NYC AIDS Memorial: Statement on Black Lives Matter

If you care about AIDS, you care about Black lives.
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The New York City AIDS Memorial was built as a place to remember those lost to the epidemic, reflect on our histories, and to gather, communicate, and protest. We stand in solidarity with all calling for the dismantling of white supremacism and the end of anti-Black violence. We join the mourning for Tony McDade, Nina Pop, George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, and all Black people, including those who have died from HIV-related illnesses, whose premature deaths have come as a result of state violence and neglect. We know from the 40 years of fighting against AIDS that Silence = Death. We add our voice to those demanding immediate and impactful societal change.
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Today, in New York City and across the country, Black people continue to make profound impacts within ongoing AIDS activism, and are disproportionately impacted by the virus due to biases in health care, criminal justice, media representation, among many others. Since the earliest days of the epidemic, activists have known that AIDS is a racial justice issue and a public health issue.
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The twin pandemics of racism and COVID-19, as we continue to deal with HIV and AIDS, humble us. We pledge to center, uplift and amplify the voices of BIPOC in our memorialization of AIDS, and throughout our educational and cultural programs that both celebrate our heroes and illuminate the history and the ongoingness of the AIDS epidemic in New York City.