D-REK's Angels and Warriors

05/02/2026

Hey Babe

05/02/2026

I call Kim my lighthouse, and I wear an anchor around my neck every single day.

Most people will read that and think it sounds poetic.
It is not poetry to me.
It is survival.

A lighthouse exists for ships caught in dangerous waters. It cuts through darkness, fog, confusion, and violent seas to remind sailors there is still direction when everything around them feels lost. A lighthouse does not chase the ship. It stands firm. Constant. Visible. Reliable.

That is who Kim became in my life.

For decades my life has been rough seas. HIV. AIDS. Heart complications. Surgeries. Medications lined up like soldiers on a counter. Advocacy battles. Sleepless nights. The exhaustion of carrying survival for over forty years. When you live like that long enough, chaos stops feeling temporary. It starts feeling like home.

Then somebody enters your life and becomes light.

Not fake light.
Not motivational quote light.
Real light.

The kind that reaches you when your mind is tired, your body is failing, and your spirit is trying to hold itself together with duct tape and prayer. Kim became the signal that reminded me I did not have to stay lost in the storm forever.

And around my neck hangs the anchor.

Because an anchor has meaning too.

Anchors are not made for calm water.
They are made for storms.

An anchor keeps a ship from drifting too far when the waves start pulling hard. It reminds me to return to port. To stop living like survival is the only thing I was created for. To remember there is a difference between being alive and actually living.

For years I stayed out in rough seas mentally, emotionally, physically, spiritually. Always fighting. Always bracing for impact. Always preparing for the next disaster. The anchor reminds me I am allowed to come home from the battle sometimes.

So together, the lighthouse and the anchor tell the story of my life.

The lighthouse reminds me there is still light worth moving toward.

The anchor reminds me I do not have to drift endlessly in darkness to prove I am strong.

One guides me through the storm.
One keeps me grounded when I finally reach shore.

AngelsandWarriors.org

04/30/2026

People ask me all the time what the current state of HIV in Georgia looks like.

I tell them this:

It looks exhausted.

It looks like people fighting to stay alive while pretending everything is normal.

It looks like rural counties where testing still feels taboo.
It looks like young people scared to even ask questions.
It looks like long term survivors carrying four decades of inflammation, trauma, medications, survivor’s guilt, heart problems, and silence inside bodies that were never expected to make it this far.

Georgia is still one of the hardest hit states in America when it comes to HIV.

That should disturb people more than it does.

We have advanced medications.
We have prevention tools.
We have PrEP.
We have treatment capable of making people undetectable and unable to transmit the virus.

Yet people are still falling through the cracks every single day.

Why?

Because HIV was never just a virus.

It is poverty.
It is stigma.
It is transportation issues.
It is mental exhaustion.
It is unstable housing.
It is addiction.
It is isolation.
It is communities being ignored until statistics become impossible to hide.

I travel through Georgia and I see two completely different worlds.

One world speaks in conferences, policy meetings, biomedical summits, and strategic plans.

The other world is somebody sitting alone in a room terrified to get tested because they think their life ends with a diagnosis.

That divide is real.

And for long term survivors like me, there is another layer people rarely discuss publicly.

Survival has consequences.

Forty plus years of HIV survival changes the body.
Changes the heart.
Changes the nervous system.
Changes the mind.

People see survivors standing on stages speaking powerfully and assume strength erased the damage.

It did not.

Some of us are walking through cardiac complications, chronic inflammation, neurological issues, medication fatigue, PTSD, and systems that still struggle to understand what aging with HIV actually means.

But here is what I also see in Georgia.

I see fighters.

I see advocates refusing to shut up.
I see clinics trying to stretch impossible budgets.
I see people getting tested for the first time.
I see mothers protecting their children.
I see young advocates speaking openly without shame.
I see communities beginning to push back against decades of fear.

That matters.

The state of HIV in Georgia is complicated.
There is pain here.
There is progress here.
There is burnout here.
There is resilience here.

But the epidemic is far from over.

Not while people are still dying late.
Not while stigma still controls conversations.
Not while rural communities are underserved.
Not while survivors are carrying invisible damage nobody wants to talk about.

I did not survive this long to stay quiet about it.

And neither should anybody else.

04/29/2026

04/27/2026

Not to brag or anything.

04/25/2026

Yeah not the update I wanted to make
AngelsandWarriors.org

Check out AngelsandWarriors’s video.

04/25/2026

Keep working
AngelsandWarriors.org for more info

04/24/2026

No cuts !!!!

🚨 URGENT: Trump's FY27 Budget Threatens HIV Communities, We Must Take ACTION🚨

The Trump Administration released their budget proposal and it's devastating for people living with and affected by HIV. We're talking about roughly $2 billion in cuts to essential HIV prevention, treatment, and housing programs.

But here's what we know: Last year, Congress rejected similar catastrophic cuts because advocates like YOU spoke up. And we can do it again.

Tell Congress: Reject these unconscionable cuts and INCREASE federal HIV funding instead. Our communities deserve better.

Take action now at bit.ly/reject-trump-budget

04/18/2026

When people ask how long I've been an advocate..... even I had to think back.

04/13/2026

Adolescents, young women, and those in the South may face greater challenges getting PrEP

04/12/2026

Should I fire her ? That was day one !!!!

04/10/2026

Southern AIDS Coalition - You made our managing director very happy. Great meeting you.

AngelsandWarriors.org