Positive Women's Network-USA  is commemorating the 4th annual Celebrate and Honor Black Women in the HIV Movement (CHBW) national day of action! Black women have always led the way in innovating solutions for the HIV community, but have not consistently been recognized, compensated, or honored for their multitude of contributions and expertise. CHBW helps to move the needle towards righting this injustice and making the HIV movement stronger by giving Black women the recognition they deserve.

This year’s theme is Black Women United in All Shades of Blackness. We See You. We Hear You. Black women have been here. In the HIV movement, Black women are the mentors, caregivers, the elders, the long term survivors, lifetime survivors, and Dandelions. When Black women work together, communities thrive.

Every year we honor a group of Black women making waves in the HIV movement, and this year's honorees were nominated and chosen by PWN members! Read all about this year's honorees below, and join us on August 16th at 5pm ET to watch them receive their flowers--followed by a classic PWN virtual dance party!

But CHBW is more than a celebration, it's a year-round commitment to do better for Black women in our movement. Join us by pledging to listen to Black women, pay Black women, respect Black women, protect Black women, and honor Black women.

Sign on as an individual, as an organization, or both! We want to see everyone sign the pledge to support CHBW and identify at least one concrete action they will take to uplift the principles of CHBW, because when Black women living with HIV are free, we will all be free!

Let us know how you're commemorating CHBW by using our hashtags:

#ListenToBlackWomen

#PayBlackWomen

#RespectBlackWomen

#ProtectBlackWomen

#HonorBlackWomen

These outstanding activists, advocates, educators, and leaders in our movement exemplify the excellence, expertise, and dedication that Black women have been bringing to the HIV movement for decades. Find out all about the CHBW 2024 Honorees and their outstanding work below.

Kneeshe Parkinson is a best-selling author, motivational speaker, activist, and the visionary founder of RISE Impact Life, an organization developing programs that seek to change the underlying social determinants of health outcomes. Kneeshe believes that all Black women have the right to sustain a good quality of life and rise to their full potential. Her commitment to fostering positive change and resilience has established

her as a leading figure in personal development and community impact. Kneeshe wrote her signature speech, "Living Positively: Transforming Challenges into Triumphs," after defying the odds during the AIDS pandemic; this pivotal achievement became a catalyst and set her on the path to transform her personal experiences into a powerful message, turning adversity into strength and pain into purpose. Kneeshe is based in St. Louis, Missouri, where she served as a State Lead for Positive Women’s Network. She has received numerous awards and recognitions, including a Thera Thursdays recognition, the Nonprofit Leadership Award from Sisters Leaders, and the 2023 Presidential Award from the MillionHeiress Club. In today's world, Kneeshe Parkinson's courageous voice and healing gifts are more vital than ever. Her unwavering positivity and dedication to bridge-building inspire us all to embrace hope, uplift each other, and create a brighter, more inclusive future. Stay tuned for Kneeshe’s upcoming book launch in her home city…. Coming Soon! Her new book, The Battle of Choices: Navigating Life’s Crossroads and Consequences, is available for purchase on her website www.kneesheparkinson.com.

Lashanda Salinas, a native of Hartsville, Tennessee, has been living with HIV for over 25 years. She is an active member of the Tennessee HIV Modernization Coalition, a peer advocate for Nashville Cares, a Health Not Prisons advocate, a member of The Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation Council of Justice Leaders, a U=U ambassador, and part of the SERO Project Justice Institute cohort. Her advocacy started after facing an unjust

HIV prosecution under Tennessee's criminal exposure to HIV statute, placing her on the sex offender registry and drastically impacting her quality of life from 2007 to 2023, when her advocacy, in partnership with organizations across the country, won a victory for PLHIV with the signing of an amendment to take people convicted under Tennessee’s criminal exposure to HIV statute off the sex offender registry. Lashanda has shared her experience with different audiences across the country, from small groups of individuals living with HIV in Tennessee, to speaking with federal legislators in Washington, D.C. at AIDSWatch. Her story has been featured in countless news outlets including The Advocate, The Guardian, and VICE News.

