National panel urges public health advocates to reject complacency, strengthen infrastructure together, and build a new future beyond a “broken temple” of public health

December [4], 2025 – Virtual — On December 3, Black leaders in HIV, civil rights, and public health convened for Centering Black and Marginalized Voices in the Fight to End HIV/AIDS, a national virtual forum hosted by The Prolific Circle. Panelists issued a stark warning: the United States is facing a profound moral crisis as political attacks on HIV programs, public health institutions, and marginalized communities escalate into what they described as a “modern eugenics strategy.”

Hosted in partnership with GLAAD, Gilead Sciences, AIDS United, Planned Parenthood of Greater New York, and MOBI NYC, the event brought together leading voices to name the crisis, resist political erasure, and chart a path forward rooted in truth-telling, community power, and joy as a practice of resistance.

A Moral Challenge in the Era of Eugenics Politics

The program opened with remarks from moderator Bishar Jenkins, Jr., Senior Manager of Government Relations at AIDS United:

“This World AIDS Day, we must engage in reparative reflection. Not a reflection that checks off a box. Not the polite reflection that issues empty proclamations or press releases for all the perfunctory awareness days. But reflection and remembrance that asks: What needs repairing? Not tinkering around the edges repair work. But repairing that is accountable and makes whole those communities that have been harmed for decades, even centuries. Reparative reflection about what systems and policy violence must be dismantled so that people living with and vulnerable to HIV have the care and dignity that we deserve.”

Throughout the discussion, panelists drew a direct line between historic U.S. systems of white supremacy and current attacks on PEPFAR, Medicaid, Ryan White programs, DEI, and transgender rights—framing them not as isolated policy choices, but as part of a deliberate eugenics strategy aimed at shrinking Black life expectancy and controlling whose lives are valued.

“We are not just dealing with bad policy—we’re confronting a moral crisis,” said Dr. Demetre Daskalakis, former CDC director and national HIV leader. “Cuts to HIV funding, attacks on trans communities, and efforts to dismantle health equity aren’t about fiscal responsibility; they are about deciding who is allowed to survive. That is eugenics.”

Panelists noted that while these patterns are rooted in U.S. history, today’s threats are advancing with unprecedented speed and normalization—and are increasingly shaping global HIV and human rights landscapes.

The End of a “Golden Age” — and the Call to Build What Comes Next

Speakers described the past several decades of HIV progress as a “golden age” achieved through community organizing, scientific advances, and global solidarity. They warned, however, that the institutions that once safeguarded that progress—federal health agencies, bipartisan HIV initiatives, and safety-net programs—are being systematically weakened by political interference and disinvestment.

“We are watching the temple of public health being cracked open and brought into ruin,” Dr. Demetre Daskalakis said. “Our task now is not to fix the broken temple—it’s to steady the ship in this moment and build the next thing. What we build now, even if imperfect, becomes the blueprint for the future when this political dark age ends.”

Panelists urged advocates to:

• Steady the ship in communities most impacted by HIV and policy violence.
• Build new infrastructures rooted in racial justice, trans liberation, and the leadership of people living with HIV.
• Design future-ready systems and strategies now, so the movement is prepared when political conditions shift.

Living in a Contradiction: Black Leadership in an Anti-Black Policy Climate

The discussion highlighted a striking contradiction: even as Black leaders are stepping into prominent roles at HIV and LGBTQ organizations across the country, Black communities are facing some of the harshest policy attacks in recent history.

“We’re living in a complete contradiction,” said Carl Baloney, Jr., President & CEO of AIDS United. “We have powerful Black leadership in our movement at the same time that policy violence targeting Black people, Black queer folks, Black trans women, and Black people living with HIV is escalating. HR1, Medicaid cuts, attacks on PEPFAR—this is a blueprint for shrinking Black life expectancy.”

Panelists stressed that Black leadership must be accompanied by shared strategy and shared power, calling for:

• Strengthening infrastructure collectively rather than in isolation.
• Embedding racial justice across all policy agendas.
• Rejecting crisis-only politics in favor of long-term power-building.

“The path forward is coalitional,” said Mandisa Moore-O’Neal, Executive Director of the Center for HIV Law & Policy. “It’s unapologetically Black, and it’s grounded in long-term strategy, not just crisis reaction—because constant crisis is what they want.”

Redefining “United”: Political Health as Public Health

Panelists reflected on the contradiction embedded in the phrase “United States,” noting that federal policy increasingly divides people by race, class, gender, sexuality, and citizenship while claiming national unity.

