Young, Loud, & Proud: YouthAIDS, Music, and Modern AIDS Activism

Who’s the most powerful woman in AIDS activism today? Kate Roberts, creator of YouthAIDS. She has a way of going to the wall for her cause, and those with whom she works do the same for her. Five-time Grammy Award winner Wynonna Judd admits,  “I’d kick anybody’s you-know-what with one hand tied behind my back for her.”

The Path to YouthAIDS

The path that brought Kate to the Washington D.C. base of Population Services International (PSI) led from the United Kingdom all across the world, crossing paths with giraffes, European ravers, impoverished Africans, and even Russian mobsters. She got involved in Romania’s first HIV/AIDS prevention program in 1997 because “she thought it would be cool.” By the time Kate’s work and travel led her to South Africa, she realized she wanted to make a difference with her life, and she’d found her cause. “I’m going to stop AIDS.”

After some research and discovery, Kate narrowed her broad goal down to this: Stop the disease by changing the minds and behavior of those most likely to get infected—young people from 15 to 24. Make condom-use or abstinence sexy and trendy, and you’ve got a greater chance to keep young people from contracting “the worst pandemic of all time.”

Working with PSI starting in 1999, Kate had a different approach from the start. Kate wanted to build up HIV/AIDS awareness and funding in a business model, rather than create another charity. Instead of looking for handouts, her group partners with companies and then builds advertising and awareness campaigns that create “a win-win for the cause and the company.”

Pump Up the Volume
Kate’s background in advertising and marketing proved essential. She knew how to engage young people’s interests, whether with all-night raves in Romania or star-studded public service announcements and MTV-partnered concert series all over the world. The woman once known as “the ultimate party-giver” knew the best ways to reach young people were the twin powers of celebrity and music. As Kate put it, “Music is a common denominator that connects people all over the world. Music allows us to connect with people regardless of education, language, and background.”

From her first efforts in Romania in the late 1990’s, Kate has always brought music together with AIDS activism to draw attention to both the music and the cause. Allying with Romania’s biggest band Holograf, Kate’s AIDS awareness program led to two award-winning commercials, a TV series, a documentary for a music television station, a concert for 10,000 people, and Romania’s song of the year for Holograf’s “I Do What I Want, but I Know What I’m Doing.” The CDC documented that these efforts and rising awareness led to a 43% increase in the use of condoms

YouthAIDS, music, and celebrity have always been synonymous.
• In 2002, YouthAIDS helped launch MTV’s “Staying Alive” concert in South Africa for AIDS awareness.
• December 1, 2006 saw YouthAIDS’ “Kick Me” campaign use an old prank for a practical lesson. Just like that clueless guy with the “Kick Me” sign on his back, 90% of people infected with HIV/AIDS, people don’t always know they have the virus. Many students and stars alike wore the signs on the first “World AIDS Day” and helped raise $150,000 for the cause.
• 2007 saw more than a half-dozen concerts and events sponsored or organized by YouthAIDS all across the United States.
• Zhivi Muzikoy! means “Live with Music!” in Russian. This 2008 American Idol style music contest saw its contestants write songs about healthy lifestyles and HIV prevention, trained them for peer education at local non-profit organizations, and culminated in a concert attended by thousands.
• Youth Alert! is an on-going multi-pronged campaign in Malawi that uses music and original songs on radio, mass media television (music videos), and school educational programs to reinforce HIV/AIDS prevention messages and promote responsible sexual behavior or abstinence.

YouthAIDS Ambassadors
Kate Roberts has worked long and hard to bring celebrities and CEOs, churches and corporations, rock stars and regular people together to raise AIDS awareness and prevention. Today, she regularly works with a wide range of stars from many different worlds, uniting them in this common cause of AIDS prevention. Let’s look at the stars who are the public faces of YouthAIDS.

Ashley Judd
Award-winning actress Ashley Judd began her career in the far future on Star Trek: The Next Generation. She’s been to the past as well in De-Lovely. While her movie career has taken her very far, so has her activist work with YouthAIDS.

Ashley has been the Global Ambassador for YouthAIDS since 2002. Since she realized the enormous impact of AIDS on a global scale, Ashley has used her celebrity status in Hollywood and around the world to promote YouthAIDS' programs, knowing that education is the best way to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS. Her unflagging efforts help bring awareness and necessary funding for YouthAIDS education and prevention programs.

In six short years on behalf of YouthAIDS, Ashley has covered the world. She, along with other YA ambassadors, visited clinics, schools, and youth centers in Cambodia, Guatemala, Honduras, India, Kenya, Madagascar, Nicaragua, Rwanda, South Africa, Thailand, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Her presence draws attention to their programs and further raising awareness about HIV infection and prevention.

