The AIDS epidemic is not over. The disease that decimated a generation is still with us. It continues to affect thousands of Americans, and its ongoing impact reflects the deep inequalities that divide us.

Black and Latino LGBTQ+ communities in the American South are disproportionately impacted. But across the region, there are leaders fighting for the access, resources and education that will help end the epidemic. This is their story. And it is not a story of survival, but of courage, hope and love.