AIDS Monument Dedicated After 11 Years of Effort To Create A Tool For Educating the Latino Community About AIDS

Singer Dionner Warwick sings "That's What Friends Are For" at dedication of AIDS monument on Los Angeles' eastside on World AIDS Day. The event is attended by 1,000, including actress Lupe Ontiveros of ABC's "Desperate Housewives," Los Angeles City Councilman Ed Reyes, Apollonia, opera singer and ELA native Suzanna Guzman, singer Melinda and Gay Men's Chorus of Los Angeles

(PRWEB) December 5, 2004 -- Marking the completion of a promise made more than 10 years ago, 1,000 people attended the dedication of The Wall-Las Memorias AIDS monument in Lincoln Park, just east of downtown Los Angeles. The 10,000 square foot monument, the first of its kind in the nation, uniquely blends art, architecture, landscape and public participation to create a public health message.
   
Also taking part in the evenings activities - church service, candlelight march and dedication -- were a number of dignitaries, celebrities and artists including internationally acclaimed singer and AIDS humanitarian Dionne Warwick, Deputy Secretary of Health and Human Services Claude Allen, Los Angeles City Council Member Ed Reyes, actress Lupe Ontiveros of ABCs Dangerous Housewives," associate artist of the Los Angeles Opera and ELA native Suzanna Guzman, Apollonia, the Gay Mens Chorus of Los Angeles, mariachi soloist Melinda and many more.
   
11 years ago on World AIDS Day, facing a deadly silence in the Latino community about AIDS, people gathered at Our Lady Help of Christian Church in Lincoln Heights to discuss an idea of Richard Zaldivars to build a memorial to people lost to AIDS. That night, the vision of the AIDS monument, Las Memorias, was created.
   
Since then, Zaldivar and supporters of the monument have organized to raise funds to construct it. In 2003, the Los Angeles City Council gave its approval of the monument, capping a two-year approval process that took the project before the citys Cultural Affairs and Parks and Recreation Commissions. A groundbreaking ceremony took place at last years World AIDS Day/Noche de las Memorias event. Construction began in the early part of this year.
   
Richard Zaldivar, executive director and founder of The Wall-Las Memorias Project, reflected on the completion of the monument.
   
As a community, we have faced the silence and denial of AIDS. More than 10 years ago, we made a commitment to build a monument to remember people lost to AIDS. Today, we celebrate a promise made and kept. No more denial, no more shame, no more fear. Only love."
   
Zaldivar acknowledges that completion of the monument is only the beginning and the monument will become another community tool in the fight against AIDS.
   
Martha Zaragoza, who lost her brother, Victor, to AIDS, visited the completed monument the weekend before World AIDS Day. She did not expect that seeing her brothers name on the monument would affect her as much as it did.
   
Its very emotional seeing his name," she said. I didnt expect to have these feelings. I know its just a name on the wall, but seeing his name made the memories come back. Memories of the fun person, the giving person that he was."
   
Zaragoza, a grandmother, plans to take her grandchildren to the monument. She wants to make sure they care of themselves and their health.
   
More than 100 names were submitted in time for the World AIDS Day dedication by parents, lifemates, siblings and friends. Eventually, 7,500 names will be engraved on the granite memorial panels. The names represent people from all walks of life.
   
Henry Olivares submitted the name of his late brother, Father Luis Olivares, the late pastor of historic Our Lady Queen of Angels Church in downtown Los Angeles.
   
It was a heavy cross that my brother had to bear when he was told he had AIDS," said Henry. But he was committed to healing - both the disease and the pain that people with AIDS suffered from discrimination. So, it is fitting that his name be part of this monument."
   
The arts and entertainment community is also represented on the memorial panels. Ms. Warwick, Ms. Ontiveros and Ms. Guzman, all performing at the dedication, submitted names of good friends lost to AIDS. They join Liz Taylor who submitted the name of long-time friend Rock Hudson.
   
Names will continue to be accepted for placement on the monuments memorial panels. More information about submitting a name can be found at www.thewalllasmemorias.org or by calling (323) 257-1056.
   
The Wall-Las Memorias Project (www.thewalllasmemorias.org) was founded in 1993 to educate the Latino community about HIV/AIDS, and to show how denial hurts families, communities, and people living with HIV and AIDS.
   
The Wall-Las Memorias Project has grown to include other programs which promote self-esteem, understanding and community, including discussion and support groups for men, young adults and mothers, an HIV/AIDS prevention program that reaches out to communities of faith, and a mens softball team. It also has a history of engaging in community activism and promoting community involvement. The organizations efforts here and in Baja California have resulted in the naming of an AIDS hospice in Tijuana in honor of the organization: Casa Hogar Las Memorias.

Keith Malone (323) 712-9656 cell
Spanish Language
Martha Ugarte (323) 398-2578
Promise Made and Kept in Dedication of AIDS Monument

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