{"product_id":"what-is-the-aids-crisis-isbn-9780593227039","title":"What Is the AIDS Crisis?","description":"\u003cb\u003eIn this addition to the \u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e bestselling series, l\u003cb\u003eearn how incredible activists made the public aware of AIDS and spurred medical breakthroughs.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn the early 1980s, the first cases of  a devastating and fatal new disease appeared, a disease that at first struck only gay men and was later identified as HIV\/AIDS. It was the beginning of what became a worldwide health crisis that the US government ignored for years and that unfairly heightened prejudice against the LGBTQ+ community. To this day, the AIDS Crisis continues to disproportionately affect both the LGBTQ+ community and people of color. Nico Medina has written an accurate and affecting history of a terrible time, spotlighting the heroic efforts of AIDS activists who fought for medical research and new medicines, for proper health care for patients, and for compassionate recognition of people with AIDS.Nico Medina is the author of several Who HQ books, including \u003ci\u003eWhat Was Stonewall?, Who Is RuPaul\u003c\/i\u003e?, \u003ci\u003eWhere Is Alcatraz\u003c\/i\u003e?, \u003ci\u003eWho Was Aretha Franklin?\u003c\/i\u003e, and \u003ci\u003eWhat Was the Ice Age?\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cb\u003eWhat Is the AIDS Crisis?\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003eOctober 11, 1987—-Washington, DC \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e As the sun rose over the nation’s capital, people gathered along the National Mall, the lawn stretching from the Lincoln Memorial to the US Capitol building. They were there to honor the friends and loved ones they had lost to an illness called AIDS. Since 1980, the disease had taken the lives of more than twenty thousand Americans. In 1987 alone, 16,488 more would die.\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e In memory of the dead, an enormous quilt had been made. Each of the quilt’s 1,920 panels measured three feet across and six feet tall—-about the size of a grave. Every piece of fabric—-sewn, printed, embroidered, or hand--painted—-was dedicated to a person who had died. A child. A friend. A parent.\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e As teams of volunteers unfurled the quilt, the names of the dead were read aloud. Some people remained silent. Some cried. Many hugged one another. News crews broadcast the event to millions of Americans watching on TV.\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e Actor Whoopi Goldberg read out some of the names. “I’ve lost sixty of my friends to AIDS,” she told the New York Times. “I’m here for me, my friends, my daughter, and all of those who are suffering.”\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e This was the first public appearance of the AIDS Memorial Quilt. At this time, it was larger than a football field. But it would keep growing as more died.\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e Most of the victims of the AIDS crisis were gay men. But seven years into the epidemic, the disease was spreading to more Americans than ever before. (Epidemic is when an infectious disease becomes widespread within a community. Pandemic is an epidemic that has spread worldwide.)\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e “Too much of the sorrow is confined to one group of Americans,” one gay man said, “and I think the rest of America needs to be aware of what’s going on here.”\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e After the display of the AIDS Memorial Quilt, a march began. As many as three hundred thousand took part.\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e There would be more marches on Washington. Darker days and much more death lay ahead.\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e The story of the AIDS crisis is one of fear. Fear of a strange new disease and a terrifying, painful death.\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e It is also a story of hope and people banding together to take care of—-and fight for—-one another. To make the US government face the crisis and finally do something about it.\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e And it is a story of science and discovery—-of fighting to outsmart an invisible virus.\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e \u003cb\u003eChapter 1: The First to Fall\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e In the fall of 1979, a fifth--grade teacher in New York City named Rick Wellikoff noticed strange bumps behind his ear. He visited a doctor and found out he had Kaposi’s sarcoma, a rare skin cancer. “KS” usually affected men in their fifties and sixties, not someone in their mid-thirties, like Rick.\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e Throughout the next year, 1980, Rick felt exhausted. He had to quit his job. That summer, instead of a vacation, he stayed home to rest.\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e Nick Rock was a handsome young man who worked on a cruise ship. That same summer, he joined friends at their beach house on Fire Island, near New York City. But Nick wasn’t his usual fun--loving self.\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e Like Rick, Nick was always tired. And he was sick to his stomach and losing a lot of weight. He, too, could no longer work. He had visited doctor after doctor, but his health only worsened. Nick’s boyfriend, Enno Poersch, hoped some fresh ocean air would do Nick good.\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e But by September, back in New York City, Nick was so weak, he could barely move. Sitting up in bed and getting dressed could take an hour. His body began to change. His back and shoulders hunched over.