Pictured Charles Clifton at a WCT forum on race, 2003. Photo by Tracy Baim
Charles Clifton, executive director of Test Positive Aware Network in Chicago, has died.
Clifton was a well-respected and well-liked activist and leader within the gay community, and he lectured often on gay history and AIDS issues.
Clifton was first associated with TPAN in 1996 when he moved to Chicago to pursue graduate studies at the University of Chicago. He served as editor of TPAN's Positively Aware journal for four years and as executive director since 2002. Clifton recently attended the world AIDS conference in Thailand, and had not been feeling well since his return. He died of an apparent heart attack over the weekend. He was 45.
In Chicago, Clifton served as co-chair of the Public Policy Committee with the Service Providers Council of the AIDS Foundation of Chicago (AFC), was a member of the Chicago HIV Prevention and Planning Group (HPPG), and a founding member of MOCHA (Men of Color HIV/AIDS) Collaboration.
On a national level, Clifton was Treasurer on the Steering Committee of the AIDS Treatment Activists Coalition, on the community program committee for the Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections, and conference co-chair of the North American AIDS Treatment Action Forum (NATAF).
Clifton, from Milwaukee by way of Louisville, Miss., had an undergraduate degree from San Francisco State University (1993) and Masters Degrees from Dartmouth College (1995) and the University of Chicago (2002). His dissertation topic was 'In the Life: Afro-Homosexuals on Chicago's South Side, 1945-'75,' with supervisor George Chauncey.
Clifton also served on the board of the original bidding organization to bring the Gay Games to Chicago. He was among the 10 Chicagoans who travelled to Johannesburg in 2001 to bid for the Gay Games.
Clifton was active on racial justice issues, and participated in a Windy City Times round-table discussion on racism in the GLBT community in 2003. He also wrote for BLACKlines.
Clifton was among a national group of influential Black gay leaders in 2003 who issued a call to action in the war on AIDS. 'We are calling on every Black organization in America to add HIV/AIDS to its agenda. And we are asking every Black man, woman, and child to make a personal commitment to fight against HIV/AIDS,' the group stated.
Clifton and the staff of TPAN worked with the Chicago Department of Public Health STD/HIV/AIDS Public Policy and Program division on numerous important initiatives. These included serving as a member of the HIV Prevention Planning Group, initiating direct care programming at TPAN through obtaining Ryan White Title 1 funding for client advocacy and psychosocial support, and many others. With the Chicago Department of Public Health's Office of LGBT Health, Charles served as a script consultant and agency partner on the Kevin's Room project and provided ongoing council to the Office about relevant, emerging LGBT health issues in Chicago.
Community Response
'This is a great loss for our community and all those who knew him. Charles was one of our strongest AIDS activists and community leaders in Chicago, working determinedly to prevent the transmission of HIV and to bring services to all people living with HIV and AIDS,' said Christopher Brown, Assistant Commissioner, Chicago Dept. of Public Health Division of STD/HIV/AIDS.
'Clifton's tireless work, passion and generous spirit is indescribable. His approach was always informed, rational and immediate. This loss to Chicago and indeed the world will be immensely felt,' said Lora Branch, Director of LGBT Health, Chicago Dept. of Public Health.
'It's a devastating loss,' said George Chauncey, Clifton's advisor at U of C. 'Charles was an incredibly smart, sweet, talented, and generous man, and I was honored to work with him at the U of C. From the moment he arrived at the University of Chicago, I realized he was a man of many talents, who was struggling with the decision about whether to become a fulltime scholar or activist. He started work on a truly groundbreaking dissertation on the history of African American LGBT people on the South Side, but his passion for social justice and his commitment to the fight against HIV/AIDS led him into the world of activism. His selfless devotion to others was so remarkable. I can barely believe he's gone.'
Mark Ishaug, executive director of the AIDS Foundation of Chicago, was equally shocked.
'Charles was a leader, a visionary, an advocate, a friend. I simply do not have enough superlatives in my vocabulary, to describe what he meant to the AIDS care system in Chicago, nationally and the world, let alone to me personally. It is such a terrible loss at the individual level and at the systems level,' Ishaug said. 'All I can say is we will fight in his memory, until this is over.
'To me he in many ways inherited Michael Thurnherr's mantel, one of the leaders of the HIV Coalition many years ago, an extraordinary executive director at TPAN,' Ishaug said. 'I felt the same way about him, and losing him, I felt exactly the same pit in my stomach. Charles really took that mantel and took TPAN to the next level, took us all to the next level, in quality services for people with AIDS and HIV, and leadership and a voice on prevention. Charles was such an extraordinary person. In many ways he was in a class by himself. He was a true mentor, and a friend to me. He taught thousands if not hundreds of thousands what it means to be an AIDS advocate.'