S. Mandisa Moore-O’Neal is a Black feminist attorney, a trained facilitator, a cultural and political strategist, and executive director of the Center for HIV Law and Policy (CHLP), an abolitionist legal and policy organization that operates within and around the criminal legal and public health systems at the state and federal level to craft just policies that amplify the power of mobilizations for systemic change that are guided by

racial, gender, and economic justice. Before joining CHLP, Mandisa founded the Moore-O’Neal Law Group, LLC, a Black feminist law and policy practice focused on HIV decriminalization, family law, employment and public accommodations, and police accountability. She was also the litigation and policy director at Frontline Legal Services from 2017 until 2022. Based in New Orleans, Mandisa is a founding member of the Louisiana Coalition on Criminalization and Health, and received her JD from Louisiana State University Law Center in 2012. Mandisa has researched, published, and presented on abolitionist lawyering, reproductive justice and the law, HIV decriminalization, punitive social policies, and state violence. At its core, her legal work is best defined as using a Black feminist and abolitionist framework to craft legal strategies that move us closer to liberation.

Derinthia Williams is a multifaceted creative, an advocate for HIV awareness, and a passionate voice in her community. Born HIV positive, “A True Grady Baby” in Atlanta, GA, Derinthia has dedicated herself to challenging the oppressive systems that have affected her family, particularly her mother's journey. She is the co-executive director and visionary founder of Dandelions, Inc., a platform where she leverages various

forms of media to foster conversations about sexual health and harm reduction. While her most cherished role is being a mother, she also embraces the responsibility of supporting women as a significant part of her legacy. As an Ambassador for the Black AIDS Institute, Clinical Researcher & Interviewer at Emory University, and the face of ViiV's Risk to Reasons campaign, Derinthia actively advocates for the inclusion of individuals born with HIV in all aspects of society. In all her endeavors, Derinthia lives by her empowering mantra, "HIV doesn't define me; I've defined it. I am born for this!" This mantra guides her work within the community and is beautifully reflected in her 2018 book, Process to the Promise. As she continues on her journey, Derinthia remains a beacon of light for those in need of enlightenment and support.

Tori Cooper is a Health & Equity Consultant, CDC subject matter expert, educator, published author and leader in the transgender and HIV communities. She leads with more than 30 years of experience in HIV service and is founder of her own consulting agency, Advocates for Better Care Atlanta, LLC. She is the Human Rights Campaign’s director of community engagement for the Transgender Justice Initiative,

focusing on diversity, equity and inclusion; economic empowerment; capacity building; and public safety, and a Board Member of SisterLove, Inc. Her remarkable journey is marked by groundbreaking achievements, including her historic appointment as the first Black transgender woman on the Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS (PACHA)​​​​. Tori's  career is a testament to her unwavering commitment to marginalized communities. As a published author and a respected voice in community organizing, she has influenced public discourse on health equity. Her achievements are a source of inspiration, demonstrating the power of resilience and dedication in the face of adversity. Tori's journey is a reminder of the impact one individual can have in transforming public health landscapes and societal attitudes towards HIV/AIDS and transgender rights.

Melanie Reese is an African American older woman who has been thriving with HIV for twenty-five years. She is the executive director of Older Women Embracing Life (OWEL), which seeks to relate to and empower a community of women who are living full, productive and happy lives despite the challenge of HIV/AIDS. With passion, purpose and spirit-led joy, she participates in the design and implementation of projects, programs

that revitalize the physical, emotional, spiritual and mental health of the women in the communities where OWEL provides services. Melanie served fourteen years as a member of The Greater Baltimore HIV Health Services Planning Council in various leadership capacities, where she spent her last two years as planning council chair. She serves on The HIV Prevention Group for the Maryland Department of Health and also Baltimore City Department of Health HIV/AIDS Commission and HIV Prevention Group for over five years each. Melanie is an active member of Johns Hopkins Institute of Clinical and Translational Research Community Research Advisory Council and serves on several clinical trial and research studies and community/stakeholder advisory boards. Melanie is a member of the Maryland Coalition on HIV and Aging, the Texas Strike Force, and SWARM (Southern Women’s Advocacy Response Mobilization), and an ambassador for the Maryland Coalition to Decriminalize HIV. She is co-chair and ambassador for The Reunion Project Program Work Group, and a member of the U.S. PLHIV Caucus’ Policy Action Committee and MHS Work Group. She also serves on the Executive Committee of NHAAN, and is a committee member and support group co-chair for Women of Color Rise Up. Melanie is a graduate of the SERO Project’s Justice Institute (SPJI) second cohort of 2022-2023, as well a CATCH (Conversation, Advice, and Topics about Cognition with HIV) facilitator. She is PWN-USA’s state lead for the state of Maryland and a facilitator for the PWN support group Sister Circle.

