Hillary Clinton erred last week about the history of HIV/AIDS. She quickly acknowledged her mistake—but I thought this was a good time to remind readers of a great site telling the stories of parents lost to AIDS.
The Recollectors is “a storytelling site and community for the many children and families left behind by parents who died of AIDS.” It was founded in 2014 by writers Alysia Abbott and Whitney Joiner, both of whom lost fathers to the disease. Abbott’s father was gay, out, and a leading figure in San Francisco’s New Narrative poetry movement during the 1970s and 80s, as she details in Fairyland: A Memoir of My Father
At their website, they share what motivated them:
Until meeting each other, we didn’t really know anyone else who could understand and relate to our experience—but considering that 650,000 people have died of AIDS in the U.S. since the advent of the crisis, we knew we couldn’t be the only ones.
So we created The Recollectors to fill that gap: to build a community to share these parents’ stories, to expand the history of AIDS in the U.S., and to connect with others who know what it’s like to experience this kind of singular isolating loss.
Last year, they garnered New York Times coverage, and are partnering with StoryCorps to bring their stories to NPR.
The recollections they have gathered are beautiful and angering, moving and disturbing, a reminder to us all of the continuing presence of the disease and its impact across generations. If you haven’t already read the presidential candidates’ answers to questions about issues related to HIV/AIDS from a coalition of more than 50 organizations, go do so now. (It will be quicker than you think. None of the Republicans responded.)
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