Imani Harrington and Chyrell D. Bellamy (eds.): Positive/Negative (Women of Colour and HIV/AIDS, a Collection of Plays)

Aunt Lute Books (Trade Paperback), ISBN: 1-879960-65-6

Aunt Lute Books publishes fiction and non-fiction that reflects “the complex truths of women’s lives and the possibilities for personal and social change,” and little in today’s world will bring as many changes to the way we think and act as the invasion of the HIV/AIDS virus. The world underestimates grossly, too, the extent of the virus’s impact on the lives of poor and working class women.

Whether they are the oft-marginalized groups of western society or the relatively dis-empowered women in Africa (where, in some countries, infection rates run at 40 percent of the adult population), the issues remain much the same. Even if they never become infected themselves, women are usually the ones upon whom the roles of nurse to the sick, and caregiver to the children of dead parents devolve. Yet working class women of color rarely get the chance to sit around any of the many committee tables that convene to discuss HIV/AIDS and its toll on the world.

This collection of plays begins with two short essays that reflect on women’s lives during twenty years of the HIV/AIDS pandemic. The essays also discuss the use of theatre to share the experiences of women of color with not only the people of the world, but with each other.

The plays and poems in the collection explore various issues about HIV infection, such as women’s feelings about themselves and their own bodies when they find themselves to be HIV positive. They confront the problems of how one can best live the rest of one’s life when one must face one’s own — or a loved one’s — untimely death from AIDS. You will find in Positive/ Negative short monologues that give voice to the pain and confusion of women who find themselves victim of circumstances that, often, they don’t fully understand until too late. Tellingly, the last sentence of the collection’s acknowledgements reads, “This anthology is dedicated to all women who have died without a face or voice.”

The anthology can be used as the point of departure for group discussions and HIV/AIDS awareness workshops. It includes a list of questions about each chapter to assist with this. In addition, a facilitator can use the book as an experiential learning tool to help people, both HIV Negative and HIV Positive, to explore their understanding of what the epidemic does to us all.

You can also obtain a workbook that complements the anthology by emailing Aunt Lute Books at books@auntlute.com. The last chapter offers exercises that encourage theatre acting and play-writing as a means of expression for even the most beginning beginner attempting to communicate her thoughts and feelings on this too-often taboo subject.

Moira Richards

The song and story editor for Moondance and a staff writer for Women Writers, Moira Richards has been doing freelance writing and editing work since the turn of the millennium. Her favorite books are ones written for women, by women and about women — especially work listed by niche feminist publishing houses.