Lisa Johnson-Lett is a military veteran who served in the U.S. Army for a decade. She is also a graduate of Metropolitan College of New York with a Bachelor's of Professional Studies in Human Services and an Associate of Arts in Speech Communication degree from Gadsden State Community College in Alabama. Lisa has been a champion for the HIV/AIDS community, dedicating her life as an advocate due to her lived experience 

and expertise since 1995. Working in the field of human services and public health, she is a trusted voice of the community, from grassroots advocacy to meeting with official policy and law makers as an ambassador for positive change. She is a nationally recognized orator and served as member of the Toastmasters International Speakers Bureau for four years, receiving third place for District 77 in the Evaluation Contest of April 2023. In honor of Southern HIV/AIDS Awareness Day, Lisa received the Southern Solutions Community Award in 2020. She successfully completed the LEAD program (Leadership, Education, and Advocacy Development) and is recognized as a “Southern Leader" with advanced knowledge of HIV, real-world experience with advocacy, and the skills to serve as a leader with trusted sources of information within community spaces. She serves on various councils and boards at local, state, and national levels, advocating for Black women, language and reproductive justice, and trauma-informed HIV-specific care, including the Positive Women’s Network board of directors. Lisa is an ambassador for the Reunion Project’s Alliance of Long-Term Survivors of HIV. Her work also includes advocacy for 340b reform and HIV decriminalization. Additionally, she fosters health literacy for newly diagnosed individuals, facilitates basic living skills groups, leads sessions for people aging with HIV and people over the age of 50, and conducts individualized psychosocial support sessions. Lisa is a product of selfless service as she aims to transcend lives, changing the trajectory of HIV.

Toi Hughes is a wife, activist, and recent graduate with honors who has been living with HIV since 1996. Toi was raised in Louisiana and still has deep connections there, but has been a Colorado local since 2020. Toi joined PWN as a member in 2021 and is currently serving as the Colorado chapter’s outreach coordinator. She says the PWN-Colorado chapter connected her to a new family, inspired her, and helped her find her

passion in harm reduction work. Toi has submitted testimony on several critical harm reduction bills, and once she finishes her studies, she hopes to become a counselor for folks suffering with addiction. Toi co-leads the PWN-CO integrated voter engagement canvass team; she loves knocking on doors and recruiting new community members to join her in educating her community on the issues that matter most to her. Toi is a RISE Gender Justice graduate and trainer for PWN, and was named PWN’s Shero of the Month for June 2022.

Kineen Mafa is a multidisciplinary artist, activist, culture bearer, published author, spiritual practitioner, and a Black Trans Feminine Being living over 20 years with HIV.  Setting out on a path of self-education, they began to use art as a therapeutic practice in response to a multitude of stigmas they faced throughout their early life. Kineen fully embraced their path as an artist and ritual officiant in 2015, creating

art and ritual performances and immersing themselves in cultural practices as a means of survival. Their practice has provided them the opportunity to serve as one of the current board members of Positively Trans. They are also a voting member of Alternate Roots, SONG, Deep Space Craft, THAP Housing in Georgia, and The Southern Healing Justice Academy. They have completed several trainings and fellowships provided by PWN, including most recently serving as a part of the 2023-2024 PWN Policy Fellowship cohort, completing a year-long policy advocacy practicum detailing the trials they faced organizing a visit to the Louisiana capital to advocate for HIV decriminalization. Kineen is also an alumni of Monica Leadership School, and was featured in the LGBTQ Religious Archives in 2023 for their breakthrough work in the queer community. Kineen is the author of Becoming Purple - My Personal Bible of Recollecting Reflections, and founder of LelimLeLur Artivism Faith Finance & Features (LLAFFF Productions). Kineen continues to strive toward a world where healing through knowledge of the arts is more accessible and honored as a practice amongst the general public.

Antoinette Jones was born and raised in Bronx, NY by way of Northern Virginia before settling in Atlanta, GA. She began her work with HIV advocacy in her early 20s, as a Peer Navigator, facilitating access to preventative care and treatment for people living with and at risk for HIV. She identifies as a Vertical Woman Living with HIV, meaning she has been living with HIV since Birth. Antoinette was called to peer advocacy 

to combat the isolation many people born with HIV go through due to the lack of awareness. Antoinette is passionate about building leaders in her community and empowering folks to take charge of their sexual health, wellness, and pleasure. Antoinette has worked with organizations serving Black women and people of transgender experience developing programs, advancements in healthcare services, and mentorship/leadership development. She also works with HIV providers to improve services for PLWHIV. Antoinette is the Co-Executive Director of Dandelions, Inc., a non-profit that centers the development of Verticals (people born with HIV) through mentorship, trauma, healing, and peer-to-peer interventions.