The American nation-state and the State of California are inextricably bound to the genocide enacted against Indigenous people. The land we inhabit was built only as a result of the attempted systematic destruction of Indigenous cultures, languages, and families through federal boarding schools, and forced adoptions; land dispossession through forced removal and illegal land acquisition; environmental destruction through capitalistic natural resource extraction; forced labor and state-sponsored murder; and other countless atrocities. The acts of settler colonialism leading to the construction states are numerous and their effects are ongoing.
The intergenerational cultural, linguistic, and spiritual erasure, forced assimilation, ecocide and land disposession of Indigenous tribes must be addressed, and the land must be repatriated in order to reconcile the United States systemic genocide against Indigenous communities. The LANDBACK Manifesto details organizing strategies to build collective power, while the Land Reparations and Indigenous Solidarity Action Guide provides a compilation of resources to consider when planning a land return.
Artist Demian DinéYazhi’s POZ Since 1492 (2016/2024) – a site-specific mural on ICA LA’s 7th Street façade realized as part of the 2024 Scientia Sexualis exhibition – is an artwork that elongates the timescale of the AIDS crisis, connecting the violence of settler colonialism and germ warfare to government neglect and Western epistemologies of health.
The American nation-state and the State of California are inextricably bound to this long history of settler colonialism and the continued genocide enacted against Indigenous peoples. The land we inhabit was built as a result of the systematic destruction of Indigenous place, cultures, languages, and families, through forced dispossession and illegal land acquisition; capitalist extraction of natural resources; involuntary assimilation via federal boarding schools and unsanctioned adoptions; coerced labor and state-sponsored murder; and other countless atrocities, the effects of which continue to this day.
In response to the ongoing cultural, linguistic, spiritual, and environmental erasure of Indigenous land and peoples, the LANDBACK Manifesto and the Land Reparations and Indigenous Solidarity Action Guide detail organizing strategies to build collective power and preparedness for land repatriation.
POZ Since 1492 was first made and distributed in 2016 as a shareable print for Day With(out) Art, an annual call to mourning and action organized by Visual AIDS, which is the only contemporary arts organization fully committed to raising AIDS awareness and creating dialogue around HIV issues today, while also assisting artists living with HIV/AIDS.
In conjunction with the installation, DinéYazhi’ asked that information about HIV and health disparities among Indigenous communities be made available to visitors.
Below, please find relevant resources including research and articles, prevention services, testing sites, treatment, support services and social justice organizations throughout Los Angeles County, compiled by the ICA LA Visitor Experience team. This list aims to uplift life-affirming care for those living with HIV/AIDS and centers organizations led by BIPOC, women, disabled and LGBTQ+ folks, highlighting their incredible activism.
For resources about the land back movement visit https://nativegov.org/.
For a contemporary overview of AIDS and related global health crises, and a list of global resources, read Framing the Issue by Theodore (ted) Kerr, originally published in Issue 42 of OnCurating (September 2019).
We Remind You / HIV & Palestine: What Would an HIV Doula Do? is a community of people joined in response to the ongoing AIDS crisis and for whom Palestine is an urgent issue.
HIV Basics and Valuable Resources
California Department of Public Health Quick and Easy Access to PrEP or PEP
GetPrEPLA: A resource for hub for PrEP and PEP prevention, services, and information in LA County.
PrEP Centers of Excellence - GetPrEPLA: If you don’t have insurance or cannot get insurance, you can get PrEP at no cost if your income is at or below $72,900/year. Legal status will not affect your ability to get PrEP. These clinics offer multiple services, including help applying for insurance, tips to help you remember to take your medications, primary medical care, and referrals to other services to keep you healthy.
TakeMeHome: FREE at-home HIV tests delivered to you for you to take in a place you’re most comfortable without going to a clinic or testing site.
East Los Angeles Women’s Center: Follow the link to request free prevention kits, HIV tests, and services.
California AIDS Hotline: 800-367-AIDS
Mon – Fri, 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. (until 9 p.m. Tuesdays).
Telecommunications Device for the Deaf (TDD): 888-225-AIDS
CDC INFO: 800-232-4636 STD and HIV information (listen to prompts) - 24 hrs
HIV Nightline: 800-273-AIDS
Mon – Sun, 5 p.m. to 5 a.m.