Seane Corn
“Passionate.” “Inspirational.” “Dynamic.” Yoga instructor Seane Corn has been described many ways. Her teaching style integrates physical and spiritual aspects of yoga in new ways. Those new ways brought Seane to YouthAIDS in 2005.

Since 2004, Seane’s “Off the Mat, Into the World” program urged yogis and other instructors to reduce the fears and ignorance about HIV/AIDS and the discrimination of its victims. She works tirelessly to build AIDS awareness and raise money within her communities, engaging them and educating them about the HIV/AIDS crisis. Seane works with YouthAIDS in the United States and even as far as Central America in 2006.

Juanes
One of TIME Magazine’s “Most Influential People in the World,” this twelve-time Latin Grammy winner embraces Latin American pride and family values in his music and lyrics. Juanes’ socially conscious songs and albums have built his fame and fortune; his #1 2003 album Un Dia Normal (“A Normal Day”) holds the longest Top-10 chart run of any Latin album in history.

Juanes spearheads YouthAIDS work on Latin American HIV/AIDS awareness. His concerts, interviews, and his campaign participation all build money and interest in the cause of HIV/AIDS prevention programs. As a YouthAIDS Ambassador, Juanes joined Salma Hayek and Ashley Judd to help spread consciousness of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in their trip through Central America in 2006.

Wynonna Judd
With five Grammy Awards, multiple platinum albums, and 20 #1 singles, Wynonna Judd is a stellar recording artist. Her singing voice echoes her heart, and after Kate met with her five years ago, her heart opened up wider for those suffering from the HIV/AIDS epidemic.

A long-time supporter of both Kate Roberts and her work in YouthAIDS, Wynonna has been a YouthAIDS Ambassador since 2003. Her concerts and public appearances constantly keep HIV/AIDS prevention in the spotlight and help raise awareness and badly needed funds for the cause.

Josh Lucas
A rising young actor on television and movies, Josh Lucas’ work for HIV/AIDS prevention may come from his parents, both of whom are health care workers. His mother specifically worked at counseling young men and women and “educating them about the ravishing and often deadly effects of this too-common and easily-preventable disease.”

Josh shot the ALDO HIV/AIDS awareness campaign in April 2005 and soon after joined the YouthAIDS team. He officially became a YouthAIDS Ambassador at the YouthAIDS 2005 Gala, Faces of Africa. Josh helps keep HIV/AIDS awareness in the public eye through his personal appearances, media interviews, and his work with the YouthAIDS awareness programs.

Emmy Rossum
A classically beautiful actress with a classically trained singing voice, Emmy Rossum has many gifts she shares with the world. Her operatic talents landed her the role of Christine in the film “Phantom of the Opera,” for which she became the youngest actress nominated for a Golden Globe. Emmy balances her film acting work (in “Poseidon” and “The Day After Tomorrow”) with her love of music and singing (releasing “Inside Out” and “Carol of the Bells” in the past two years).

Emmy’s star power and winning smile light up a room, which really helps draw people to her and her message as a YouthAIDS Ambassador. Her generation is the one that YouthAIDS wants to reach the most, and she actively works with the student outreach initiative. Emmy lends her talents and energy to personal appearances at awareness and fundraising campaigns for HIV/AIDS education and prevention programs.

Frederique Van Der Wal
This Dutch fashion model has graced the pages of many magazines from covers of Cosmopolitan and Sports Illustrated to Victoria’s Secret catalogs. Frederique is a widely recognized face and figure in the modeling world. Her beauty led to her global success and additional careers in acting and business.

While her looks built her as a supermodel, Frederique’s style and sense of humor make this longtime supporter of YouthAIDS a welcome and warm presence. She has adopted the group’s mission to keep the fight against HIV/AIDS in people’s minds and hearts, and her diversity and personality help raise funds and support for field programs like those in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

And Many More….
Who else has worked with YouthAIDS to help stop the spread of AIDS? You may have heard of some of these other folks too…
• Christina Aguilera
• Bono
• Cindy Crawford
• Destiny’s Child
• P. Diddy
• Eve
• Bill & Melinda Gates
• Good Charlotte
• Salma Hayek
• Samuel L. Jackson
• Alicia Keys
• Elisha Cuthbert
• Ludacris
• John Mellecamp
• Rihanna
• Justin Timberlake
• Urban Nation H.I.P. - H.O.P Choir

Since its official start in 2001, YouthAIDS has been the AIDS education and prevention program for PSI. YouthAIDS programs cover the world and raise funding and awareness in more than 60 countries. Its culturally sensitive programs help save lives by offering creative interventions appropriate to each country, culture, and their specific health needs.

The Final Word from Kate
“YouthAIDS is a platform for everyone to make a difference. For just the cost of a pizza, you can educate and protect a young person from HIV/AIDS for a year. The problem is ignorance. Every hour, two young people become infected in the U.S. It’s not a cause—it’s an emergency.”

(Photos: Getty Images)

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