A Girl Like Me LIVE

Women living with HIV across the gender spectrum are more likely than women in the general population to experience challenges to their mental health. Among many people, accessing mental health care can carry stigma, and can even be discouraged by some family members and friends. Additionally, women, often primary caregivers, will care for others before caring for themselves. In the 20th episode o...

Telling someone you love that you are living with HIV can be really hard. Living with HIV can often impact not just the person who received the diagnosis, but also those around them - including family, friends, and other people they are close with. During the month of May, and beyond, we celebrate the special dynamic of motherhood as it relates to HIV. In the 19th episode of A Girl Like Me LIVE, C...

No one should be punished simply because they have a health condition. But in many areas of the world, laws and practices unfairly punish people living with HIV because of their HIV-positive status. In other words, people living with HIV can face criminal charges for engaging in acts that would not be considered criminal if a person who is not living with HIV engaged in them. This is often called...

"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 rel...

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 ep...

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 h...

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 liv...

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...

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...

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...

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 bel...

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 li...

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 ot...

In the seventh episode of A Girl Like Me LIVE, Ci Ci Coleman talked with Community Advisory Board Members Ieshia Scott and Destiny Smith about parenting and sharing your HIV status with your kids. Living with HIV has its challenges and so does parenting. This discussion highlights how these mothers have managed their HIV diagnoses while parenting, how they talk to their children about HIV, and tip...

The eighth in our The Well Project Leadership Exchange series features a conversation between The Well Project Community Advisory Board member, Senior HIV Testing Coordinator at Black AIDS Institute, and HIV advocate/influencer, Porchia Dees and Gilead Science’s Principal Medical Scientist and WRI member Gina Brown, MD. Join us as these inspirational leaders talk about pregnancy and HIV and the wa...

In this episode of A Girl Like Me LIVE, Ci Ci talked with Heather Rhea O'Connor of the International Community of Women Living with HIV - North America about Breastfeeding and HIV in honor of National Breastfeeding Awareness Month. As mothers, these two amazing advocates discussed their personal experiences around the information they received from providers concerning their ability to breastfeed,...

The seventh in our The Well Project Leadership Exchange series features a conversation between The Well Project community advisory board (CAB) member, HIV advocate, blogger, and author Destiny Smith and The Well Project CAB chair and WRI member and Gina Brown, RSW, community engagement manager for the Southern AIDS Coalition. Please tune into to this incredible cross-generational dialogue and hear...

In this episode of A Girl Like Me LIVE, Ci Ci Coleman talked with Community Advisory Board member Masonia Traylor about pregnancy and HIV. These two powerful advocates dispel the myths and misinformation that continue today despite decades of science and evidence proving that women living with HIV can have healthy pregnancies. Both Ci Ci and Masonia shared their personal experiences being pregnant...

In this episode of A Girl Like Me LIVE, Ci Ci talks with Community Advisory Board member Katie Willingham about U=U (Undetectable = Untransmittable). These amazing leaders talk about what U=U means to them and the impact that learning about it has had on their lives. They also discuss their experiences sharing the message with others in the community, including providers!

The sixth in our The Well Project Leadership Exchange series features a conversation between one of The Well Project’s newest community advisory board (CAB) members, Katie Willingham, and WRI member and partner Naina Khanna, co-executive director of Positive Women’s Network – USA (PWN-USA). Please check out this fascinating discussion to learn more about these two amazing women, their journeys to...

The fifth in our The Well Project Leadership Exchange series features a conversation between The Well Project community advisory board (CAB) and Women’s Research Initiative on HIV/AIDS (WRI) member Gina Brown, RSW and our WRI member Chuck Wira, PhD. Gina is a community engagement manager at the Southern AIDS Coalition and Chuck is a professor at the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth College....

We are really excited for our next episode, in which Ci Ci will talk with Community Advisory Board Chair Gina Brown, RSW about COVID-19 vaccination. These two inspiring women will talk about Gina’s personal experience with the COVID-19 vaccine, as well as clinical trials and vaccine hesitancy.

In the second episode of A Girl Like Me LIVE, Ci Ci will talk with Community Advisory Board Member Marissa Gonzalez about Dating and Disclosure. These two phenomenal leaders will describe their personal experiences with disclosure along their journeys living with HIV, offer tips for others, and discuss challenges they have faced.

The fourth in our The Well Project Leadership Exchange series features a discussion between our global ambassador and community advisory board (CAB) member Bose Olotu and our board member Judy Auerbach, PhD. Bose was one of The Well Project’s original CAB members (starting in 2014) and has served as a global ambassador for the organization since 2015, as she conducts grassroots outreach and educat...

The third in our The Well Project Leadership Exchange series features a discussion between our global ambassador and community advisory board (CAB) member Maria Mejia and our board member Linda Scruggs. Maria joined The Well Project in 2010 as one of the very first bloggers for A Girl Like Me. She has been a CAB member since 2014 and served as a global ambassador for the organization since 2015. L...