Smithsonian Institute- End Stigma, End HIV: World AIDS Day 2021

America is forty years into the AIDS epidemic, and although the development of effective treatment has the potential to end the spread of HIV, progress is impeded by persistent stigma and discrimination. Reinforced false ideas of who is at risk and discouragement from seeking treatment keep the epidemic going. Activists and grassroots organizations, historically and today, have stepped up to educate the public, fill the void of care in their communities, and work to overcome stigma surrounding HIV and AIDS.

This year on World AIDS Day, join those working tirelessly to eliminate stigma for a conversation on how to make AIDS a pandemic of the past.

Featured Speakers -Moderator, Julio Capó Jr. (Associate Professor of History and Deputy Director of the Wolfsonian Public Humanities Lab, Florida International University) -Kellan Baker (Executive Director, Whitman-Walker Institute) -Dázon Dixon Diallo (Founder and President, SisterLove Inc.) -Pastor William Francis (Ambassador, The Black Church and HIV)

This program is offered in conjunction with the exhibition Outbreak: Epidemics in a Connected World at the National Museum of Natural History.