'I SPEAK LIFE' Annual World AIDS Day Observance Monday Night

In observance of World Aids Day, Chrysalis Ministries in association with other community partners presents "I SPEAK LIFE" on Monday, Dec. 1, 6 to 9 p.m. at the United Way building located at 619 SW 11th Ave., in Portland.

The evening will include a premier showing of "Who Will Speak for Me?” a celebrated documentary profiling activist Pastor Renee’ Ward and other African descendants of the Pacific Northwest whose lives have been impacted directly or indirectly from an HIV/AIDS diagnosis.

Immediately following the film will be a panel discussion of community stakeholders who’ll address the ongoing advocacy efforts locally and globally to stop the spread of the disease within the medical, spiritual and social context of stigmas attached to HIV/AIDS and the Black community.

Activities scheduled for that evening include a reception/networking at 6 p.m., film at 6:30 p.m.; and a talk back/panel discussion at 7:15 p.m. The event is free.

Tax-deductible donations are welcomed to further support Chrysalis Ministries, a non-profit agency which was founded in 1998 following the death of Ward’s husband who succumbed to an AIDS-related disease and her advocacy work to educate and inform others about the devastating impact of silence, ignorance and fear of this disease among the African American community.

“On that evening it is my desire to begin the ‘healing process through an honest, open, respectable, thoughtful and non-judgmental conversations generated from the viewing of this film”, stated Pastor Ward. “We as members of this beloved community should be part of the whole rather than apart from the whole conversation about intervention, prevention, education and reconciliation as it relates to this pestilence.”

For more information call Pastor Renee’ Ward at 503-621-4260 or email [email protected].