FROM ROBERT RAYFORD to MICHAEL JOHNSON: The Black Story of HIV

The Griot Museum of Black History, 2505 St. Louis Ave, St. Louis, MO 63106
COST: $5, or FREE if you contribute an item to The Griot’s HIV/AIDS archive. It can be a document, photograph, story or memory. Ask for details.
RSVP: <aids2019.thegriotmuseum@gmail.com> or 314-241-7057

Join The Griot Museum of Black History for an informative and enlightening conversation about the lives of Robert Rayford and Michael Johnson, two young Black men whose lives with HIV reflect the past and present of the ongoing crisis.

Speaking will be Dr. Jeffrey McCune, Dr. Shanti Parikh, and Theodore (ted) Kerr. This event is part of The Griot’s Impact HIV/AIDS Initiative and Counterpublic, a triennial public art exhibition, hosted by The Luminary.  

Robert Rayford was a teenager who lived in St. Louis when at age 16 he died with HIV in 1969. His place in the history of the virus has seldom been told. He was survived by his mother Constance Rayford, who died in 2011, and his brother George Rayford, who died in 2007. Please contact The Griot if you knew Robert, Constance or George.
Michael Johnson was in college when he was charged with Missouri's inhumane HIV criminalization laws. He was originally sentenced to over 30 years in prison. In recent years, he and his legal team have been able to successfully have his sentence reduced. While in prison he has been an active part of his multiple communities on the outside.
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Impact HIV/AIDS is The Griot Museum of Black History's initiative to document the history of HIV/AIDS in the St. Louis region's African-American community and to raise awareness about ongoing issues related to the epidemic. To learn more, contact: info@thegriotmuseum.com

Counterpublic is a triennial public art exhibition scaled to a neighborhood organized by The Luminary. Counterpublic 2019 will bring groundbreaking contemporary art to the barbershops, bakeries, parks, and taquerias that anchor Cherokee Street and the surrounding neighborhoods of South St. Louis and act as gathering spaces for the many communities living in the area. To learn more, contact: info@theluminaryarts.com