First Friday: What Would an HIV Doula Do? A Conversation through Love & Fury

Join members of What Would an HIV Doula Do? for a special walkthrough of Love & Fury: New York’s Fight Against AIDS. Participants will stop at select posters throughout the exhibition to gain historical context and hear personal reflections of activism, care, loss, and community response. This walkthrough will explore how posters, media, and public messaging shaped conversations around the epidemic while also connecting the exhibition to ongoing discussions around healthcare, language, and collective action.

It’s extra meaningful that we are able to host this event on June 5, since June 5, when the CDC published its first notice on what would become HIV/AIDS, is considered one of the most significant dates in the history of the crisis. 

Led by:

Theodore (ted) Kerr is a writer, organizer and educator. He is co-author of the book We Are Having This Conversation Now: The Times of AIDS Cultural Production, available in the Poster House bookshop. 

Julian L. Watkins is a physician and health equity specialist who partners with health systems, foundations, government agencies, and mission-driven organizations to translate health equity from aspiration into action. 

Alexandra Juhasz is Distinguished Professor of Film at Brooklyn College, CUNY. She makes and studies committed media practices that contribute to political change and individual and community growth. She is co-author of the book We Are Having This Conversation Now: The Times of AIDS Cultural Production, available in the Poster House bookshop. 

What Would an HIV Doula Do? (WWHIVDD) is a collective of people living with and impacted by HIV/AIDS that approaches HIV as an ongoing history rather than a closed chapter. While 1981 is often marked as the beginning of the AIDS crisis in the United States, the collective recognizes that HIV circulated long before then and continues to shape lives and communities today. Through conversation, care work, and public programming, WWHIVDD encourages deeper reflection on memory, language, loss, and the ongoing realities of the AIDS pandemic.

Accessibility Note: Masks and clear masks are available free of charge at the museum. Assistive listening devices and stools are available. ASL (American Sign Language) interpretation or a CART (Communication Access Realtime Translation) is also available upon request. Please contact access@posterhouse.org or (914) 295-2387 to request interpretation services and to address any other accessibility needs. For other event-related questions, please contact events@posterhouse.org.