Miss Universe makes dual New York appearances on World AIDS Day

Miss Universe Riyo Mori made two important community appearances in New York on World AIDS Day on December 1, 2007. First, Miss Universe visited the offices of the Latino Commission on AIDS, then she attended a gala event in connection with the Fifth Annual New York AIDS Film Festival. Miss Universe, whose platform is HIV/AIDS awareness and prevention, is using her celebrity to focus public attention on World AIDS Day.

In a press release issued by the New York agency Latino Commission on AIDS, Miss Universe Riyo Mori stated, "It is important to me and the Miss Universe Organization to show our commitment and solidarity with those impacted by HIV/AIDS, especially on World AIDS Day, today I took the HIV test to encourage all communities that it is better to know your status."

Also in its statement, the Commissions leader had this to say: "The fight against HIV and AIDS and the health care needs facing our community get more challenging every year," said Dennis deLeon, President of the Latino Commission on AIDS. "I applaud Miss Universe Riyo Mori for taking this action to join our cause and promote the HIV test as an important step in the area of prevention and education. She joins a group of vital supporters, all of whom are beacons of hope for a future without AIDS."

Also on World AIDS Day, Miss Universe also attended the Red Ball gala event of the Fifth Annual New York AIDS Film Festival. Pictured above, Miss Universe posed with Wolfgang Busch, director of the independent documentary, How Do I Look.

The Latino Commission on AIDS is a nonprofit agency dedicated to fighting the spread of HIV/AIDS in the Latino/Hispanic communities. The Commission coordinates National Latino AIDS Awareness Day and other prevention and advocacy programs in more than 40 States and Puerto Rico. For more information visit www.latinoaids.org or www.nlaad.org.

The MISS UNIVERSE®, MISS USA® and MISS TEEN USA® Pageants are a Donald J. Trump and NBC Universal partnership. Utilizing its nationwide grass roots infrastructure, the Miss Universe Organization is committed to increasing HIV/AIDS awareness by focusing on women's health and reproductive issues. By forging relationships with organizations committed to research and education such as the Latino Commission on AIDS, God’s Love We Deliver, APICHA and Gay Men’s Health Crisis, Miss Universe is improving the lives of women today. For more information visit: www.missuniverse.com.

What we commemorate on World AIDS Day

On this World AIDS Day of 2007, I am starting this post, which I will retroactively edit. I promise to make this post a full listing of artistic events that promised to increase the public's education and awareness of AIDS. To start out, I may only focus on the events which are to and which took place in New York City. And most of all, I wish to touch upon the artistic programs in which people commemorated -- and possibly even celebrated -- World AIDS Day. What can there be about artistic programs or artistic projects that focus on positive aspects about AIDS? What could there be to celebrate on a day that brings attention to this deadly global pandemic?

* In New York City, an activist and civil leader named Suzanne Engo is founder and Executive Director of the New York AIDS Film Festival. Can you imagine a film festival completly designed around visual media dedicated to the AIDS pandemic? Well, in New York, we are fortunate to have such an arts project that aims to have a positive impact. On the occassion of the debut of the New York AIDS Film Festival, Ms. Engo said, "I know that the media can be used as a tool for social change" (See Ms. Engo's Wikipedia page).

* In connection with the 5th Annual New York AIDS Film Festival in 2007, the director Wolfgang Busch screen a special segment from his documentary, How Do I Look. (Disclosure: How Do I Look is an arts-in-education project which this blog is promoting.)

* To learn more about AIDS, please read the HIV/AIDS in Our World Today factsheet made available online by aidsdaynyc.org.

* To learn more about this important day, you can click here and run an instant Google search for the term World AID Day.