David Munar, associate director of AFC, was devastated to learn of Clifton's death. 'He was such a wonderful person, and such a phenomenal advocate for people with HIV. He will be sorely missed. He co-chaired our policy committee, and just was such a tremendous person,' Munar said. 'Charles made sure that TPAN remained a national and really international leader in PWA and PWHIV education and empowerment. He did a lot for the organization to ensure it remained not only relevant but also a leader nationally, in helping people with HIV understand the changing treatment landscape, the politics, the issues. He was passionate about figuring out and making accessible the very difficult scientific and policy information. That was his life's work.
'He really served in his role with a lot of humility and compassion, and he really was quite a role model,' Munar added. 'His demeanor was never about ego ... quite the opposite, he was always thrilled to have the opportunity to make a difference. It's a huge loss. ... It's just a huge tragedy that we have lost another African American AIDS leader.'
'Charles and I had known each other since my partner Red and I moved to Chicago eight years ago,' said Lesbian Community Cancer Project Executive Director Jessica Halem in a letter to friends. 'Charles and Red were graduate students together at U of C in American History, both studying with George Chauncey. He left his dissertation about Bronzeville unfinished for a higher calling. Running a non-profit in difficult times that works to make a difference in the lives of HIV+ people here in Uptown and beyond—two things that on their own are not easy—but Charles made it all look easy with his glorious smile and he made it all make sense with his sharp analysis and leadership. Chicago's LGBT and HIV+ community has lost a wonderful leader today. His work is left unfinished and now it is our job to pick up where he left off. He will be greatly missed.'
Living with HIV
Clifton wrote about his own HIV status in the AIDS Community Research Initiative America Fall 2002 update.
'It was 16 years ago that I first learned my HIV status. My partner, Antonio, had been sick off and on for months and, as a result, had lost a lot of weight. In April of 1986 he was hospitalized with pneumonia. I remember the exact afternoon, when the doctor came out from examining Tony and told me that Tony had AIDS. He asked about our relationship. I told him that we had been together for eight years. Then the doctor informed me that Tony was going to die from AIDS. And so would I,' Clifton wrote.
'Following several bouts of PCP, and after developing Kaposi's sarcoma and dementia, Antonio died at 11:23 a.m. Oct. 8, 1986. AIDS. There was no mono, dual or triple combination therapy. No poverty or malnutrition. No substance use, illegal drugs or 'hedonistic' lifestyle. No alternative therapy. But more importantly, there was no knowledge, an absence of information on the disease and how to treat it. Straight up AIDS. And there we were—alone, confused and scared. What did we know? Zero. Zip. Nada.
'But I'm still here. Healthy. Drug-free. Take that, doctor know-it-all.
'It wasn't an easy process. I had to take ownership of this disease and educate myself. That took time, energy, and most of all a commitment on my part. I have been involved as a volunteer with several community-based HIV organizations over the years. Five years ago, I joined the staff of Test Positive Aware Network as the Men of Color HIV/AIDS (MOCHA) Director. Two years later, I became editor of the agency's two HIV treatment journals, Positively Aware and Positively Aware en Espanol. And as of July 1, 2002, I was appointed Executive Director of the organization. Yet I still consider myself a treatment educator and advocate, because you can't survive if you aren't informed.
'Throughout my self-education about HIV disease over the last 16 years, I have noticed that the sense of helplessness that I, and others like me, experienced back in the 1980s has not completely vanished. While the 1980s slowly gave way to a generation of AIDS activists and advocates, there are still too many people living with HIV in the year 2002. Many of these people are too afraid to test for HIV, too paralyzed to come to terms with their HIV-positive selves, and too fearful to disclose their status to even their closest friends.
'And that's why I keep on keepin' on.
'I've watched the bodies of friends slowly shut down for any number of reasons related to HIV. The silver bullet that we hoped HAART was a few short years back looks a bit tarnished today. ...
'I'm grateful that I've been given these last 16 years to grow as a human being and to achieve goals that I once thought were impossible. I'm grateful that I didn't waste the opportunities afforded me over these many years. I'm grateful that I've been granted the chance to make a difference in at least one person's life. If I can help one person not to be afraid, to let go of the fear which can paralyze, then I've made good on the opportunity granted me. Because that is what it is really all about.
'I'm grateful that my 'work' not only makes a real difference in my day-to-day existence, but also in the lives of so many unknown people. The struggle against HIV/AIDS, like the civil rights, gay and women's movements, must continue as a collaborative effort.'
Clifton was quoted earlier this year about a new AIDS Foundation of Chicago advertising campaign. 'There is an urgent need for us to put AIDS back on everyone's radar screen before this crisis gets any worse,' said Clifton. 'We need people to wake up and take notice: AIDS is not going away, despite our best efforts.'
See www.TPAN.com for details on services.
