Gallaudet student honored with National AIDS Memorial award
The National AIDS Memorial, the San Francisco-based organization that displays the internationally acclaimed AIDS Memorial Quilt, announced last month that it has named Gallaudet University student Bobbi-Angelica Morris one of two most recent recipients of its Mary Bowman Arts in Activism Award.
In an announcement, the organization said it has also named Joseph Taylor of the Maryland Institute College of Art in Baltimore for the Bowman award. “Now in its fourth year, the award honors the life of Mary Bowman, the poet, author and singer who passed away from AIDS in early 2019 at the age of 30,” the statement says. “Funded through a generous multi-year grant from ViiV Healthcare, the only pharmaceutical company solely focused on HIV, the award offers support to artists-activists who through their creative work inspire individuals and communities, and make a positive impact in the fight against HIV/AIDS while advancing social justice,” according to the statement. “The awardees receive $5,000 each,” it says. “Bobbi-Angelica’s poetry and commitment is creating space for marginalized voices and intersectional identities to express themselves freely and creatively,” the statement continues. “Joseph Taylor uses his artistic talent to uplift the voices within the Black community by visually amplifying their challenges and struggles while simultaneously illustrating their grace, heroism and power,” says the statement. “Both outstanding art activists honor the life, and the creative and change-making spirit of Mary Bowman,” it says. “Through the National AIDS Memorial Grove, AIDS Memorial Quilt, and other programs that benefit the community, the National AIDS Memorial ensures that the story of AIDS and the AIDS movement is never
