D-REK's Angels and Warriors

02/01/2026

What has kept you alive that no doctor ever prescribed

01/30/2026

What’s the most ignorant thing someone has said to you about HIV

01/29/2026

Small update. Big shift.

Kim and I just unlocked tap to pay on our phones for Angels and Warriors. That means you can now donate or purchase any product from AngelsandWarriors.org instantly, right there in the moment.

No links to save.
No “I’ll do it later.”
No friction.
If a conversation gets real and someone wants to support the work, it can happen immediately. One tap. That’s it.

This keeps Angels and Warriors human and intentional. Only Kim and I have access. No middlemen. No passing phones around. Just direct support for advocacy, education, and visibility when it actually matters.
From conferences to cruise ships to unexpected conversations with strangers who suddenly feel seen, Angels and Warriors now moves with us.

This is what modern advocacy looks like.
Quiet. Mobile. Personal.

Join Angels & Warriors to fight HIV stigma, support children with congenital heart disease, and get involved in community initiatives. Make a difference today.

01/26/2026

When I need to clear my mind, find national media, find local business support and just breath. AngelsandWarriors.org for booking info and more.

P.S. Kim and I are available for conferences,magazine articles, and wherever else we are called.

01/17/2026

Lost in the Echo Chamber
A Heterosexual with HIV in 2026

In 2026, information is everywhere and understanding is still rare.
I exist in a space nobody planned for. Too straight for the HIV conversations that assume my identity. Too HIV positive for rooms that swear this only happens to other people. I walk through awareness campaigns that speak loudly yet never say my name. I scroll through feeds full of representation and somehow remain invisible.

The echo chamber is loud. It repeats the same narratives until they harden into rules. Who HIV belongs to. How it’s supposed to look. Who gets sympathy and who gets suspicion. When I speak, the sound doesn’t bounce back. It just disappears.
Doctors still pause. People still ask how. Some still assume why.

There is a special kind of isolation that comes from being constantly corrected about your own life. From being treated like an exception instead of a reality. From watching prevention messages skip over people like me while stigma quietly tightens its grip.

I did not slip through the cracks. The cracks were designed this way.
Being heterosexual with HIV means living between conversations. Advocating without a script. Educating people who think they already know. Carrying the weight of survival while being told your story is statistically inconvenient.
But here’s the part the echo chamber can’t erase.

I am not confused. I am not ashamed. I am not outdated. And I am not alone, even when it feels that way.
If 2026 is supposed to be the future, then the future needs to widen its lens. HIV does not care about orientation. Trauma does not ask permission. Survival does not fit neatly into categories.

I’m still here. Still speaking. Still refusing to disappear into silence.
And eventually, the echo chamber will crack. Because truth, when repeated with enough force, becomes impossible to ignore.

Join Angels & Warriors to fight HIV stigma, support children with congenital heart disease, and get involved in community initiatives. Make a difference today.

01/08/2026

AngelsandWarriors.org for booking info go to AngelsandWarriors.org

01/07/2026

Conversation Starter

Let’s talk about something people avoid saying out loud. 🔥
Illness changes relationships. Period. Not just romantic ones. Friends. Family. Coworkers. Even the way strangers look at you. 👀

So here’s the real question 👇
Who surprised you the most after your diagnosis or health journey and why?
Who stepped up when you didn’t expect it 🤍
Who disappeared when you thought they never would 🚪
Who stayed but changed 🧩
Or who showed you exactly who they really were 🎭
No names required. No dragging. Just truth.
Because grief doesn’t always come from the illness itself. Sometimes it comes from what falls away. 🍂
Share if you’re ready.
Read quietly if you’re not.
Either way, you’re not alone here.

01/05/2026

One thing that will always get under my skin is a medical professional using the wrong terms and leaving a patient confused, scared, or second guessing their own body. Words matter. In medicine they can either bring clarity or cause chaos. I have zero tolerance for chaos when someone’s health is on the line.
That is exactly why I do what I do. I am here to keep the train on the tracks when the language goes sideways. When a label is misused. When an explanation is lazy. When someone walks away with more questions than answers because a provider chose convenience over precision.
Medicine does not stand still. New terms, classifications, and definitions are introduced every single year. Guidelines change. Language evolves. And if you are not keeping up, you are not serving your patients the way they deserve to be served.
I study. Constantly. I read the updates. I cross check sources. I ask the uncomfortable questions. I do not repeat outdated language just because it is familiar. I study and I study well because people deserve information that is accurate, current, and grounded in truth not fear.
Confusion in healthcare is not harmless. It costs trust. It costs adherence. Sometimes it costs lives. If I can step in and translate, correct, or steady someone after a bad explanation, then that matters.
Clarity is not optional. It is part of care.

