As a child I was faced with a lot of having my ‘own stuff’ thrown into my face: the color of my skin, how wide my nose was, how curly my hair is, and why my last name sounded so different. At the age of 5, we moved from a city where my teacher spoke…
During 2020, it was crazy to be in the middle of a pandemic, fearing a virus that no one had ever heard of, reminding many of us of 1983, when AIDS started killing people. PrEP (pre-exposure prophylaxis) is a medication that is used for individuals that do not have HIV and want to prevent getting…
For many of us we may have heard of this concept around harm reduction but we may not realize that we employ these efforts everyday in our lives. When we stop at a red light, that is reducing the harm of getting hit by another car. Or when we drink diet soda to reduce the…
“If I don’t tell you, then it can’t hurt me!” –Jenn Awa The secrets in the family that no one speaks about and the generations that it continues to tarnish. The relationships that practice intimate violence behind closed doors. The shame you carry with you when you have been violated and you internalize and…
I think that I am one of the luckiest people that I know! That probably sounds like that I am full of myself, but I often sit back and listen to people complain about how much they dislike their job. But not me and not today; I get to celebrate 20 years of service delivery,…
In honor of #BlackHistoryMonth and bringing SquishyLady back, I thought it would be important to high light some of the ways that our historical traumas can inform our risks when it comes to our #squishy. Research has shown that DNA has changed in individuals that have survived generations of trauma, like African Americans enslaved and…
A year ago, I started SquishyLady on social media. When I came up with the concept of Squishy over 5 years ago, I didn’t know what it would evolve in too. I didn’t know what I was doing or where this would all go, but I was inspired in the middle of the night and knew…
If you have an itch, drip, or burn in your squishy it could be a sexually transmitted disease (#STD). Part of squishy health is knowing the signs, symptoms, testing options, treatment, and preventing coming in contact with them. STDs get transmitted from one person to another by having unprotected squishy or being exposed infected body fluids (vaginal secretions,…
Trans Day of Visibility (TDoV) is a day to recognize a small but mighty and resilient community. TDoV is an international day that was founded by Michigan-based transgender activist Rachel Crandall in 2009 as a reaction to the lack of acknowledging and celebrating living members of the transgender community. TDoV is a reminder and encouragement…
Where can I start with Women and HIV? Let me start with some facts from the CDC in light of National Women’s and Girls HIV Awareness Day that will guide this blog for today. Approximately one in four people living with HIV infection in the United States are women. Most new HIV infections in women…