A Girl Like Me LIVE

"Serodifferent relationship" and "mixed-status couple" are terms often used to describe a couple or relationship in which one partner is living with HIV and the other is not. Romantic and intimate relationships can be challenging for anyone, and differing HIV statuses may be part of that. But nowadays, we have more information and more tools than ever to help serodifferent couples have healthy relationships and great sexual lives with one another, with infinitely less worry about HIV transmission. Listen as Ci Ci joins Lynette and Daniel Trawick, a married, mixed-status couple as they discussed stigma, how U=U has impacted their relationship, and much more! You’re don't want to miss this very vulnerable and passionate conversation about serodifferent couples.

People living with HIV can hold negative beliefs about HIV that cause them to stigmatize themselves (also known as internalized stigma). For many women living with HIV, the negative stories we tell ourselves have more consequences than the stigma we’re subject to from others. Self-stigma can be particularly challenging when it comes to what we believe we deserve when dating. Tune in to the 15th episode of A Girl Like Me LIVE, where Ci Ci joins Michelle Anderson of The Afiya Center to have a vulnerable conversation about how stigma, especially internalized stigma, can affect the dating choices and experiences of women living with HIV. Join us for this powerful conversation as we discuss the impact of the stories that we tell ourselves.

The Well Project commemorated World AIDS Day 2021 by launching our new, three-year project, BEEEBAH (Building Equity, Ethics, and Education on Breastfeeding and HIV)! The first session featured Ciarra “Ci Ci” Covin (The Well Project) and Allison Agwu, MD, MPH (Johns Hopkins). Ci Ci relates her personal experiences as a woman living with HIV, new parent, and advocate; Allison shares insights from her work caring for women living with HIV across the lifespan (from pediatrics to adults), including women who choose to breastfeed. We look forward to the first in this series of exchanges with various thoughtleaders on breast/chestfeeding and HIV – essential to our efforts to raise awareness, inspire action, and ensure that women living with HIV can experience their fundamental right to make informed, uncoerced infant-feeding decisions. BEEEBAH is a comprehensive, multi-tiered project that expands upon The Well Project’s existing efforts around breast/chestfeeding and HIV and has received funding from ViiV Healthcare’s Positive Action for Women initiative.

Throughout their lives, women may experience multiple forms of oppression and discrimination based on gender, race, sexual identity, socioeconomic status, or other factors. The oppression and discrimination are often reinforced through language. Adding an HIV diagnosis can magnify this oppression and affect self-worth, confidence, and self-identity. The words that are used to talk about people living with HIV affect the way people living with HIV feel about themselves. In the fourteenth episode of A Girl Like Me LIVE, Ci Ci joined long-term survivor Vickie Lynn in speaking about the significance of the language we use to talk about HIV. Join us in the final discussion of 2021 as these two extraordinary women talked about why the language we use is important, how we can bring awareness to its importance, and what people can do to evoke change.

People of trans experience, particularly women and femmes of color, endure targeting for horrendous acts of violence and even murder in racist, sexist, transphobic, anti-Black societies around the world, including the US. This terrible fact gave rise to Transgender Day of Remembrance (TDOR), on which we honor our family of trans experience who have lost their lives to various forms of violence. It has also evolved into a day to honor and lift up the immense power, creativity, collective survival, community healing, and mutual aid that so many individuals and communities of trans experience embody and model. For our 13th episode of A Girl Like Me LIVE, honoring TDOR, Ciarra "Ci Ci" Covin is joined by Tiommi Jenae Luckett, an activist and emerita member of The Well Project's CAB, to discuss the importance of remembrance and resilience.

There is no one "best" way to tell others (disclose) that you are living with HIV. It may be important to share that information with health providers other than your HIV care provider so that you can get the best possible care. But who do you tell; how do you start that conversation; and what is helpful to be prepared for? On the 12th episode of A Girl Like Me LIVE, our host Ciarra "Ci Ci" Covin explored these questions and more along with CAB member Bridgette Picou, a licensed vocational nurse and a woman living with HIV. Bridgette shares her expertise on both sides of the client-provider relationship.

As we continue to navigate the COVID-19 pandemic, staying connected to our community and sharing up-to-date information is key. In the 11th episode of A Girl Like Me LIVE, Ci Ci, Community Advisory Board chair Gina Brown, RSW and Oni Blackstock, MD discuss the COVID-19 vaccine, clinical trials, and more about what you need to know to keep yourself safe. Ms. Brown speaks about her initial hesitancy and ultimate path to getting the vaccine, including the questions she posed to doctors she trusts, which helped her make her decision. Dr. Blackstock provides invaluable provider insights and answer questions you may have about the vaccine – including around the Delta variant and boosters. Check out this very important discussion.

Let’s talk about sex! The ninth episode of A Girl Like Me LIVE is a fun conversation between Kimberly Canady, Aryah Lester, and Olivia G. Ford, as we celebrate Sexual Health Month. Some women may feel that their dating and sexual lives are over once they receive a positive HIV diagnosis and this does not have to be true! While HIV can affect one’s self-esteem and confidence, it is important to believe that you deserve love and affection and to know that it is possible to receive it in positive and healthy ways. This is something worth celebrating! Stop in and listen to this exciting conversation as these women navigate positive sexual health while living with an HIV diagnosis. You’re not going to want to miss this one!

National HIV/AIDS and Aging Awareness Day is honored on September 18th of each year to bring attention to the many, many people who are living long and fulfilling lives with HIV and to also highlight their distinct needs. The eighth episode of A Girl Like Me LIVE was a dialogue between Ci Ci, Gina Brown, and Porchia Dees, during which they discussed the unique experiences of women who have been living with HIV over the course of many years. Two different perspectives were highlighted in this conversation – long-term survivors who were diagnosed as adults and those who were diagnosed as babies. In a space created to listen to voices of women living with HIV as they express their needs and describe how they think those needs should be addressed, they cover topics including the dramatic impact of HIV treatment, important social issues that don’t always get enough attention in the conversation around HIV/AIDS, and what aging truly means to them.

The ninth in our The Well Project Leadership Exchange series features a conversation between The Well Project Community Advisory Board member Masonia Traylor and SisterLove Founder and President and WRI member Dázon Dixon Diallo. Don't miss this moving conversation about serving Black women living with and vulnerable to HIV and the ways in which global and domestic advocacy work can inform each other.