-JW Turner's The Slave Ship
Watching anyone break down and cry during an interview is a strange experience. What do you do? Do you give that patronizing, what-the-hell-do-I-do light pat on the back? Scrounge for handkerchiefs? Offer empty words that have no meaning because you really have no Idea what this person is going through?
That's what happened with Vivian Romero, an uncharacteristically strong person, regardless of her HIV positive status. I will never understand her struggle as an HIV/AIDS patient. I can be passionate about the issue but there will be always be a certain amount of distance at the end of the day from that jagged line of sanity people experience as they live through the issue, whether it is living with HIV/AIDS, facing discrimination based on their skin color or going through a war.
Although the way Vivian Romero and her colleagues put it, it's The Battle of the Somme part deux. Everyone is rooted in their trenches and no one is breaching No Man's land to conquer the disease.
In a very unjournalistic way, I'm taking the issue personaly. I'm procrasturbating on my South Africa essay because how can you explain "WHY SHOULD WE CARE?" when some things really warrant no explanation. You just SHOULD care. If not, you are a souless, evil zombie waiting for a bullet between the eyes to put you out of your misery. Besides, explaining yourself in 700 words is CRAAAAZY. Anyways, this is no time for philosophical quandary's, conundrums, all things "ca". Duty (haha) calls.
The technical convergeance of the media will only help to illustrate the war on HIV/AIDS...or the waining effort. It's hard to call anything a war when foot soldiers don't show up. Ground troops are needed. The infrequent check parachuting down for a program is not enough to save thousands. Or millions, depending on your location. I would personally like to do more photography. As long as this blog is alive, it will provide the service of shedding some light somewhere on some things....unless I'm scooped by the Herald. Then they'll take credit for everything and I'm not so sure if it will be for the right reasons.
Hoping I got the Assignment right.
Alex "Stavrogin-ska" Mc.
