October 13, 2023–the following is an interview of Kenya Moussa, PWN-PA Chapter co-chair and Health Not Prisons advocate, by Victoria Siciliano, PWN-USA communications director, about her experience attending the U.S. Conference on HIV/AIDS (USCHA).
The 2023 USCHA conference was themed as “A Love Letter to Black Women.” I recently got the chance to chat with Kenya Moussa and also read a piece by Myra Franks– two dedicated PWN members and fabulous Black women living with HIV–about their USCHA experience.
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VS: Hi, Kenya! Thanks for chatting with me today. I can’t wait to hear all about your time at USCHA. Had you ever been before, or was it your first time?
KM: It was my first time experiencing that! I definitely want to go and volunteer next time. The volunteers are kind of like guides, showing people where they need to go and helping them.
I got to meet people from the Indigenous community, and they were of trans experience, so that was amazing to connect with them.
I got to do a lot of networking. I like networking! I had to advocate not only for Positive Women’s Network but for Health Not Prisons, too.
VS: What were some conference highlights for you?
KM: The plenaries were great; I got to see Sheryl Lee Ralph’s speech – she did an amazing job. I didn’t know some things about Sheryl Ralph, like that she’s been doing HIV advocacy since the beginning of time. So I was glad to hear that, glad that we have allies that are behind us on the battlefield, because we have a lot of work to do!
I was able to see how our issues are worked on at the federal level and saw them being handled with care. But in my opinion, there should have been more people living with HIV there at the conference rather than so many advocacy professionals. We have to learn to intertwine with each other. I didn’t feel the love like I felt at HINAC (HIV is Not a Crime Conference).
VS: That HINAC love is hard to beat!
KM: That’s so true! We have to do more amazing things as such so we can keep learning from each other.
VS: What about the MHS (Molecular HIV Surveillance) action? Did you get to see that?
KM: Yes, I was a part of the protest! I was there. It was amazing. It was a cool protest because I didn’t know that we had some federal allies on our side and we got to thank them for doing such great work and backing up Positive Women’s Network.
We took the protest from the plenary room to another conference room, so we basically marched down the hall and shouted. Once we arrived, there were speakers talking about MHS and how it harms our communities.
And we got to chant “P-W-N! P-W-N! P-W-N!” (laughs)
I was there at the other protest too. The protest at the Capitol. I got to join Barb (Cardell) and Kelly (Flannery) there and listen to the speakers talk about what’s going on with HIV funding. What they’re going to do about it moving forward. I just want to see it be done! You know?
And I got to speak with the media at that protest. I talked about who I am as a woman living with HIV, and who Positive Women’s Network is and why we were there. I got to speak about why this is so important to me – I let them know, this is personal! It affects me and my community.
And they asked me if there are any other issues that are troubling us, and I said housing – housing is a big issue in the state of Pennsylvania.
VS: What else stood out to you about USCHA?
KM: I went to Tiffany (Marrero)’s remembrance – they were giving out sage, you could write a little poem. It was a nice going home party for her. I didn’t know her personally but I know that the people who did loved her dearly. All these people that supported her were there together.
And at the last plenary there was a march through the conference with quilts honoring people that passed – you remember Rymsky (Evans)? She had her own quilt. And Tiffany. And other people who have passed in the HIV movement.
It’s warm, and comforting to get to meet with other communities and other people who are doing this work at the federal level. I wish more of my people could have been there but I can see why it’s not possible to have everyone there at the same time. It takes a lot of money, I heard.
And a lot of people did catch COVID – I didn’t, thank God. But there were no safety protocols, and that’s what they should have had. We shouldn’t have to get sick to go to conferences.
VS: What was your favorite part of the conference?
KM: The BDSM room! I got to learn about vetting. What vetting is, is introducing your sexual partners to each other, like, over lunch!
VS: Wow! I’ve got to hear more about that!
KM: I took some notes! I have plenty of slides. (laughing)
Check out photos of our members at USCHA 2023 on Flickr.
