A family’s history can have a profound effect on the health and wellbeing of its members. But in the case of HIV/AIDS, biology is not necessarily what links relatives together. The women narrators of this project describe how interpersonal and structural violence, throughout their lives, produced the conditions under which their entire extended families had to face HIV/AIDS. Still, women fear talking with family members about how HIV/AIDS affected their everyday lives. Whether in their own childhoods or as they came of age, women detailed how traumatic events caused long lasting harm that upset their relationships with biological and chosen family members. Yet all of these women are survivors, and many are mothers and grandmothers. They have forged families where experiences of support and love, alongside struggle and heartache, have made them the backbone of their communities. and able to care for the people around them.
Each of the women narrators talked at some point about what it was like to grow up in her family and neighborhood. They spoke about a range of childhood experiences, with emotions that ran the gamut from joy to pain. They described how access, or lack thereof, to stable housing affected their internal family dynamics, and how trauma changed the course of their young lives. Women also shared happy memories of family.
Each of the women narrators talked at some point about what it was like to grow up in her family and neighborhood. They spoke about a range of childhood experiences, with emotions that ran the gamut from joy to pain. They described how access, or lack thereof, to stable housing affected their internal family dynamics, and how trauma changed the course of their young lives. Women also shared happy memories of family.
Each of the women narrators talked at some point about what it was like to grow up in her family and neighborhood. They spoke about a range of childhood experiences, with emotions that ran the gamut from joy to pain. They described how access, or lack thereof, to stable housing affected their internal family dynamics, and how trauma changed the course of their young lives. Women also shared happy memories of family.
Almost all of the women narrators were part of the 20th century’s major migrations of people across North America and the Caribbean. Some Black women talked of their moves from the south to the north as children or young adults, while others described why they returned to their familial southern roots later in life. Latina narrators from Brooklyn were Nuyorican, with deep histories on the island of Puerto Rico and in New York City. The Latinas from Chicago came from PR and Mexico, a combination that is rarely seen outside of the midwestern city. White women reported families that moved around as well, often to maintain hardening lines of urban racial segregation in the United States.
Almost all of the women narrators were part of the 20th century’s major migrations of people across North America and the Caribbean. Some Black women talked of their moves from the south to the north as children or young adults, while others described why they returned to their familial southern roots later in life. Latina narrators from Brooklyn were Nuyorican, with deep histories on the island of Puerto Rico and in New York City. The Latinas from Chicago came from PR and Mexico, a combination that is rarely seen outside of the midwestern city. White women reported families that moved around as well, often to maintain hardening lines of urban racial segregation in the United States.
Almost all of the women narrators were part of the 20th century’s major migrations of people across North America and the Caribbean. Some Black women talked of their moves from the south to the north as children or young adults, while others described why they returned to their familial southern roots later in life. Latina narrators from Brooklyn were Nuyorican, with deep histories on the island of Puerto Rico and in New York City. The Latinas from Chicago came from PR and Mexico, a combination that is rarely seen outside of the midwestern city. White women reported families that moved around as well, often to maintain hardening lines of urban racial segregation in the United States.
The women whose stories are collected here have willingly shared some of the worst moments in their lives. They describe childhood sexual violence, loss, and drug use and how all of these experiences continue to impact their lives today. At the same time, the women insist they are more than their trauma. They detail the tremendous work they have done to process the trauma and live and grow despite it.
The women whose stories are collected here have willingly shared some of the worst moments in their lives. They describe childhood sexual violence, loss, and drug use and how all of these experiences continue to impact their lives today. At the same time, the women insist they are more than their trauma. They detail the tremendous work they have done to process the trauma and live and grow despite it.
The women whose stories are collected here have willingly shared some of the worst moments in their lives. They describe childhood sexual violence, loss, and drug use and how all of these experiences continue to impact their lives today. At the same time, the women insist they are more than their trauma. They detail the tremendous work they have done to process the trauma and live and grow despite it.
The women narrators express a range of emotions about disclosing their HIV status to family members. Many of them fear stigma and judgment from their family members. At the same time, their stories also portray families giving them love and care when they need it most. The process of disclosure to family members is always complicated, but especially when other relatives are living with, and sometimes dying from, HIV/AIDS.
The women narrators express a range of emotions about disclosing their HIV status to family members. Many of them fear stigma and judgment from their family members. At the same time, their stories also portray families giving them love and care when they need it most. The process of disclosure to family members is always complicated, but especially when other relatives are living with, and sometimes dying from, HIV/AIDS.
The women narrators express a range of emotions about disclosing their HIV status to family members. Many of them fear stigma and judgment from their family members. At the same time, their stories also portray families giving them love and care when they need it most. The process of disclosure to family members is always complicated, but especially when other relatives are living with, and sometimes dying from, HIV/AIDS.
Biological children, adoptive children, community children, grandchildren. The women narrators of this project center children in their lives and in how they have evolved as women. At the same time, their relationships to children can lead to pain and loss, especially when living with HIV/AIDS and in poverty means they are always at risk of losing their children to the state. Many discuss the struggle to get children back, whether from the system or other friends and family members, a process that makes their reunions ever sweeter and serves as one of the main drivers of their survival.
Biological children, adoptive children, community children, grandchildren. The women narrators of this project center children in their lives and in how they have evolved as women. At the same time, their relationships to children can lead to pain and loss, especially when living with HIV/AIDS and in poverty means they are always at risk of losing their children to the state. Many discuss the struggle to get children back, whether from the system or other friends and family members, a process that makes their reunions ever sweeter and serves as one of the main drivers of their survival.
Biological children, adoptive children, community children, grandchildren. The women narrators of this project center children in their lives and in how they have evolved as women. At the same time, their relationships to children can lead to pain and loss, especially when living with HIV/AIDS and in poverty means they are always at risk of losing their children to the state. Many discuss the struggle to get children back, whether from the system or other friends and family members, a process that makes their reunions ever sweeter and serves as one of the main drivers of their survival.
Women's experiences of their families, as sites of love, struggle, and pain, help us see how HIV/AIDS disproportionately affects certain families more than others, and provides a way for us to look beyond biological connection as the reason families matter in the epidemic.