Our Voices in the Fight: Celebrating Winstone Zulu
When Winstone Zulu discovered he was HIV-positive in the early 1980s he did not give up and hide away. Instead he went on television and radio and informed the public about this new disease. In the years that followed and up until his death, Winstone embraced activism, becoming the face of HIV, tuberculosis (TB), and anti-retroviral treatment in Zambia.
In 2011 artists from the Zambian art collective art4art created a statue in honor of Zulu’s memory. The Anti Retroviral Man is constructed out of old hospice beds used at the height of the country’s AIDS epidemic, when thousands of Zambians died of AIDS. The statue of Anti Retroviral Man is modeled in Winstone Zulu’s image and currently resides in front of the Lusaka National Museum.
Winstone Zulu was Zambia’s first true HIV/AIDS activist and the impact of his words and actions was felt, not just in Zambia, but throughout Africa. This Black History Month, we celebrate Zulu’s bravery in becoming an outspoken advocate for HIV/AIDS awareness.
Learn more about Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation’s (EGPAF) lifesaving work in Zambia.
Jack Menke is the Senior Technical Advisor at EGPAF’s Zambia Country Office.
Jack Menke
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