My Audacity of Hope - Oprah Winfrey Testing for HIV on Camera

To support Oprah being tested for HIV on camera - visit www.Oprah.com and ask her to respond favorably to my request...

I Know My Status: An HIV Testing Campaign – My Audacity of Hope

Dear Oprah:

My letter is simple; and contains one of the most important viewer requests of your career. Will you, similar to Senator Barack Obama and his wife, be tested for HIV on camera? The show and snapshot of you being tested for HIV would have far reaching impact and encouragement for Americans to be tested for HIV. Imagine, in honor of National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day 2007 (February 7, 2007) or even World AIDS Day 2006 (December 1, 2006) helping to launch a campaign that encourages Americans to "know their status" for HIV. You could also invite your celebrity friends to take the same snap shot. Envision a photo of Jada and Will Smith, John Travolta, Maya Angelou, T.D. Jakes, Bow Wow, Jennifer Aniston, Janet Jackson, Jermaine Dupri – all photographed being tested for HIV. A person's HIV results are personal and private, but the act of testing for sexually active people is just as important, if not more important than voting. This is my "Audacity of Hope" dream to impact the transmission of HIV in America.

I am an HIV/STD prevention counselor in Atlanta, Georgia and I know all too well the devastation of HIV here in America. On a weekly basis, I have to tell another young person that they are HIV positive or connect newly HIV diagnosed people to care. Close to one million Americans are living with HIV and nearly 250,000 of those living with HIV do not know their status. Too many Americans with HIV are diagnosed late in the course of their infection, when it becomes more difficult to fully benefit from life-prolonging treatments. With HIV testing being more accessible (State and local programs fund free testing sites within communities all over the country), and testing itself being less invasive than ever (a simple 20 minute mouth swab), these statistics are tragic. There's no reason that HIV testing isn't the action step of status for anyone at risk. For these reasons, and so many more, you being tested on camera can change these tragic statistics. The show I envision and the continuing promoted campaign would be powerful and can have a huge impact on the American pandemic of HIV.

Through the experience of HIV testing, the more people that experience risk-reduction counseling for HIV and other STD's reduces HIV transmissions. It's that simple! In other words, when Oprah encourages Americans to move, we move. I shopped (PRODUCT) RED this weekend because of your show and was met with sold out items and engaged in conversations with countless people who were shopping (PRODUCT) RED because Oprah encouraged them to. How powerful would it be to visit HIV clinics and testing sites overwhelmed with people who are testing and "knowing their status" because of your show. By you and other celebrities encouraging HIV testing as normal and routine, your show would help to reduce HIV transmissions in America. Again, this is my "Audacity of Hope" dream.

This vision of hope triggered by watching your show with Senator Barack Obama could become a movement. Why not use this show unfolding my "Audacity of Hope" to challenge your viewers to have their specific dream that can be featured for Oprah Winfrey shows for seasons to come. My audacity of hope and service to others for now seven years has been turning something as scary and life altering as testing for HIV into normal, routine behavior for anyone at risk. I've experienced this shift in thinking on a personal and local Atlanta area level. This new campaign I've envisioned can take my audacity of hope to a national level, defining a pivotal shift in HIV transmissions in America. Imagine what other viewers are having the audacity of hope to dream and achieve.

In closing, I borrow words from Barack's electrifying address at the 2004 Democratic National Convention. For all the discord and struggle to be found in the affect of HIV/AIDS, I am guided by a dogged optimism in the future impact of you being tested on camera, on your show. Help me make this "Audacity of Hope" dream come true?

Passionately in the struggle!

Anthony Antoine