The Art of Enjoying through Books, Music, Movies, Art, Health, Foods,

Add a Comment

18 Comments

Comment by Aaron Blaine on August 23, 2008 at 4:13pm

Marvelyn Brown: Young, Beautiful, and HIV Positive
Posted Aug 20th 2008 11:05AM by Felicia Pride
Filed under: More Than Words

Marvelyn Brown, a former top track and basketball star, was young, beautiful, in the best shape of her life, and in love. On one fateful day, when a sudden illness landed her in intensive care, a battery of tests revealed that the then 19-year-old had acquired the HIV/AIDS virus.



Now as a 24-year-old, Brown's new memoir, ''The Naked Truth: Young, Beautiful, and (HIV) Positive' (Amistad/HarperCollins, August 2008) reveals her intimate journey living with HIV/AIDS and learning to use her voice to educate and empower others from making the same choices which led to her diagnosis.


She continues her mission of education and empowerment as today's guest blogger for Blackvoices. com's More Than Words. Read her story below and then pick up a copy of 'The Naked Truth'.


It's powerful and may just save lives:



Embracing the Truth
By Marvelyn Brown

Writing a book about your life is probably one of the most difficult and challenging things one can ever do. It requires you to open up in a way that forces the recollection of memories you'd probably prefer be left in that forgotten mental vault. Writing a memoir also means being open and honest, first and most importantly with yourself. The process can strip you bare, leave you emotionally spent, yet happily free and cleansed. The title of my memoir couldn't be more relevant and appropriate to my experience – 'The Naked Truth: Young, Beautiful, and (HIV) Positive'.


My name is Marvelyn Brown and I am HIV positive. It took me so long to look in the mirror and be able to utter those words. When I look at myself today, I don't see HIV. What I see instead is a young, beautiful, worthy and positive woman. It is for this reason that I chose to place HIV in parentheses for the title of my book. Why is this important? Because we exist in a world where we continue to define the disease as only affecting people with a certain look or belonging to a certain socioeconomic group. I'm living proof that nothing is farther from the truth.


I was 19 years old, a normal teenager who'd met a guy that I really liked. We had unprotected sex. It only took one time, one impulsive moment, and my life was forever changed. Rather than looking forward to what should have been the "hey day" of my twenties, I was given a death sentence. Suddenly, many of the people I loved and who'd cared about me were afraid to touch me, hug me, kiss me. Many refused to believe I was HIV positive, so the topic was avoided altogether. To be able to look in the mirror and state the truth, what is fact, that I am HIV positive, was a major step for me. It's also the moment when I realized that I do not live with HIV, rather HIV lives with me. And no matter how negatively the world views this virus, I will always love myself, no matter what.


One of my chief concerns is that HIV-positive people may not pick up the book because they are fearful their own HIV status will be revealed by merely purchasing or reading the book. I also fear that HIV-negative people may look at the book and feel sorry for me. Or worst, not read the book at all because they feel HIV is not an issue for them. Might I add, a feeling I likely shared before being diagnosed with HIV. The reality that I pray 'The Naked Truth' brings to light is that HIV is everyone's problem-it is a human disease.


Despite all of the stigma and ignorance surrounding HIV/AIDS, I finally quit living my life for everyone else and started living it for me. 'The Naked Truth' is about my journey of finding self-love, self-worth and self-acceptance despite this devastating virus.

Comment by Dave Streater on June 23, 2008 at 12:38am

So, anyway, one thing I started is "the Audacity of Hope. There's many good thoughts in here but seems a bit "watered down"- perhaps to help insure Obama's election- maybe not such a bad idea, as he probably needs at least 3/4 of the real vote to get elected, given what we've seen in the last couple, uh,...'elections'...-- to lee it like it is might chase away some of his support!

Another goal I have is to thoroughly re-read volume 1 of "the Wisdom of the Lotus Sutra", which we've just finished going through in out Men's division study group.
BCD

Comment by Dave Streater on June 23, 2008 at 12:27am

In fact, I lost 2 long comments.... If that's a "delete" button it shoulds be undoable, as well as labelled!

Comment by Dave Streater on June 23, 2008 at 12:26am

I just made a long comment, but thinking to edit it I clicked what I thought was "edit button" and it is apparently lost...- sorry..

Comment by Dave Streater on June 23, 2008 at 12:08am

Lately I've been reading "the Wisdom of the Lotus Sutra".
We had a study groupo going; we just finished our discussions on Volume 1.
(I had to "catch up"- my copy was floating around my house- so for a while I had to "read" it by hearing the sections read at the meetings; it's ultimately, best, of course, to read it ahead of time.).
BCDave

Comment by Faith White-Poe on June 3, 2008 at 4:20am

I read Hegemony or Survival. As i posted on my other group I chant with more urgency now. I think I listen to much to Alex Jones.
I just started reading Dark Mission. Wow!!!!!!! what a cover up NASA has been doing on all of us. There is life out there in the universe.

Comment by Dave Streater on June 1, 2008 at 6:45am

So, now I'm reading Obama's book, "the Audacity of Hope". It's interesting- He does point out some problems, even if he is sometimes a little timid in doing so (still better than the 'competition'...) Oops-time to go to our meeting! Back soon...

Comment by Faith White-Poe on April 21, 2008 at 7:19pm

thanks me and another member are on :http://www.goodreads.com/... now that you mention it . I guess I can join both groups.

Comment by Faith White-Poe on April 21, 2008 at 7:13pm

hi Dave the book arrived today. I am reading it and ca not put it down. Hegemony or Survival. I have to do the chapter Gosho Lecture this coming Thrus so I had to put the book down to gather my materials. Will let you know what I am learning as I go along. Most of what he is saying I have read here and there but thanks for the suggetions

Comment by Lovely on April 21, 2008 at 4:39am

hey have y'all heard of shelfari.com? its a virtual book shelf where you can keep trak of all of your books and looks at other peoples and get recomendations on great books. If you like to read you should check it out.

• 1
• 2