06 August 2012

Our Breakfast Emcee Amanda Bearse

We are honored to have actress, writer and director Amanda Bearse as the World AIDS Day breakfast emcee. View her event invite below and even better, share it with friends today!


A letter from our our Emcee Amanda Bearse

It was a warm and muggy morning when I arrived on The Mall in Washington, D.C. this past July. But despite the temperature guaranteed to rise throughout the day, a crowd of people – gay, straight, volunteers, media, families and friends – had already started to gather for the opening ceremony of The Names Project/AIDS Memorial Quilt’s return to our nation’s capital. Annie Lennox spoke passionately about being a part of the fight against the AIDS pandemic since the beginning, back in the ‘80’s. We celebrated how far we’ve come in the battle, and the HIV-positive lives that continue to thrive. But we knew we were there most of all to remember all those we’ve loved and lost over the past three decades. Songs were sung, “The Last One” panel was displayed, and the ‘list of names’ began to be read aloud from the stage.

“The Last One” represents many different things, including the last new HIV infection, the last mother-to-child transmission, the last time someone is stigmatized for being HIV-positive or having AIDS, the last time someone is bullied, the last child orphaned because of AIDS, and of course, the last time someone dies from this disease.
 
Over the course of the next three days, I walked and worked unfolding the panels, the blocks, the bundles of souls remembered in tangible art. I was amazed at the physical effort it took to accomplish this task, day after day. But what was most amazing to behold, was the sacredness that took place once it was unfolded. People walked in quiet, reading the panels, praying, grieving, witnessing this giant testament to all those touched by this modern-day plague. I felt honored to be there.
 
We will never forget.
 
Please join me on November 30th, for the World AIDS Day breakfast, as we continue to share our stories and help those who continue to struggle for survival…until “the last one”.
 
Xo Amanda Bearse