strides over the decades have always been driven by the fierce, unflinching power of grassroots organizing. The insights I share today are personal musings, borne out of the profound honor of holding space recently for a group of truly phenomenal global advocates whose voices continue to resonate in my heart and mind. Moderating the Stephen Lewis Foundation's webinar, Twenty Years Strong: Grandmothers' Leadership in the HIV Response , felt like witnessing history in action. It reconnected us to a bond forged twenty years ago at a historic global gathering in Toronto—yet the realities on the ground toda...