Join Angels & Warriors to fight HIV stigma, support children with congenital heart disease, and get involved in community initiatives. Make a difference today.

01/05/2026

Message from D-REK
I did not step into this next chapter to rest. I stepped into it to sharpen the blade.
When the noise finally clears, direction gets loud. And the direction is this. 2026 is not about surviving. It is about establishing permanence right here at home in Glynn County.
This year we move from vision to infrastructure.
We are laying the groundwork to bring AIDS Walk to Glynn County. Not a watered down version. A real walk that honors lives lost, lifts those living, and forces this community to see HIV and AIDS without flinching. Visibility matters. Funding matters. Showing up in daylight matters. We are done waiting for permission to be acknowledged.
Testing is expanding. Not once in a while. Not quietly. We are building consistent, accessible HIV and STI testing events that meet people where they are. Churches. Community spaces. Public events. No shame. No lectures. Just truth, dignity, and care.
And my voice is going on the road.
In 2026 I am stepping into more speaking opportunities across Glynn County. Schools. Organizations. Panels. Community forums. I am not here to be inspirational wallpaper. I am here to disrupt ignorance, challenge complacency, and tell the story people are too comfortable avoiding.
Angels and Warriors is entering a different era. Structured. Strategic. Unapologetic.
The noise is gone. The plan is clear. Now the work begins.
If you walk with us, walk ready. If you support us, support loud. If you doubt us, watch closely.
2026 is being built on purpose.

AngelsandWarriors.org
join us help eliminate the stigma

Join Angels & Warriors to fight HIV stigma, support children with congenital heart disease, and get involved in community initiatives. Make a difference today.

01/05/2026

D-REK’s Angels and Warriors didn’t tiptoe into the new year.
We charged it.
On the pool deck of the MSC Grandiosa, salt in the air, lights reflecting off endless water, we screamed at the stars as the Caribbean carried us forward. Not out of celebration alone, but release. Survival. Defiance. Gratitude. Every mile behind us held history. Every mile ahead demanded more from us.
That moment wasn’t about a cruise. It was about movement. About refusing to stay frozen in what tried to break us. About choosing forward even when the weight is heavy and the road is unfair.
We are entering this year louder. Clearer. Unapologetic.
More committed to the people who feel unseen.
More relentless for those living with HIV who are told to shrink, hide, or settle.
More dangerous to stigma than ever before.
The ocean doesn’t ask permission to move. Neither do we.
This year we build bigger. We speak harder truths. We protect our own. We call out silence. We celebrate survival in full volume. And when the world tries to quiet us, we will remember that night. Stars overhead. Water beneath us. Voices rising without fear.
We are still here.
We are moving forward.
And we are not done.
D-REK’s Angels and Warriors

AngelsandWarriors.org

Join Angels & Warriors to fight HIV stigma, support children with congenital heart disease, and get involved in community initiatives. Make a difference today.

01/04/2026

This is the Wolf Moon.
The first full moon of the year.
The one that rises when the cold is sharp, the nights are long, and survival is no longer a theory. It is instinct.
Wolves do not wait for approval.
They do not ask if the road ahead is fair.
They adapt. They endure. They hunt what they need to live.
Under this Wolf Moon, the ocean reflects more than light. It reflects resolve.

This is for the ones who made it through another year carrying bodies the world misunderstood.
For the ones who learned to move in packs when isolation was the real threat.
For the ones who howled anyway when silence was expected.
We do not start the year soft.
We start it awake.

The Wolf Moon does not promise ease.
It promises clarity.
Know who you are.
Know who stands with you.
Know that survival is not weakness. It is power sharpened by time.

This is D-REK’s Angels and Warriors under the Wolf Moon.
Still here.
Still dangerous to despair.
Still moving forward together. Teeth bared. Eyes locked on the horizon.
The year has begun.

01/03/2026

Very very true

The CDC recommends that everyone between the ages of 13 and 64 get tested for HIV at least once as part of routine health care. Taking an HIV test is taking care of YOU! To find testing centers visit: https://www.until.org/testing.html