You might assume that Dr. Anthony Fauci, after 54 years working at the National Institutes of Health and helping save countless lives, has retired so he can rest. However, Dr. Fauci doesn’t have time to retire.
Last month, Fauci joined Georgetown University School of Medicine’s Department of Medicine in the Division of Infectious Diseases as a Distinguished Professor. He was also appointed to the university’s McCourt School of Public Policy.
“I’ve also been busy lecturing and writing my memoir, and since I’ve been out of the NIH for seven months, I’m not following the ins and outs of the government, but I am paying attention to what’s going on with PEPFAR,” he tells me.
PEPFAR is the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, which was signed into law 20 years ago this summer by President George W. Bush. It serves as a conduit to providing HIV medications to individuals in impoverished nations who would otherwise lack access to these drugs.
When I spoke to Fauci a couple years ago on the 40th anniversary of the discovery of HIV, he cited the opportunity to be the architect of the program as one of his greatest achievements. "It is the largest commitment by any nation to address a single disease in history," he told me. "It's been an honor to help lead this. I really value my participation in this program that has already saved 15-18 million (in 2021) lives around the world."
“PEPFAR impact has been truly remarkable,” Fauci told me during our phone call Friday evening. "It is one of this country’s greatest global health policies in history. It’s been a resounding success, and has saved at least 25 million lives worldwide and it provides antiretroviral treatments for over 20 million people worldwide.”
However, groundless claims from anti-abortion activists have put the program in jeopardy. Conservative and anti-abortion groups sent a letter to Republicans in Congress who are responsible for PEPFAR’s reauthorization. The letter said that PEPFAR funds are “used by nongovernmental organizations that promote abortions and push a radical gender ideology abroad.” They provided no evidence to back their claim.
Also, the ultra-conservative Heritage Foundation released a report that said Congress needs to “reassess” PEPFAR. The report claimed, “The Biden Administration has misused the program as a well-funded vehicle to promote its domestic radical social agenda overseas, as it has done with other foreign aid programs.” This so-called report also did not provide any proof.
As a result, Republicans in Congress are threatening not to reauthorize the program.
“The idea that this program would be interrupted, despite its overwhelming success, is unfortunate,” Fauci said. “There’s a real danger to associate the program with cultural issues as opposed to scientific ones that clearly show PEPFAR is saving lives.”
“It seems paradoxical that abortion rights groups who fight for life want to interfere with a program that has saved millions of lives,” Fauci pointed out. “If the program doesn’t function, lives aren’t saved, millions of them.”
Instead of castigating the program, shouldn't these groups, as well as all Americans, be celebrating the 20th anniversary of this milestone? “What’s ironic is that it was signed into law by a conservative Republican President, and it is without question George W. Bush’s greatest achievement. It took years to put together, in a bipartisan way, and it is one of the world’s signature global health initiatives. The thought of it not being authorized is not only dangerous, but disastrous.”
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Walking While Carefree & Black
Fetishized & dehumanized.
Daily misogynoir.
Harrassed on my daily walks for hugging a tree, picking a flower, laying on grass and stretching out my arms, twirling, smiling, being an unrushed unbothered carefree fierce ferocious unapologetic black woman who isnt on the way to somewhere, Im not going to 7-11 five minutes from my apartment, Im not rushing to work, Im not hurrying, Im not hustling, Im not bustling, Im not harried, Im not distratcted, Im not anxious, Im not impatient, Im not speedwalking, Im not in a car, Im not on a bike, Im walking on sidewalks, under bridges, near highways, busy intersections, busy traffic lights, near school buses, near angry white stay at home moms pushing their strollers, moms with toddlers shielding their eyes from me, white police men slowing their patrol cars when I am doing nothing but take a selfie under a bridge.
Why cant I be free?
Why cant I twirl?
Why cant I hug trees?
Why cant I treat a light pole as a stripper pole?
Is it a crime to joke around during the day when people are at school and work, jokingly twirl myself around the pole, pretend I am a pole dancer, and take a video selfie?
Will I be Sandra Bland'd?
Why cant I take pictures of a rose garden?
Why cant I take a selfie under a bridge? On a park bench?
Why cant I pick flowers near the sidewalk, smell them, place them behind my ear and skip down the sidewalk pavement?
Capitalism demands that I, a black woman, be a slave to their system but I left their system.
I left Amazon in a week with no job lined up.
I left Dow Jones with no job lined up.
I left Bank of America in 3 months with no job lined up.
I left Yale.
I quit my career coaching business after 3 years and over a hundred executive clients.
I permanently left corporate in 2019 and quit my business this year.
I am a permanent freeelancer now.
I am a podcaster now. We dont have sponsors yet so I dont currently generate income.
$55/hr at Amazon and after six months they were going to convert me with the coveted unrestricted stock aka golden handcuffs.
It was a cult. I left in a week.
I made -$7,000 last year as my business failed. I hated sales and referrals dried up.
Capitalism says I am a failure and a loser.
Capitalism says I, a nubian queen, Isis, an egyptian goddess, am only worth the revenue I generate.
I was the highest rated recruiter with the most hires at every Fortune 500 company I worked at.
