More NAPWA Departures
Bryant was booted from NAPWA board
A week after expressing concerns in an Update story about the direction of the National Association of People with AIDS, Housing Works National Organizer Larry Bryant was voted off the organization’s board of directors. Fellow board member K. Mary Hess resigned in protest of Bryant’s dismissal. Hess was one of two board members who voted against pushing Bryant off the board.
“I think Larry had a valid opinion and a valid voice. I think this whole thing took a couple of turns. Everyone should have communicated better with each other,” Hess said. Hess is president of Minority Healthcare Communications, which runs the National Conference of Latinos and AIDS and the National Conference of African-Americans and AIDS.
Bryant said he was unsurprised by NAPWA’s response to criticism and still hopes that NAPWA works to expand its grassroots efforts and increases the diversity of its board.
“This is not about me. NAPWA’s own visibility, actions and outcomes is what they will be judged on,” Bryant said.
The day before NAPWA’s board meeting, some board members canvassed others by telephone regarding booting Bryant for allegedly violating the board’s confidentiality agreement in the Update article. A board member called Bryant and told him he would be voted off the next day.
The confidentiality claim is questionable. Bryant’s quote in the Update article didn’t reveal any information about NAPWA. Bryant was quoted commenting on the resignation of former board chair David Munar, saying, “To see David walk away is a significant blow to the organization and its purpose. NAPWA is the one group that’s made up of PWAs, but it doesn’t seem like its goal to [represent us] is being truly addressed. It’s one thing to address AIDS policies, but we jump right over people’s actual day-to-day concerns. As a Black man living with HIV, if I were involved with an issue of criminalization, who would I call?”
“NAPWA Responds to Recent Attacks”
While Bryant didn’t serve as Housing Works’ representative on NAPWA’s board, Housing Works and NAPWA have had a public disagreement about changes to board policy. As a condition for Housing Works’ endorsement of the Denver Principles Project, Housing Works President and CEO Charles King called on NAPWA to use the Project to increase the number of unaffiliated people living with HIV from other organizations and to lessen reliance upon government and pharmaceutical funding. These concerns were shared by POZ founder Sean Strub. Strub has dissociated himself from NAPWA, although he co-conceived the Denver Principles Project.
“I don’t see removing Larry from the board as an attack on Housing Works,” King said. “I see it as an attack on independent voices of PWAs.”
NAPWA executive director Frank Oldham and NAPWA board members didn’t respond to Update inquiries about Bryant’s dismissal. However, Oldham and board chair Michelle Lopez indirectly commented on the situation in a Monday, July 27, e-mail to members entitled “NAPWA Responds to Recent Attacks on the Nation’s Oldest Organization for PLWHAs.” The email stated, “We believe it prudent to take time to respond to some recent harsh attacks against NAPWA, which erroneously suggest we’ve lost touch with those we represent.”
The e-mail continued, “Do not allow the negative comments from a very vocal minority to depress your spirit or convince you that NAPWA does not represent the needs of persons living with HIV. We are committed to the vision of the Denver Principles and to ensuring we remain the INDEPENDENT voice of people living with HIV. Now we will return to the urgent work at hand: helping to strengthen and build strong local advocacy groups for women with HIV, empowering youth with our summer Positive Youth Institute, building on our Common Threads initiative and continuing our efforts to ensure that real health care reform that serves the interests of the HIV/AIDS community is passed this year.”
Olive branch
Hess said she didn’t want to see divisions in the AIDS community and that organizations need to be working together. She offered up meeting space at one of her conferences for organizations to talk out their differences.
“We’re all one big life raft here. This is not the time to start drawing straws and chucking people off the boat,” Hess said.
Posted on July 30, 2009 at 9:46 pm
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