HIV DIVA

My HIV Diagnosis Became My Opportunity to Say "Yes" to HIV Activism

Beach412@aol.com (Sherri Beachfront Lewis) — Tue, 25 Jul 2017 17:47:00 GMT

I left New York in 1987, three weeks after my diagnosis. I had just gotten married, and my husband and his son lived in Cambridge, Massachusetts, so it was part of the plan. That was about the only thing that went as planned. As a newlywed and now stepmother who was newly diagnosed, I just wanted to relish the time I had left to experience being a wife and a mother. My career as an entertainer seemed impossible now. But, in front of me was a gangly, pimply-faced, six-foot-four teenage boy with a scar causing his eyelid to droop, which made him look even sadder than he was. Since his mother had left him as an infant to be raised by his father, he was waiting for a mother and there I was. Though the terror and trauma of suddenly being handed a death sentence, I often wanted to jump out of my husband's moving car as we drove across the Longfellow Bridge. He would reach across my chest, like my mother used to when I was a child before seat belts, to keep me inside and safe. I kept going to my recovery meetings, hoping to stay alive long enough to see my stepson graduate high school.

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The First Generation to Age With HIV: Taking a Look at Long-Term Survival

Beach412@aol.com (Sherri Beachfront Lewis) — Thu, 23 Jun 2016 19:09:00 GMT

June 5 marked 35 years since AIDS was first identified in 1981. It is now HIV Long- Term Survivors Awareness Day. A long time ago, I tried to think positive about living positive by putting my headphones on, listening to Louise Hay and her soothing voice, and imagining myself as an old lady with gray hair talking about what it used to be like back in the day when people died of AIDS.

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What Is HIV Stigma?

Beach412@aol.com (Sherri Beachfront Lewis) — Sat, 26 Mar 2016 18:33:00 GMT

What is stigma?

Is it when your daughter dies of AIDS but you don't want to talk about it and her obituary says she died of a rare cancer?

Is it when President Reagan won't say the word AIDS in public, letting thousands die?

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I Am

Beach412@aol.com (Sherri Beachfront Lewis) — Thu, 24 Dec 2015 09:07:00 GMT

The end of the year is always bittersweet -- its mash-up of war and politics, terrorism, and the virus that threatens our lives in its ever-changing its madness.

It's a time of holiday shopping. Reminiscing with those still here about those we lost while we look ahead the lives that have just begun. Holiday shopping and memories of those here, those lost and new life being born. So we celebrate. Life comes first.

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Being Alive

Beach412@aol.com (Sherri Beachfront Lewis) — Tue, 24 Nov 2015 12:00:00 GMT

What an interesting year-end 2015 has been.

On the homestretch, we have actor Charlie Sheen's disclosing his HIV status and bringing HIV back into the news along with all the needed controversy about stigma causing activists to raise their voices loud once again and educate the public.

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Stories I Lived to Tell

Beach412@aol.com (Sherri Beachfront Lewis) — Mon, 9 Dec 2013 04:40:00 GMT

World AIDS Day 2013! I'm still here, blessed with perfect health. A miracle.

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Reclaiming My Life, Beyond HIV -- and Finding the MAGIC!

Beach412@aol.com (Sherri Beachfront Lewis) — Tue, 19 Nov 2013 04:28:00 GMT

It's been a long time since I've blogged for my inner DIVA on behalf of HIV. I took a much-needed break from almost all things HIV for over a year, with a few rare exceptions. In doing this I freed myself up, relieved my own stigma from living a life that was focused primarily on HIV.

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Imagine, Visualize, Act

Beach412@aol.com (Sherri Beachfront Lewis) — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 21:27:00 GMT

In 1983 I crawled into detox off the streets of New York. AIDS was not in my consciousness or that of any of the doctors that were treating me. They tested my liver and found I had non-A non-B hepatitis. I was devastated.

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Walk, Talk and KLEAN

Beach412@aol.com (Sherri Beachfront Lewis) — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 11:38:00 GMT

On October 16, AIDS Walk LA is packing the streets with walkers! Like so many AIDS Walks throughout cities in the United States, it's always a reminder and a statement of an epidemic that is still here. Wouldn't we all like to hang up our sneakers already?

The sunny hot streets of Los Angeles, beginning in West Hollywood, host parades of walkers wearing their team names proudly on their multicolored t-shirts. Streets that are usually traffic jams are for a few hours flooded with thousands of colorful walkers raising money and awareness for a vast variety of teams from AIDS service organizations like Being Alive, AIDS Healthcare Foundation, Project Angel Food and The Life Group LA -- who walked with their team name on red umbrellas in case of rain and instead were protected from the blazing sun. Teams from the entertainment industry, hospitals and individual families and friends still walking together for their loved ones, some lost many years ago and some more recently, with photos, a name and years of life never long enough. It keeps us conscious as we remember that in spite of all the treatments, breakthroughs and 30 years of activism, people still die of AIDS. These images are emblazoned in my mind from years of walks.

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Life Is Best in Drag!

Beach412@aol.com (Sherri Beachfront Lewis) — Tue, 09 Nov 2010 21:00:00 GMT

Welcome to the Show of Shows, Best in Drag 2010, a glorious celebration of generosity, friendship, fellowship and faux fur! It's the fun in fundraiser. (Check out KABC News' coverage of Best in Drag!)