I had over a hundred executive clients with my career coaching business that landed offers at Disney, Deloitte, Goldman Sachs, Amazon & Comcast with five figure salary increases.
I was a career advisor at Yale who coached graduate and postdoc STEM students.
Capitalism rolls its eyes and asks me, What have you done for me lately?
It demands I turn myself back into a machine to be deemed worthy.
But those days are over.
I will never work another 9 to 5 in any industry -- corporate, academic or non-profit.
I will never work a job that requires that I report into a supervisor.
I will never work another job with dictated shifts.
I will never sell anything to anyone ever again. I detest sales and I hate capitalism.
Capitalism is dehumanizing and it kills. It profits off of, relies on and thrives on energetic and psychic attacks that sends its adherents & acolytes to an early stress-induced death.
I was having GI issues and I healed myself.
No doctor, no gastroenterologist, no harmful laxatives, no chemical stimulants, no synthetic lab-made prescription medication that can all be addictive.
The smoothie takes 5 minutes and is just blending 1 cup pineapples, 1/2 cucumber, 1/4 grated ginger, 1 lemon, 1 orange, 2 tbs apple cider vinegar and 4 ice cubes & 1 cup of water in a mixer. Makes 2 servings, drink 1 cup in morning and 1 cup at night.
I just started walking outside in nature for an hour a day, not power walking, no step counting, no calorie counting, just being in nature, soaking up the sun, breathing the air, barefoot in grass, hugging trees, picking and smelling flowers, doing simple yoga exercises, abdominal massages, using a heating pad on my stomach, drinking 32 to 64 oz of water a day, eliminating coffe, not drinking soda during the week (used to drink 1 to 2 cans a day), fresh fruit & vegetable smoothie in the morning, oatmeal or grape nuts cereal with peppermint herbal tea no sugar or honey, homemade vegetarian salad & homemade vegetarian dressing (store bought dressing has a ton of fat, sugar amd calories) and mixed nuts as a snack Monday through Friday then I take a break and eat what I want on the weekend.
GI issues resolved themselves in a week, I am healthier, lighter, less sluggish, more fit, more in shape and more energetic. This is now my diet 75% of the time (5 days a week).
Decolonize your mind.
You have the ability to heal yourself. Stop running to doctors and quick fixes.
Change what you eat. Move more.
Get outside in nature! You are nature!
That is what heals. We come from nature and we are nature.
Trees, grass, sunlight, air, flowers, butterflies, streams, brooks, meadows, gardens, pumpkin patches, orchard farms, parks, nature trails.
Get outside.
Not to get in your car. Not to go somewhere.
Stop spending all your time penned inside like an animal and a prisoner.
Not to go to the mall, shopping, a restaurant, a salon, a spa, a movie theater, work, school, a grocery store, a laundromat, dry cleaners.
Not to run an errand.
Not to sit in traffic in a machine.
Not to burn calories.
Not to power walk.
Not to lose weight.
To reconnect with nature.
To reconnect your mind, soul, body, heart and spirit.
The west purposely severs this connection in service of capitalism.
Its up to you to restore it.
Walk. Breathe. Be. Skip. Twirl. Pose. Use the sidewalk as a catwalk. Take selfies. Take pictures.
Stop and smell the flowers.
Hug a literal tree.
Lay on the grass while cars roll past you with their windows down and stare at you like youre crazy.
Its 11 am on a Tuesday.
What the hell is she doing laying on the grass with her arms outstretched?
Why isnt she at work or at school?
Confuse people with your very presence.
I have a goth alt kawaii japanese street fashion aesthetic that includes boyshorts, leather garters, torn fishnets, leather chokers, hello kitty tiaras, six inch pink platform heels, black lipstick, mini cut out crop tops, extremely thick black eyeliner and hot pink eyeshadow.
For wearing this on Friday on my daily walk at 8:30 am which I then shared on TikTok, I was accused of being indecent, inappropriate for children to see going to school, people stared, rolled their windows down, honked at me, cars followed me, two men purposefully walked right into me bumping me (there was plenty of room on the sidewalk), an HVAC repairman leered at me outside of his van and literally just stared holes through me as I walked by.
Im 41. Im 5"1. Im 92 lbs. Im black and female.
I have a quirky style and aesthetic. I look young.
I also shaved my head bald a few weeks ago and have a bald fade.
People have since then called me a dyke, asked if I am trans, am I a boy or a girl, whats the deal.
Thats when I dont have a wig on.
I love different looks so I also wear long wigs.
The reaction is completely different when I wear a wig and people tell me how good I look, that people are slowing their cars down because I am attractive.
Bald fade, bony dyke who looks like a boy and might be trans.
Long wig, attractive girl, let me slow down and get a look.
Still black no matter the hair. Still followed.
Still harrassed.
A MAGA Proud Boy harrassed me with my bald fade while I was wearing an Eagles shirt and jeans. He stared at me as I took a selfie on a bench under a tree, when I got up to walk home, he started walking towards me and blocked my path in the small walkway we were both on and wouldnt let me pass.
Doesnt matter if its boy shorts and leather garters or an Eagles shirt and jeans.
I am harrassed for being a carefree black girl in capitalist Amerikkka.
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