So HAPPY being ME!!!

What the devil meant to destroy me turned into my purpose! In 2016 I went through an experience that I never thought would happen to me...but IT DID! I received a call saying I was HIV positive. After the initial confusion, shock, hurt, disappointment, & anger I flipped that negative energy around & used it for my good. NOTE: I have HIV & not AIDS. HIV is the VIRUS and AIDS is the DISEASE after a person CD4 cell count drops below 200 cells/mm or gets an opportunist infection they can receive an AIDS diagnosis.

After going through all of the emotions known to mankind, I birthed KLowInspires, Corp. to inspire & uplift black women. Especially the women living in fear because of how the world treats People Living With HIV (PLWH). We must motivate and empower each other. We carry our spouses, our significant others, our children, our parents, our siblings, our grandparents, etc. but we invest so little into ourselves until it’s too late.

After coming to terms with my diagnosis I decided to do my part in the HIV community so we can stop the spread of the virus & stop the stigmas associated with PLWH. I’ve educated my family and people around me who say ignorant things concerning PLWH & HIV/AIDS in general. HIV CAN BE transmitted by SEXUAL CONTACT, SHARING NEEDLES FOR DRUG USE, & MOTHER TO BABY THROUGH PREGNANCY, BIRTH, & BREASTFEEDING. HIV IS NOT transmitted by AIR OR WATER, SALIVA, SWEAT, TEARS, or CLOSED MOUTH KISSING, INSECTS OR PETS, nor is SHARING TOILETS, FOOD, or DRINKS! So, before you go being ignorant know the facts. HIV POSITIVE pregnant women can give birth to HIV NEGATIVE babies.

There is a big national & international community out here working together & fighting to rid the stigmas surrounding HIV while trying to help stop the spread of new HIV cases.

HIV does not have a face. Plenty of people walk around you every day with HIV & you don’t know it. I did it for two years. Know someone’s story before you judge them or treat them rudely. You are more harmful to us than we are to you. When you cough & sneeze or are sick you are a threat to my immune system not the other way around.

Medicines have advanced today to where people are only taking 1 or 2 pills a day to control their HIV. Injection treatment is in clinical trials right now to where positive people could get a shot only once a month for treatment.

A new wave has finally made it to the US called U=U. U=U means undetectable viral load equals untransmittable HIV. As long as an HIV positive person has an undetectable viral load (their viral load is below 50 copies/mL) they are not at risk of transmitting the virus to their partner. An undetectable viral load is maintained by staying in treatment (TAKING YOUR MEDICINE, support groups, therapy, community organizations) & following your doctor’s orders. Not everyone diagnosed with HIV must take medicine.

Living with HIV can be very overwhelming. On a daily basis I can experience every emotion in the world. Having to remember to take my medicine around the same time everyday can be frustrating if I’m out at an event or in another time zone because my medicine requires me to eat with it. I wake up the next day & jump in the race again. I’ve had to develop some thick skin when it comes to the questions & reactions to me being HIV positive. Sometimes my feelings can still be hurt because I am still HUMAN, but I roll with it. Not everyone will treat PLWH with respect & that’s between them & God, but I promise you they won’t dim my light.

It’s sad & funny how when I post new advances or events to help our black people in the HIV community, I get very little response. Most of those responses are from the people that know my status or work in the HIV community with me. If I post the latest world drama or someone close to me passing people respond. I’m still going to do my part with or without help. I created a team of women and their families and friends for the Atlanta 5k AIDS Walk. I had a friend see my post & ask could she join the team & walk along with donating. At the time she didn’t even know my status & her wanting to be a part of our team meant a lot to me. Too many people are worried what people will think about their status if they go to an HIV event or help support someone working in the community, another stigma we have to get rid of.

HIV WILL NOT RUN MY LIFE!!! He just so happens to live with me daily. I will not accept your labels on my life SO KEEP THE SHIT DAT WAY!!!

STIGMA STOPS WITH ME!

So, are you going to be a part of the solution or the problem?

Remember I LOVE YOU!