Tags

HIV/AIDS

Tombs

Every crumbled building is a tomb.
We step over grey crushed bricks
and the entanglement of steel.

Earning the Trust of Haitians with HIV

Photographing and telling the stories of HIV positive Haitians after the earthquake requires sensitivity, earning the trust of the subject and allowing their common humanity to show through.

HIV/AIDS Hotline in Haiti Provides Information, Hope for Some

In his third video diary, award-winning poet Kwame Dawes discusses an HIV/AIDS information hotline outside of Port-au-Prince. Receiving between 3,000 and 5,000 calls per month, mostly from men, the center is a vital source of information for Haitians about HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases. Filmed by Andre Lambertson.

Little Girl Lost

Raped and pregnant, a fourteen-year-old child in Haiti is pushed into a life of prostitution and poverty.

Refugee Camps in Haiti: A breeding ground for HIV/AIDS?

In the second edition of his video diaries, Kwame Dawes discusses the increasing sexual activity in the IDP and refugee camps in Haiti. Rooted in boredom, overcrowding and lack of privacy in the camps, some experts wonder whether this will contribute to higher rates of HIV/AIDS. Filmed by Andre Lambertson.

Precious are the Feet of Those...

"Precious are the Feet of Those..." is the second in a series of visual poems chronicling challenges faced by Haitians infected, and affected, by HIV/AIDS in the aftermath of the earthquake.

Precious are the Feet of Those...

Poetry by Kwame Dawes Images by Andre Lambertson

Boy in Blue

"Boy in Blue" is the first in a series of visual poems chronicling challenges faced by Haitians infected, and affected, by HIV/AIDS in the aftermath of the earthquake.

Yes Weekly: Dawes and Simmonds’ genius elevates Hope Wisteria to unimaginable heights

Near the finale of Wisteria, a multimedia performance based on Kwame Dawes' poems about the memories and experiences of African-American women growing up in the segregated South, Dawes stepped away from the microphone inside Hanes Auditorium on the campus of Salem College. He then gazed upon the five singers, musical collaborator Kevin Simmonds and the seven-member ensemble that helped bring his poems to life with a look that could best be described as a mixture of reverence and pride.

Wisteria & HOPE review in the Winston-Salem Journal

Grand: The piece makes a wonderful whole

Pulitzer Center

Tim Clodfelter, The Winston-Salem Journal

Poet Kwame Dawes provided the words for HOPE & Wisteria, two back-to-back performance pieces that explore different aspects of the black experience. But his contribution, vital as it is, is only one part of the puzzle. Each production is a multimedia piece using music, images and Dawes' poetry.

"A feast for the eyes and ears," Wisteria & HOPE in the News and Observer

WINSTON-SALEM -- Poetry, music and photography combine to explore HIV/AIDS in Jamaica and the experiences of Southern black women in "Wisteria & HOPE," a dual production tonight at the National Black Theatre Festival.

The evening opens with "Wisteria," based on a series of poems that Kwame Dawes, the University of South Carolina distinguished poet, wrote in 1995 to document the lives of African-American women.

HOPE: Excerpts from the National Black Theatre Festival

HOPE is a multimedia performance based on poems by Kwame Dawes, poet in residence at the University of South Carolina and set to music by composer Kevin Simmonds. The work grew out of a Pulitzer Center commission to report on the impact of HIV/AIDS on Jamaica, the country where Kwame Dawes grew up. While in Jamaica Dawes wrote poems in response to the stories he heard.

Wisteria & HOPE on the cover of Winston-Salem Journal's Relish section

Published: July 30, 2009

Images, music and the words of poet Kwame Dawes will be featured in two multimedia productions being shown together as part of this year's National Black Theatre Festival.

Wisteria is about a group of women who grew up in the American South in the years before the civil rights movement. HOPE: Living & Loving With HIV in Jamaica follows people coping with HIV/AIDS in modern day.

Kwame Dawes launches Hope's Hospice

Join Kwame Dawes on July 12 to celebrate the launch of his new book of poetry, Hope's Hospice, inspired by the people he met while reporting on HIV/AIDS in Jamaica for the Pulitzer Center. The event will be held at 11 am at the University of the West Indies in Mona, Jamaica.

Kwame Dawes' work will also be showcased at the National Black Theatre Festival in Winston-Salem, NC on August 6 and 7. Learn more about this event and how to attend.