I'm rushing downtown to the Orpheum Theater, Los Angeles, to get my volunteer on! I'll be working, not walking, the pink carpet this year with my girl friends Andrea Krauss (Regent Entertainment) and Jeannette Bon Durant (Marketing Communications Manager for Aid for AIDS). Andrea, Jeannette and I are all survivors: Andrea and Jeannette from cancer and yours truly with HIV.

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D as in "DOG," as in Vitamin D

Beach412@aol.com (Sherri Beachfront Lewis) — Fri, 22 Oct 2010 17:17:00 GMT

"D as in Dog," as in my dog Romeo is doing much better since my last blog. We have both recovered from the vicious dog attack. From July 16 when the attack occurred to September I am happy to report Romeo has made a complete recovery. He's playing with other dogs, happy, friendly, barking and acting like nothing ever happened! He probably thinks he won! My scars, like Romeo's, are still evident -- but he has fur covering his, thankfully, and I don't. My big scars are on my knees!

I want to take this opportunity to thank everyone including TheBody.com for supporting Romeo in his recovery. The donations have helped tremendously in getting his medical bill down from $5,600 to $3,000, a big difference. All the emotional support from comments and other links that posted Romeo's story are deeply appreciated. Thank you all very much.

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Romeo Is My OWN

Beach412@aol.com (Sherri Beachfront Lewis) — Fri, 13 Aug 2010 19:52:00 GMT

Summer 2010 started off with a bang! I took a leap of faith into the "un-OWN" -- the upcoming Oprah Winfrey Network -- along with thousands of other hopefuls who pitched their show ideas online and at open casting calls across the country. After 143 million votes, the top online vote-getters were selected, and the rest remain to be seen. In other words, I'm still waiting to hear!

Maybe I'm crazy but I'm still thinking "maybe," because you never know. Truthfully it was such a blast to do! I made a great video with 2 positive friends (The "Un-Oprah Submission"), I made so many new Facebook friends I had to start a new page, and POZ Magazine featured me online and honored to be July's Ambassador for Dab the AIDS Bear!

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Living Out Loud

Beach412@aol.com (Sherri Beachfront Lewis) — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 20:14:00 GMT

I have been living out loud, so let's get this party started!

I attended the 17th Annual Spirit of Hope Awards for Being Alive at the very glamorous, rooftop, poolside Skybar on Sunset Blvd. in Los Angeles. It's more than worth mentioning that Being Alive was not only the first AIDS service organization (ASO) in Los Angeles, carrying the history of the darkest days of AIDS; it also is now the oldest. And like most AIDS organizations in these hard times with constant cutbacks and threats of losing AIDS Drug Assistance Program (ADAP) funding, Being Alive has held its head above choppy waters thanks to the generous donations generated by their volunteers, clients and their family members and friends. They truly embraced the spirit of hope.

The Educator

Beach412@aol.com (Sherri Beachfront Lewis) — Tue, 30 Mar 2010 21:39:00 GMT

So how does a girl who popped out of a cake at Studio 54, performed with her band on American Bandstand, and had the honor of being one of the first music videos ever shown on the fledgling MTV Network come to be an AIDS educator? After the glory days of the 80s, my party quickly came to a halt when the reality of AIDS hit my friends in New York City.

The alarm sounded in my own life when I went for a routine blood test, in connection with getting a marriage license, and asked the doctor to test my blood for the AIDS virus while he was at it.

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Your HIV DIVA Reports on the DIVA Awards!

Beach412@aol.com (Sherri Beachfront Lewis) — Wed, 3 Mar 2010 15:21:00 GMT

A few months after interviewing Sheryl Lee Ralph on my podcast, Straight Girl in a Queer World, I received a call from her asking if I would like to sing and tell my story at her 18th Annual DIVAS Simply Singing! I screamed and jumped up and down! Singing in a show with Sheryl, Patti LaBelle, Patti Austin, Sarah Dash, Loretta Devine, Siedah Garrett, Miki Howard and Roslyn Kind just to name a few and the divine R & B Div-o of the evening, the smooth Kenny Lattimore. I was D.I.V.A., as Sheryl says: Divinely Inspired and Victoriously Anointed to be an HIV DIVA! And so it is. This Straight Girl in a Queer World became the HIV DIVA!

So when I got another invitation to attend the First Annual DIVA Awards hosted by Sheryl Lee Ralph on February 27th, I was there. Billed as "A Very Precious Evening," it honored Oscar Nominated Director Lee Daniels and Oscar Nominee Mo'Nique for their amazing work in the powerful film Precious.

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Let Thy Food Be Thy Medicine!

Beach412@aol.com (Sherri Beachfront Lewis) — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 21:40:00 GMT

As I gleefully shop at my natural food markets and fill my reusable environment-friendly shopping bags full of greens, beans, whole grains and non-dairy products, I truly feel blessed by the choices I have and how fortunate I am to be able to afford to eat well. And yet I sometimes wonder: Have we discounted the importance of food as a healing component? Has the accessibility of HIV drug treatments made us so passive that we forget that we can still be our own best physicians if we are in touch with our bodies, minds and inner beings?

I was diagnosed with HIV in the 1980s when HIV was still considered a death sentence. At the time, there were no effective medicines to fight HIV. So I had no choice but to seek alternative treatments. I had to think outside of the box because not doing so would mean I'd inevitably succumb to AIDS.

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