Conference Eve

It is the day before the official start of the XVI International AIDS Conference (IAC) in Toronto. The global health paradigm shifting Gates Foundation's eponymous leaders will help open the plenary. Celebrities will be circulating. And, political leaders cueing. One fact about the IAC that seems surreal but is quite true is that the IAC is no longer held in the United States (where it was founded) because of the US policy of denying visas to persons living with HIV/AIDS. This year's conference will be the largest ever, with an estimated 25,000 participants to attend.

Under the Nails

My new home is also a city on the bay. Baltimore is not an easy place. It takes caution, curiosity, and, occasionally, modest bravery to begin to understand and become more of a local in this challenging town. Baltimore has been captured in press by The Corner and on TV by Homicide. The most enduring image of the City to me, however, is the row house. In the newly gentrifying areas they are status symbols (positive ones); a few blocks away they are frightening and omnipresent reminders of an equality chasm.