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Game PlanEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Okay I can admit it. This Steve Madden loving, stiletto wearing, pretty girl looked a little different a few years ago. She used to wear all the new Jordan’s, sweat suits, jersey’s, and even a few baseball hats, and this was an everyday thing, not just sometimes. Yes I was a tomboy. In high school I was not a cheerleader or majorette or anything near it. In fact, I was a captain of the basketball team and played every sport but golf and tennis. You could not pay me to wear heels, and I kept my hair in conrows straight to the back. OMG! This is embarrassing, but it’s the truth. Of course being an athletic had it perks...
Source: Marvelyn's HIV Blog - May 29, 2007 Category: HIV AIDS Source Type: blogs

Oh sweet memories!Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Last week was the Black Church Week of Prayer for the Healing of AIDS and I participated in events in Kansas City, MO and Kansas City, KA. I was the guest speaker on a six-stop high school tour sponsored by the Balm of Gilead and Calvary Community Outreach Network. The week went by pretty smoothly. The high school students soaked up the information. For me? The last school I visited brought back memories. Rev. Gilmore introduced me at the final school on the tour, Southeast High School. During his introduction, he mentioned that I was on Oprah, BET’s 106th and Park and so on. He then told the crowd that he knew that som...
Source: Marvelyn's HIV Blog - March 13, 2007 Category: HIV AIDS Source Type: blogs

HIV walks the Red Carpet!Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Earlier this week, I had the privilege of going to the premiere of HBO’s Life Support. I was so thrilled to see AIDS on the Big Screen because I know people are STILL stuck on Philadelphia or Gia. I was happy to get to witness such a groundbreaking event. But while at the premiere, I witnessed something troubling—no, nothing to do with the movie, because it’s now at the top of Marvelyn’s must-see list. I’m talking about the red carpet before the screening. Boy, was it brutal. I watched stars like Queen Latifah, Jamie Foxx, Russell Simmons and Traci Ellis Ross walk down the red carpet, and it was funny-- it beca...
Source: Marvelyn's HIV Blog - March 9, 2007 Category: HIV AIDS Source Type: blogs

Down Low has got to GO!Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
First and foremost, let’s just say that the “Down Low” phrase is overrated. And I especially take it personal when people blame the Down Low for the high rate of infection in Black women. You see I have two problems with that. First, it is bringing HIV back to a “gay man’s disease”, which that statement was never true, and then, it takes the responsibility completely off the woman. Look. As a woman living with HIV, I’ve learned this: at the time that the sexual encounter took place when I contracted HIV, absolutely nothing else was important except me protecting myself. Not his sexual orientation, nor his HIV...
Source: Marvelyn's HIV Blog - February 22, 2007 Category: HIV AIDS Source Type: blogs

My MedsEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
I was on the train home yesterday when I saw something that sparked a memory. Usually on the ride home I see a lot of things -- from homeless people sleeping to young kids selling candy, trying to do nothing more than make a dollar. This I am used to. But yesterday, I looked up and saw a lady with a bottle full of pills. The bottle’s label had been torn off. The woman was very reserved, and she kept the bottle of pills, along with her water bottle, close. Due to high traffic on the train, I was standing while she was sitting, but I could see the whole seen. (I watch Spy Movies!) Across the aisle from her sat a guy who st...
Source: Marvelyn's HIV Blog - January 19, 2007 Category: HIV AIDS Source Type: blogs

Marvelyn vs. Marvelyn BrownEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
You gotta respect the place for friends, MySpace, for what it is. I admit it: I am hooked on MySpace! MySpace is the greatest and I love it (so much that I have two accounts.) “Why?” you might ask. My first account is named “Marvelyn Brown” and the other one is just “Marvelyn,” aka Miss Shari, which is my middle name. The “Marvelyn Brown” page reveals my HIV status and the “Marvelyn” one does not. Now while “Marvelyn Brown” does get love, and she has yet to experience any hateful comments, “Marvelyn” has mad more friends and receives mad more messages every day. “Marvelyn Brown” receives co...
Source: Marvelyn's HIV Blog - December 3, 2006 Category: HIV AIDS Source Type: blogs

The New Face of AIDSEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
I am so over the catch phrase “The New Face of HIV” being used as the title of every HIV/AIDS story in the media around the country. I am not the face of HIV— HIV is not a person; it’s a virus that just so happens to affect all humans. Breaking News: The first letter in HIV stands for “Human”—not “Homosexual,” “Heroin Addict,” “Heterosexual,” or “Ha, ha, ha, that does not relate to me.” So, that said, if HIV had a face, it would be whatever color you get when you mix together all the shades from your 3rd grade box of crayons. When I laid eyes on the first print article I was in, the story w...
Source: Marvelyn's HIV Blog - December 2, 2006 Category: HIV AIDS Source Type: blogs

AIDS Behaving BadlyEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
“Girl you look so good! What have you been doing since high school? You have slimmed down, what diet are you on?” I looked at this random girl from high school dead in her eye, having never weighed over 130 pounds in my life, and said, “HIV.” A few months later I was approached by a guy I knew but had not seen in a while, and he asked, “How have you been?” I looked at him and said, “Dying.” He smiled nervously. He said, “Yeah man, I heard about that.” All I did was laugh. Some of you are probably thinking: Marvelyn that was cold. Those people were being nice. They weren’t being nice; they were being ...
Source: Marvelyn's HIV Blog - December 1, 2006 Category: HIV AIDS Source Type: blogs