“United should mean joined for a common purpose,” said Tori Cooper, Director of Strategic Outreach and Training at the Human Rights Campaign and member of PACHA. “Instead, we have a government advancing a nationalist project that is white, patriarchal, and violently anti-Black, anti-queer, anti-trans, and anti-immigrant. That project is a direct threat to political health and public health.”

Speakers argued that attacks on science, evidence-based policy, PEPFAR, and DEI are inseparable from the broader dismantling of democracy—making public health an inherently political endeavor.

Joy, Community, and Grief as Data: Practices of Resistance

Despite the gravity of the discussion, the forum emphasized joy, community, and remembrance as core practices of resistance. Panelists uplifted ancestors, early activists, and loved ones lost—particularly those who died on the cusp of lifesaving treatments.

They reclaimed joy as a discipline rooted in Black feminist traditions, rather than a depoliticized slogan.

“Joy is not checking out,” said Mandisa Moore-O’Neal.
“Joy is how we keep our machetes sharp for the long fight. It’s how we stay on the frontlines in a marathon, not a sprint.”

She also framed grief as a form of data—an archive that reveals what communities have lost, what they cherish, what they owe one another, and how we build toward liberation:

“It tells us what we’ve loved, what we’ve lost, and what we owe each other. If we let it harden into despair, it paralyzes us. But if we harness it, it can guide us to build a world where people with HIV don’t just survive—they thrive and lead.”

“We Will Not Be Erased”: A 40-Year Legacy of Black HIV Leadership

A statement from Dr. David Malebranche, Senior Director of Global HIV Medical Affairs at Gilead Sciences, underscored the central theme of community-led response:

“None of what is happening right now with HIV funding from this administration is surprising, and I refuse to waste my time and energy feeding into these attempts to seed chaos. However, this does provide us with an opportunity to remind ourselves that the response to the HIV epidemic has and always will be led by Black communities—same-gender-loving men, heterosexual women and men, trans women and men, all of us. We must tap into the resources and relationships we have built over these 4+ decades to ensure HIV testing, linkage to care, and equitable access to scientific breakthroughs in prevention and treatment reach our precious and diverse Black communities that continue to suffer disproportionately. We will not be erased.”

A Concrete Call to Action

Panelists provided clear actions individuals and organizations can take immediately:

• Participate in AIDSWatch and other advocacy spaces where people living with HIV and allies bring their stories directly to policymakers.
• Hold elected officials accountable for attacks on Medicaid, Ryan White, PEPFAR, and trans and reproductive justice.
• Invest in and amplify Black-, trans-, and PLHIV-led organizations doing high-impact work with limited resources.
• Correct misinformation—consistently and publicly—about HIV, trans communities, immigrants, and public health.
• Build cross-movement alliances that resist the isolation upon which oppressive systems rely.

The closing message was unequivocal:

“There is more power when we work together than when we work apart,” one panelist concluded. “Whoever you are, whoever you represent, when you unite with someone not like you, you become a stronger force for righting wrongs. That is the work. That is the moral challenge. And that is the future we’re building—together.”

About the Event & Partners

The December 3 program was hosted by The Prolific Circle and moderated by Bishar Jenkins, Jr., Senior Manager of Government Relations at AIDS United.

Featured speakers included:

• Mandisa Moore-O’Neal, Executive Director, The Center for HIV Law & Policy
• Robert Suttle, Chair, The Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation Council of Justice Leaders
• Carl Baloney, Jr., President & CEO, AIDS United
• Tori Cooper, Director of Strategic Outreach & Training, Human Rights Campaign; Member of PACHA
• Dr. David Malebranche, Senior Director, Global HIV Medical Affairs, Gilead Sciences
• Dr. Demetre Daskalakis, former Director, National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, CDC

This event was presented in partnership with GLAAD, AIDS United, Planned Parenthood of Greater New York, and MOBI NYC. Gilead Sciences is the Community Champion Sponsor.

About The Prolific Circle

Founded in 2024, The Prolific Circle is a rising nonprofit led by Black and queer changemakers. Through curated events and experiences, we create intersectional spaces that uplift, center, and celebrate marginalized voices, stories, and intergenerational leadership in New York and beyond.

Media Contacts:
Jonathan Réveil
Founder, The Prolific Circle
theprolificcircle@gmail.com

DaShawn Usher
Vice President, Community and Media, GLAAD
dusher@glaad.org

D. D’Ontace Keyes
Senior Communication Manager, AIDS United
dkeyes@aidsunited.org