\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e On Halloween night, Nick fell unconscious. Enno rushed him to the hospital, where X--rays revealed three lesions on Nick’s brain. (Lesions are areas of damaged tissue that are caused by injury or disease.) Doctors thought he had a disease commonly found in cats. Thanks to the body’s immune system, most people exposed to this disease recovered quickly . . . but not Nick.\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e Meanwhile, in San Francisco, California, Ken Horne—-a thirty-seven-year-old gay man and former ballet dancer—-had developed purplish--blue spots across his body. “My life is falling apart,” he told his doctor. Ken had also felt really tired for the past two years.\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e In New York, Rick Wellikoff’s health took a turn for the worse. His lungs were filling with fluid. In the hospital, a tube was inserted into Rick’s chest to help him breathe. But Rick decided he wanted to leave the hospital. To live like this was hardly living at all. His doctors removed the tube, and Rick returned home with his boyfriend. By morning, Rick had died. It was December 24, 1980.\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e As for Nick Rock, for a short while, his health seemed to be improving. But he had a heart attack and was rushed to the hospital. Nick’s body was riddled with infections.\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e Sometimes Nick would open his eyes, but he couldn’t speak. His sister and boyfriend, Enno, were heartbroken. They decided to turn off Nick’s breathing machine. Moments later, Nick was gone.\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e Back in San Francisco, Ken Horne’s doctors could find no clear answers for why he kept getting sicker. By November 1981, Ken had lost sight in one eye, and his once--strong dancer’s body weighed just 122 pounds. He died on November 30.\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e On June 5, 1981, the Centers for Disease Control published an important report. (The CDC is the government agency in charge of protecting Americans from public--health threats.) The CDC’s report was about five young men in Los Angeles who had been treated for a rare form of pneumonia (say: new--MOE--nee--uh), an infection of the lungs. The patients also suffered from other infections.\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e By the time the report was published, all five men were dead.\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e The report noted a strange coincidence: All the patients were gay.\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e These men in Los Angeles—-along with Rick Wellikoff, Nick Rock, and Ken Horne—-were among the first known Americans to die of AIDS. More deaths quickly followed. There were 466 in 1982. Ten years later, in 1992, there were more than forty thousand.\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e In the frightening early days of this health crisis, the disease didn’t even have a name. No one understood what was killing these young gay men.\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e \u003cb\u003eChapter 2: “Gay Cancer”\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e The CDC study caught the attention of Dr. Alvin Friedman--Kien in New York City. He phoned the CDC to report that he and some other doctors had been treating a group of patients for KS, the rare skin cancer. Just like the patients from the CDC report, these KS patients were all gay men.\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e More calls came in to the CDC from doctors around the country about patients—-all gay—-who were sick and dying from KS and PCP (the rare pneumonia). Whatever was causing these gay men to fall ill was clearly a widespread problem. The CDC formed a group to study and learn more.\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e In July 1981, the Bay Area Reporter, a gay and lesbian community paper in San Francisco, ran a short article about “‘Gay Men’s’ Pneumonia.” It encouraged gay men experiencing shortness of breath to visit their doctors.\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e Days later, the New York Times ran an article about KS under the headline “Rare Cancer Seen in 41 Homosexuals.” (Homosexual is a word used to describe a gay person, but the term is considered aggressive and offensive today.) Many of the patients went to gay clubs and used certain drugs. The doctors wondered if the drugs could be responsible for the disease. The article suggested it was unlikely the disease was spread from person to person. One doctor pointed out that “no cases have been reported . . . outside the homosexual community or in women.”\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e This would not be the case for long.\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e People began referring to the disease that had no name as “gay cancer.” Scientists even briefly called it gay--related immune deficiency (GRID). The fact that the disease was described this way only resulted in harmful misunderstandings about AIDS for years to come.\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e Yes, in those early days of the crisis, it was gay men who were most affected. And since few others besides doctors and nurses were helping them, it was the queer community that rose up to fight the disease and care for the sick.","brand":"Penguin Workshop","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46300513665253,"sku":"NP9780593227039","price":15.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1842\/7735\/files\/9780593227039.jpg?v=1767743860","url":"https:\/\/k12savings.com\/products\/what-is-the-aids-crisis-isbn-9780593227039","provider":"K12savings","version":"1.0","type":"link"}