"Oakland resident, 40, has lost 200 pounds, gained self-esteem" - Recent Article from Oakland Tribune

By Rebecca Vesely, STAFF WRITER
Wednesday, November 05, 2003 - Paulette Hogan, dressed in a spiffy red track running suit, leaned over the railing at the Oakland YMCA and called out to a handsome man walking by.

"You got me on your dance card?" she asked coyly.

The man turned his head and flashed a bright smile, "Always, Paulette, always."

This is the new Paulette Hogan. Almost a year after undergoing dramatic weight-loss surgery, the 40-year-old has shed nearly 200 pounds, down from a high weight of 520 pounds. She's traded her beloved Starbucks caramel and hazelnut coffee for bottles of water. She's toning up at the gym, attending water aerobics classes, and logging thousands of steps on her pedometer. And she's newly energized for her work: Teaching people that being HIV positive isn't shameful, and that self-respect is the key to fighting the disease.

"I was always a very vocal person for others, but wasn't good at being pro-active and assertive for myself until the weight loss," she said. "I have become visible to the world."

Hogan wasn't always this optimistic. In February 2001, she tested positive for HIV after a battle with what she thought was the flu. Devastated upon hearing the news, she told friends and family.

One friend said, "Lord forgive her for what she did wrong."

Her sister said she couldn't deal with it, and hung up the phone.

"All the people so close to me ran away," Paulette said.

A year later, she got more bad news. She suffered a mild heart attack in January 2002, and heard words that would echo in her head for a long time. A cardiologist at Highland Hospital told her, "You're fat. In a year from now you're not even going to be here. You're going to die."

Instead of succumbing to her health problems, Hogan said the doctor's comments were "a major shakeup," and she lost enough weight to get into surgery. With all the successes, she and her two teenage children still fight against the stigma of HIV. Five years ago today, Alameda County declared a state of emergency on HIV/AIDS among African Americans, determined to prevent the disease and provide better treatments, while combating the stigma. But stigma still exists. Hogan's 15-year-old daughter Terralynn said that when her mom told her she had the disease, all she knew was "kids made fun of people who have HIV." Terralynn educated herself about her mom's condition, learning "you can't get HIV from kissing or hugging."

Terralynn has friends who are misinformed about how they can contract the disease. One friend told her she couldn't sleep over because her mom said she could get HIV. "That really hurt me," Terralynn said. Terralynn spoke publicly about her experience at the unveiling of a new HIV ad campaign aimed at African American women in October, called Sistas Getting Real about HIV/AIDS, and launched by the National Coalition of 100 Black Women. On that same day, Terralynn's mom got a Congressional certificate of recognition for her HIV advocacy work from Rep. Barbara Lee of Oakland. Dr. Lisha Wilson, medical director at the AIDS Healthcare Foundation Magic Johnson Clinic in Oakland and San Francisco, said there are too few people like Hogan and her daughter speaking up. Yet African American women are the fastest growing group being infected with HIV in the nation, largely through heterosexual sex.

"If we could get more people to stick their heads out, maybe we could make some progress," Wilson said. "People's attitudes haven't changed, they still think it's the dirty, nasty people who are getting the disease. That's just not true."

As for Hogan, she is moving on with her life. She recently spoke at the National Black Lesbian/Gay forum in New Orleans. And she will have follow-up plastic surgery in January to remove excess skin left over from all the shed weight. An ordained minister, Hogan has a new gospel CD coming out, which she hopes will be an inspiration to others. And she will continue to speak up about the importance of self-esteem in fighting HIV.

"I will fight this disease," she told a crowd recently. "I will not die from this disease."

Minister. Bobbie Jean Baker was reared in Memphis , Tennessee with a Baptist upbringing. At the age of twelve she discovered her gift from God which is her gift of song.

After a long battle with substance abuse, prostitution, and criminal activity, Min. Baker in 1992 started to transition from (m-t-f transgender) and moved to the SF Bay Area. In 1993, Minister Baker tested positive for HIV/AIDS.

Currently living with HIV for 13 years, Minister Baker is a member of the world's first ever all transgender gospel choir - Transcendance ( www.tgchoir.org ), a certified HIV risk Assessment Counselor, and has been a Transgender Case Manager for several bay area service agencies who serve those on a daily bases who have been marginalized by family, church and society as it relates to their HIV/AIDS status.

Minister Baker is a believer that "God can heal, deliver, and set you free, from any situation and any issue." Minister Baker is currently a lay-minister in training at the City of refuge UCC/SF and plans to start at PSR in Berkeley , California to obtain her CMS in Ministry. Minister Baker is the proud mother to her 3-year-old daughter (Da'Zohunna), and lives in Oakland, California.

"Never place a period where God has placed a comma. God is still speaking."

Deninge Sims, a native of California, was born in Chicago, Illinois on June 11, 1967 and later raised in Northern California by a single parent, who formally adopted her in 1977. Deninge went to schools in Chicago and Oakland and graduated from Oakland High School in 1985, after having a daughter in March of 1985.

She was introduced to music through elementary and junior high school, learning to play violin, bass clarinet and clarinet, as well as learning at home by listening to music with her family on most weekends. She also participated in ROTC and dance.

It has not always been an easy road for Deninge. She succumbed to peer pressure, drugs and alcohol while she was in school. At the age of 21, she decided to change her life and live drug free. She has been clean and sober for 17 years! Deninge received Christ in 1994 and became a member of Olivet Institutional Missionary Baptist Church, where Gordon A. Humphrey, Jr. is the pastor. She currently serves in the ministries of the choir and praise team.

Deninge is currently an employee at the Graduate School of Education at University of California, Berkeley. She also sings with the school choir. Deninge has one-daughter, Michaela, and two beautiful grandchildren, Kaleb and Nala. These are the major joys in her life!

Personal Statement:

I am really grateful to be asked to participate in this project. It seems that the world has focused on the folks dying of AIDS/HIV that no one talks about those who are pressing their way and having this disease. This is a great way to encourage those living with HIV/AIDS that THEY CAN LIVE! They are living testimonies just like I am. I do know people who are living with it and are living productive lives. I hope that my participation shows them that I care!