Every Day is World's AIDS DayEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
For the past week I have been asked the same question, “Marvelyn, what does World AIDS Day mean to you?” Honestly I have to agree with MAC on this one: every day is World AIDS Day. However, it makes me sad to see that some people only want to talk about AIDS on December 1st. Meanwhile people around the world are becoming infected and dying from the disease daily. I am grateful for the World AIDS Day programs and events that raise awareness, but what happens on December 2nd? I want to see AIDS talked about all the time and in the same way I see those eye-catching beer commercials that make you laugh or those movie tra...
Source: Marvelyn's HIV Blog - November 30, 2006 Category: HIV AIDS Source Type: blogs

Dating or Waiting?Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Many people ask me how HIV has affected my dating life and say how hard it must be to date with the virus. Honestly, dating was an issue for me way before I contracted HIV. When I was younger, boys did not want to commit and now, men are the same way. I cannot lie; HIV has taken men out of my life who are only focused on sex. Don’t get me wrong: I have dated and been in a few serious relationships—mostly with HIV negative men—since my diagnosis. But it has often been a rough and lonely road. You see, it’s one thing to be HIV positive—but it’s an entirely different ballpark when you’re open about your status...
Source: Marvelyn's HIV Blog - November 29, 2006 Category: HIV AIDS Source Type: blogs

Family FirstEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Honestly, if it was not for my family and friends, I do not know where I would be. So I decided to dedicate a blog to them. Don’t get me wrong -- when I was first diagnosed; I thought that my family was against me. I actually thought the whole world was against me. My family and friends told to keep my HIV status a secret, and that I would be judged. I felt that their telling me to keep quiet meant they did not love or accept the person that I had become. In reality, they were just trying to protect me from stigma and discrimination. Who would have thought? Through it all, one person stood beside me the whole time: my ...
Source: Marvelyn's HIV Blog - November 15, 2006 Category: HIV AIDS Source Type: blogs

Oprah and UsEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
It was midnight on Sunday night and I was in a deep sleep. When the phone rang, I picked up. “Hello Marvelyn, this is Sarah,” said a voice. Sarah is a producer from the Oprah show that I had been talking to for about a week. “Are you available to come to Chicago tomorrow?” Shocked, and suddenly a little less tired, “Yes!” At that moment, I had no clue that it would mean catching the 10 am flight from New York nonstop to Chicago, and that I would only have a few hours to get ready. Chicago As I got off the plane in Chicago, I was pumped up. I was greeted with a limo filled with soda and was taken away to the ...
Source: Marvelyn's HIV Blog - October 26, 2006 Category: HIV AIDS Source Type: blogs

DisclosureEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Man oh man! Disclosure is a hard thing to do, no matter if it is to a family member, a friend or someone you do not even know. People may use different methods for dealing with disclosure from writing a note to throwing hints. I deal with my disclosure through poetry. I am most definitely not a poet but writing poems puts me at ease. When I am at the beginning of a relationship I would rather tell my partner that I am positive up front than wait for feelings to come around only to have them turned off when I say I am HIV positive. I try to protect my heart from being broken. So to save myself—and the other person—time...
Source: Marvelyn's HIV Blog - September 12, 2006 Category: HIV AIDS Source Type: blogs

The Yellow TeamEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Hi guys, I just got back from the 16th annual International AIDS Conference in Toronto and it was amazing! I met cutting-edge doctors, political leaders, and even a few celebrities, but the best part of my trip was participating in MTV’s Staying Alive Film Competition. Staying Alive is an HIV/AIDS campaign that is dedicated to educating youth about HIV and discrimination across the world. Each of the eight teams was divided into groups of 6. The people: youth delegates from around the world. The mission: rehearse, film, and edit a short film about HIV prevention and education. The catch: We only had 48 hours! At firs...
Source: Marvelyn's HIV Blog - August 24, 2006 Category: HIV AIDS Source Type: blogs

First Couple of Weeks on the JobEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Wow! It’s only been a few weeks since I started working at POZ and I have been all over the country speaking at different events. I’ve met some great people and seen some interesting places. Where do I begin? First, I went to the BET-Rap-It-Up Teen Forum that took place at “The Glades”, also known as Belle Glade, FL. There were no hotels there, so we had to stay an hour and a half away in West Palm Beach and commute back and forth. As I was in the car on the way to the event, the city turned into the country. It reminded me of Tennessee as I passed cornfield after cornfield. BET Rap City’s host, Mad Link serve...
Source: Marvelyn's HIV Blog - August 7, 2006 Category: HIV AIDS Source Type: blogs

I love you, My Space!Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
I am hooked on My Space. I absolutely love it! I love My Space so much I have two accounts. Everyone always ask me, "Why do you have two accounts?" I say, “I’m conducting an experiment. My first account is ‘Marvelyn Brown’ and the other one is just ‘Marvelyn’. ‘Marvelyn Brown’ reveals my HIV status and the, ‘Marvelyn’ one does not. I have spent the last two months comparing how many hits one gets versus the other. The results? Not so shocking. Now while “Marvelyn Brown” does gets love, and she has yet to experience any hateful comments, but “Marvelyn” has way more friends and receives tons of ...
Source: Marvelyn's HIV Blog - August 3, 2006 Category: HIV AIDS Source Type: blogs

Allow me to re-introduce my selfEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
“Hi, my name is Marvelyn Brown and I am HIV positive.” Boy did it take me so long to say those words and believe what I was saying. Growing up, I thought HIV affected a certain group of people or a person with a certain look. Honestly, I thought that it was anybody, but me. I can’t lie. I was shocked when the doctor told me my status. After months and months of no physical changes and great lab work, I began to question the doctor and the test results. My whole life, I have always been an outspoken person with a carefree attitude. So after the doctor told me that I was HIV positive, I just looked at him. I truly did...
Source: Marvelyn's HIV Blog - July 13, 2006 Category: HIV AIDS Source Type: blogs