Provides emotional support, information, and referrals to people with concerns about HIV during the night when other agencies are closed.
HIV Care for the LGBTQ+ at the Los Angeles LGBT Center
AIDS Healthcare Foundation - West Hollywood
HIV Services - East Los Angeles Women’s Center: ELAWC supports the most vulnerable and at risk women to provide a comprehensive range of services to provide support for families facing HIV/AIDS.
HIV Testing at East Los Angeles Health Center
Minority Aids Project - West Adams: The first community-based HIV/AIDS organization established and managed by people of color providing free in-person HIV testing and counseling, home kit testing, PREP and PEP referrals.
Planned Parenthood Pasadena and San Gabriel Valley - Rapid HIV testing and support services
The Ryan White Program: A part of LA County Public Health department HIV prevention that provides free to low cost medical treatment and supportive services available to almost any person living with HIV in Los Angeles County regardless of citizenship or lack of insurance.
HIV Support Services | APLA Health: Housing, food, and benefits support for those living with HIV.
PAWSLA: Assists low-income pet owners who are seniors or living with HIV/AIDS or other life-threatening illness to keep and care for companion animals.
CHIRP LA: A nonprofit HOPWA-funded housing information and referral program dedicated to preventing homelessness for people living with HIV/AIDS in Los Angeles County.
United American Indian Involvement (UAII): The program provides HIV/AIDS education services for at-risk American Indian/Alaska Native youth in Los Angeles County. Services include AIDS/HIV prevention counseling, HIV/AIDS risk assessments and screenings and group discussions and presentations to educate youth about HIV/AIDS.
Foothill AIDS Project: FAP provides comprehensive care, support services, and education and outreach programs in the San Gabriel Valley of Los Angeles County, San Bernardino County, and western Riverside County in California.
AIDS Drug Assistance Program - Pasadena: Provides health services to low-income people in the Pasadena area and surrounding communities.
Interest form for ELAWC Seeking Safety Group for women living with HIV: A 12-session course to improve self-care and well-being, while learning safe ways to deal with strong emotions. Offered in English and Spanish. Completely free and confidential, available to women living in Los Angeles County who are HIV positive
Los Angeles County Commission on HIV: serves as the local planning council for the planning, allocation, coordination, and delivery of HIV/AIDS services.
The COH is composed of 51 members appointed by the Board of Supervisors and 33% of the membership are HIV+ individuals who are consumers of the federally funded Ryan White Program.
The COH meets on every second Thursday of the month from 9am to 1pm at 510 S. Vermont Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90020.
AIDS Healthcare Foundation: Provides medical services for people living with HIV/AIDS, mobile testing, and counseling in LA county. The largest provider of HIV medical care in the world.
Out of The Closet: Thrift stores throughout LA county that support the AIDS Healthcare Foundation.
Black AIDS Institute: The only health and social justice think tank dedicated to ending the HIV/AIDS endemic in Black communities by engaging and mobilizing Black institutions and individuals to confront the epidemic.
Greater Los Angeles Agency on Deafness: HIV Prevention Program: GLAAD’s health program provides HIV support services to deaf, hard of hearing, deafblind, and deaf-disabled women and people.
Being Alive: LA County’s first peer-driven organization for people living with HIV. Specializing in supportive services, education, wellness, and self-empowerment.
Reach LA: A youth-oriented community-based organization in Los Angeles that provides HIV prevention services like HIV Testing, PrEP Navigation Services, and STI Testing.
Positively Safe: Addressing the Intersection of Domestic Violence and HIV/AIDS: a toolkit put together by the National Network to End Domestic Violence with information and ways to support survivors living with HIV.
HIV/STD Prevention Guidelines for Native American Communities: American Indians, Alaska Natives, & Native Hawaiians: This document represents the first national document for HIV/STD prevention among Indigenous communities sponsored by the Rural Center for HIV/STD Prevention, Indiana University, Bloomington, in collaboration with the National Native American AIDS Prevention Center, Oakland, California.
AIDS Walk Los Angeles: The world’s first and largest fundraising walk for LGTBQ+ healthcare and to ultimately end HIV.
Visual AIDS: The only contemporary arts organization fully committed to raising AIDS awareness and creating dialogue around HIV issues today, by producing and presenting visual art projects, exhibitions, public forums, and publications—while assisting artists living with HIV/AIDS.