AIDS Action held A Breakfast of Champions, a benefit honoring six individuals who have shown remarkable leadership in the response to the HIV pandemic. During the event, which was held at B. Smith’s restaurant in Union Station, more than 150 guests—including Congressional Members from both parties as well as members of their staffs; members of the Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS (PACHA)*; Members of Parliament from Kenya, Nigeria, and South Africa; HIV health professionals and advocates; and people living with HIV--gathered with AIDS Action board members and staff to acknowledge the leadership of the following people:

Senator William Frist, MD (R-TN)
Senate Majority Leader

Representative Nancy Pelosi (D-CA)
House Democratic Leader

Hank McKinnell, Jr., PhD
Chairman and CEO of Pfizer

Beny Primm, MD
founder and executive director of The Addiction Research and Treatment Corporation

Brenda Wilson
journalist for National Public Radio, and

Earvin “Magic” Johnson
founder and CEO of the Magic Johnson Foundation.

(left to right) Lorraine Miller, intergovernmental relations director for House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi, a Breakfast honoree; Representative Barbara Lee (D-CA); Chief Deputy Democratic Whip John Lewis (D-GA) who accepted an award on behalf of Rep. Pelosi; Marsha Martin, DSW, executive director, AIDS Action

Prior to the award presentation, Reverend Edwin Sanders of Nashville, TN’s Metropolitan Interdenominational Church, who also serves on PACHA and on the board of AIDS Action Council, delivered an invocation, asking for continued strength and endurance for the hard work that everyone faces in efforts to diminish the impact of HIV. Reverend Sanders then welcomed AIDS Action Executive Director Marsha Martin, DSW, to the stage for opening remarks.

(left to right) Marsha Martin; Mikael Moore of the Office of Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA), who accepted an award on behalf of Earvin “Magic” Johnson, CEO, Magic Johnson Foundation

(left to right) AIDS Action Council Board Member Rev. Edwin Saunders, Metropolitan Interdenominational Church; Senate Majority Leader William Frist, MD, a Breakfast honoree, and Joseph Interrante, executive director of Nashville CARES and vice chair of AIDS Action Council Board

“We are here this morning to honor the new path of leadership that will change the course of the epidemic,” she stated. Continuing, Dr. Martin offered that the six honorees had been selected as champions “because they have chosen to recognize HIV for what it is: the greatest, most complicated health crisis that humankind has faced in modern times—and they have not backed away from the challenge.”

Dr. Martin also noted the importance of acknowledging leadership in HIV at this particular time. “We will bring HIV to a stop only with clear, precise, coherent leadership. Without it, HIV is here to stay,” she began. “The time is now to take what we have learned—our understanding of the transmission of HIV, of treatment, and of the type of care necessary—and re-educate America. We must communicate to our nation what we now know.”

When Dr. Martin had completed her remarks, she turned the floor over to the moderator of the event, George Wilson of XM radio’s GW on the Hill. Mr. Wilson characterized the contributions that each honoree has made to the U.S. response to HIV and introduced the award presenters, all of whom serve on the AIDS Action Council Board. They were Dr. Joseph Interrante, PhD (Nashville CARES), Craig Thompson (AIDS Project Los Angeles), Katy Caldwell (Montrose Clinic), and Ronald Johnson (Gay Men’s Health Crisis).

(left to right) Hank McKinnell, chairman and CEO, Pfizer Inc., and a Breakfast honoree; AIDS Project Los Angeles Executive Director Craig Thompson, chair of AIDS Action Council Board

In their acceptance speeches, the honorees touched on some common themes: a continued commitment to focusing attention on issues related to HIV; gratitude for the ongoing work of the community; and recognition that there is still much to be done, and while this work may be daunting at times, it must be taken on: Below are some specific remarks made by the honorees and their emissaries: