Real Talk with NMAC

This is a place for people of color一gay, transgender, or straight一who are at greater risk of HIV/AIDS. Our goal is to provide this community with a greater understanding of the role racial inequities play in the HIV/AIDS epidemic and how we can address them.

Show Notes

New to Real Talk with NMAC? Start Here.

Welcome to the NMAC community. This is a place for people of color一gay, transgender, or straight一who are at greater risk of HIV/AIDS. Our goal is to provide this community with a greater understanding of the role racial inequities play in the HIV/AIDS epidemic and how we can address them.

To provide this information, and create a safe space for everyone, we wanted this podcast to lead with voices that represent our community. In this episode, we meet the five hosts of Real Talk with NMAC. Each host shares their background, what topics they will address in future episodes, and whose stories they’ll be focusing on. 

Meet the hosts:

Terrell Parker (he/him)

Gabriella Spencer (she/her)

Lauren Miller (she/her)

Christopher Paisano (he/him)

Damián Cabrera-Candelaria (he/him)

To connect with us further, or to find more resources on race and HIV/AIDs, visit our website. You can also find us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

What is Real Talk with NMAC?

Every episode of Real Talk with NMAC provides people of color, allies, and advocates in the community — regardless of gender, sexual orientation, or gender identity — who are at greater risk of HIV/AIDS with a greater understanding of the role racial inequities play in the epidemic, and how to address them.

NMAC (The National Minority AIDS Council) leads with race to normalize discussion about race within the HIV movement, bend the curve of new HIV diagnoses, and retain people of color living with HIV in care. Listeners will receive tools to advocate for better policies to care for people living with HIV — and to end the epidemic — and learn about the services NMAC offers to empower our community to achieve these goals.

This show is for everyone of color living with or at risk of HIV/AIDS, the allies who fight alongside them, and advocates who represent for us at all levels of power. Listen now and become part of our community of advocates who champion our issues and the issues of those living in communities most affected by HIV.

Learn more at NMAC.org and join our communities on Facebook and Instagram.

Terrell Parker (00:10):
Hey, everyone, all of our viewers and listeners out there. Welcome to Real Talk With NMAC. Every episode of Real Talk With NMAC provides people of color, regardless of your gender, sexual orientation or your gender identity, who are greater at risk for HIV and AIDS. An understanding of the role that racial inequalities play in this epidemic and how we plan to address them. NMAC, formally known as the National Minority AIDS Council, leads with race to normalize discussions about race within the HIV movement, to bend the curve of new HIV diagnoses, and to retain people of color living with HIV and care.

Terrell Parker (00:59):
Listeners will receive tools to advocate for better policies, to care for people living with HIV, and to end the HIV epidemic, and to learn about the services that we offer at NMAC to empower our community to achieve these goals. This show is for everyone of color, with or vulnerable to HIV AIDS. Listen now and become part of our community of advocates who are champions, who champion our issues and the issues of those in our communities that are most affected by HIV. Learn more at www.NMAC.org and join our communities on Facebook and Instagram. This is Real Talk With NMAC. Hope you enjoy.

Gabriella Spencer (01:52):
Thank you, Terrell. I'm Gabriella Spencer, the youth house senior coordinator here at NMAC. My pronouns are she/her/hers, and I will explore how HIV affects women and youth through meaningful and impactful conversations with the hopes of reducing HIV stigma. Some of the topics that I plan on discussing are relationships, disclosure, sexual education, reproductive health, being a leader. These are not all the topics that I plan on discussing, but just a handful because I feel like these topics are not talked about as often and I plan on having this podcast being open and a safe space to talk freely about anything that affects women and youth. And now I will introduce my lovely colleague, Lauren Miller, the health equity coordinator here at NMAC.

Lauren Miller (02:45):
Thanks, Gabriella for the introduction. Greetings, I'm Lauren Miller and I'm the health equity program coordinator at NMAC in the center to end epidemics. I'm a black woman of trans experience. I'm also from the south, so I know all too well the many obstacles we face daily. I plan on using this knowledge through discussing these four topics, centered around the transgender and gender nonconforming, or TGNC community. This is a community I belong to and it brings me great joy to have a platform where we can speak openly about the issues that impact us. Just to give you an idea of what's to come, I plan on discussing issues that directly impact our lives and wellbeing daily, like intimate partner violence, passing, and safety overall. If we want to end the epidemic in our community, it starts by discussing what matters to us most.

Lauren Miller (03:28):
I also plan on inviting emerging TGNC leaders from our community. These will be the folks who often have the lowest visibility, but are making big impact in their local communities. Those are the heavier topics, but I also want to make sure to talk about dating and relationships. This will allow the folks in our lives, our allies, advocates, and transamorous folks to be present in a discussion as well. I hope you will also learn about emerging trends like the ballroom scene and topics as they present themselves. No matter when you tune in, it will remain relevant and current. Now, I'd like to introduce Christopher Pisano, our Indian country coordinator. Thank you and see you soon.

Christopher Paisano (04:10):
[inaudible 00:04:10] Lauren, thank you. Hello everyone. [foreign language 00:04:14] from the Navajo Nation here in Fort Defiance, Arizona. My name is Christopher J Paisano and I am the Indian country coordinator with the Escalade program here at NMAC. My pronouns are he/him. Within our Real Talk With NMAC episodes, I am bringing the Navajo Dene voice and experience to NMAC. I look forward bringing and sharing our Native experiences with our Native listeners and to our non-Native audience and friends here on Real Talk With NMAC. We will share our unique Native and Alaskan Native views of the world through our eyes and experiences, our culture.

Christopher Paisano (04:56):
I hope our voices will offer a different Native perspective around HIV advocacy and HIV healthcare. While some HIV challenges are the same, but we hope to have the same goal and that is to end HIV stigma within all BIPOC communities. I am also here to learn from my colleagues and their specific audiences to learn more about HIV within our BIPOC communities. The more we can share and learn from each other, the more we here at NMAC can become stronger advocates for you, our listeners. I look forward to speaking and hearing from you real soon. Next, I will introduce Damián Cabrera all the way from Puerto Rico. Damián is NMAC's manager for treatment. Here you go Damián, the mic is all yours.

Damián Cabrera-Candelaria (05:48):
[foreign language 00:05:48] Hello everyone. My name is Damián Cabrera and I am the program manager for the treatment division at NMAC. I am born and raised in Puerto Rico and super excited to have the opportunity to use this platform, to speak about the issues that affect Latinx or Spanish speaking individuals. And with this space, that would be completely in Spanish. What I'm looking for is essentially to fill in the gaps around the information that is available about HIV in our communities, because we know that these spaces where we can speak freely and openly and listen to each other in a language that we truly understand each other, that we truly see each other are very limited. So we will be talking about a diverse range of topics, but of course, always starting from the diversity of the experiences around [inaudible 00:08:00], this will be a space from the community for the community. So I hope you join me in this new adventure. Again, super excited to be joining my fellow colleagues at NMAC in this new project, and Terrell, take it away.

Terrell Parker (08:18):
Wow. What an exciting first episode. Today you had the opportunity to hear from several people in our community, in our NMAC family that you'll be hearing from on the Real Talks with NMAC podcast. I want to give a special shout out and a thank you to all of our guests who will serve as host on Real Talk With NMAC, Gabriella Spencer, Lauren Miller, Damian Cabrera and Christopher Paisano. These are all amazing people, who will share amazing stories with you. We hope that you tune in. We hope that you subscribe to our podcast. We are available on all podcast apps. Just search Real Talk With NMAC. As I said, like, subscribe, share, spread the word. We want as many people to hear about Real Talk With NMAC as possible, and that will only happen if you help spread the word. Today you got to know a little bit more about each one of your hosts. Go along this journey with us, take a chance, listen, learn something new. Welcome to the journey. This is Real Talk With NMAC.