The Wall Las Memorias Project has been honoring World AIDS Day for 28 years with Noche de Las Memorias, its annual evening of reflection in Los Angeles. (The Wall Las Memorias)
World AIDS Day was founded in 1988 and takes place on Dec. 1 each year, allowing people worldwide to unite in the fight against HIV, reports Spectrum News.
This year is no different in Los Angeles. The Wall Las Memorias Project, a community health and wellness organization, has been honoring the day locally for 28 years with its annual evening of reflection known as Noche de Las Memorias. This translates from Spanish to “a journey of resilience and compassion.”
TWLMP’s World AIDS Day event has been held in a different fashion the past two years due to COVID-19. But this year is a return to pre-pandemic fashion.
Richard L. Zaldivar, founder and executive director of the nonprofit, says he encourages locals to attend Thursday evening’s in-person memorial event at their AIDS monument in East LA’s Lincoln Park.
“The monument stands as a marker of the toll of lives that were taken away from our community because of AIDS. But it’s also a focal point to say that it’s not over,” said Zaldivar. “We’re still living in this bubble of COVID and the unknown. And so, we’re thinking that this year, our focus really is trying to heal our community, healing from the hatred, the situation that just took place in Colorado Springs. It doesn’t have to be just about HIV/AIDS.”
To learn more about today’s event, please visit here.
