About

HIV Sisters is an online digital living HIV/AIDS quilt that features videos, audio, images, & text made by and about women and girls who are infected, impacted by, and at risk for the virus.  Each of us has some level of risk for HIV/AIDS—regardless of our ethnicity, age, gender, or sexuality— and this is a place where we can share our stories of how we are impacted.

AIDS Memorial Quilt

HIV Sisters takes inspiration from the AIDS Memorial Quilt, which commemorates those who have died to AIDS-related illnesses.  The panels in the Memorial Quilt are created by the loved ones of those who died so that we do not forget the tragedy of the virus and the lives that have been lost to this epidemic.

HIV Sisters expands on this idea and is devoted to the stories of women and girls who live with this disease, have loved ones who are impacted by it, or are at risk for the virus.   Until there is a cure, it is important that we share our stories of how we live in the times of this virus.

Because women and girls from Black & Latina communities have infection rates of 80% compared to their white counterparts, filmmaker Hima B. felt it was crucial that these women be at the forefront of HIV Sisters.  In the spring & summer of 2008, ten brave African American and Latina women from New Jersey collaborated with Hima to share their stories of living with HIV/AIDS in a project called Sistahs Survive & Thrive. The courageous women and girls to launch this project are Aleisha, Jai, Anna and her granddaughters Emijah and Violet, Gina, Wanda, Ms. M., Haneefa, Kryssy, Janice, & Cynt.  Some of these personal stories are self-portraits, others are biographies, & many include their  families, friends, & partners. This project was later re-named HIV Sisters.

TIP: William “Talk to you Partner”

We encourage everyone to share how they remain healthy in Healthy Tips section.  These are strategies you use—regardless of your HIV status or gender—to keep yourself alive and well.

If you would like to create & share your Story or Tip in the HIV Sisters Living Quilt, contact us!  Upload your film into Youtube and send us your URL link.   We will post it to our website.  The story must focus on women & girls who are infected, impacted, or at risk for HIV/AIDS.  They can be self-portraits or done with the help of another person.  Men & boys may participate as long as a woman or girl is central to their story.  The women & girls may be of any ethnicity, age, sexuality, & ability, experience.

If you’re inspired by the Living Quilt &/or Healthy Tips, please share them with your social circles.

We are all needed in the fight to eradicate this disease!