Diagnosed himself with HIV in the early years of the AIDS epidemic, Phil Wilson, founding president and CEO of the Black AIDS Institute, knows what it means to fight. And since 1999 the institute he started continues to mobilize black leaders, institution, and individuals to stop AIDS in the black community.
“I realized early on that the way to save my life and the lives of people I loved was to get involved aggressively in advocacy and in policy work, and really change the systems and the structures to be responsive to this disease,” Wilson says.
For his tireless activism, GLAD is honoring Wilson at its 17th annual Spirit of Justice Awards Dinner on Friday, October 28 at the Boston Marriott Copley Place, located at 110 Huntington Avenue. A reception starts at 6:30 p.m. with dinner at 7:30 followed by dancing at 10. GLAD’s Executive Director Janson Wu and AIDS Law Project Director Ben Klein will also speak at the event. You can make your reservations on GLAD’s Spirit of Justice dinner registration page.
According to GLAD’s event press release:
The Black AIDS Institute is the only national HIV/AIDS think tank focused exclusively on Black people, with a mission to stop the AIDS pandemic in Black communities by engaging and mobilizing institutions and individuals in efforts to confront HIV. The Institute interprets public and private sector HIV policies, conducts trainings, offers technical assistance, disseminates information and provides advocacy mobilization from a uniquely and unapologetically Black point of view.
“Phill’s lifetime dedication to ending the epidemic and improving the lives of people living with HIV – particularly Black people – makes him supremely worthy of the Spirit of Justice award,” says Janson Wu, GLAD’s Executive Director.
“We commend and share Phill’s belief in systemic change,” adds Wu,“ and in sustaining and adapting our community’s commitment to HIV work, by using both new and long-standing tactics to combat stigma and discrimination.”
