Honoring The Legacy of HIV Long-Term Survivor Ronnie Grace

So much of my story has been defined by things that weren't in my control until the moment I met my beloved mentor, Ronnie Grace. From that moment, he believed in me and pushed me to live a life that would honor who I was and who I could become, and from that moment forward, he empowered me so that I could empower others. Ronnie Grace was vibrant, funny, talented, compassionate, and a pioneer in his lifetime. HIV advocacy has left a legacy of healing that will continue to be a blessing to our Milwaukee Community for generations to come. He was instrumental in holding the vision to diversify and bring black leadership in HIV prevention to the forefront here in Milwaukee, working with local and national community-based organizations, mentoring and recruiting HIV survivors and PrEP Advocates like myself as ambassadors for The Statewide Action Planning Group for HIV/AIDS of WI, and through his work in various management positions at Diverse and Resilient for over 11 years. I know that one of the things he was most proud of in his career was working to create the peer navigator program; from grant application to review to the launch and success of the program, his work has helped to change all of our lives for the better, and this will endure. 

Ronnie was also a strong and wise advocate for black transwomen in Milwaukee before it was popular. in the field, he led SHEBA Sisters Helping Eachother Battle Adversity for many years by building real relationships with black women of trans experience who have seen some of the worst sides of humanity, women who have seen and survived it all, through empowerment, through respecting our autonomy and pushing and positioning us to take our seats at the table. He went the extra mile and has become a beloved friend, brother, Uncle, and Even father to many of us, who struggle with trauma, particularly at the hands of men. He was the definition of a real man, a good man, he walked it, he called us in, he trusted us to be the authors of our own stories, and he hugged and held and fed us when the world had turned its back on many of us. 

One of my greatest memories with Ronnie was at The Black Trans Advocacy Coalition Awards Gala 2019. he and I, and three other WI natives all took home advocacy awards that year. At that moment, it all clicked for me that we were a part of something bigger than all of us. After a few years as a member of SHEBA, Ronnie encouraged me to step into the HIV Field as a PrEP user and advocate through SAPG, our state's HIV board. I was apprehensive, but I trusted him that this could be a step to unlock opportunities for me to grow and begin a career. I became the first woman of trans experience to become an SAPG member, and I would secede him as the first Trans woman community co-chair. I was still very early in my transition, struggling for the first time in my life to find or sustain work. I was teetering on going down the wrong path, of believing what the world force feeds us about black trans women that we are inherently unworthy, that our potential and value could only be defined by over-sexualization and transmysognoir, that we will inevitably become a statistic by choosing to live our authentic lives.  He knew I had an internal mental health struggle, that I wanted to help people, and that I wanted our girls to know that they are every bit as worthy as everyone else, to live to love, to laugh, to have joy. He brought a fully covered mental health counselor to the ladies of Sheba and told me at each step in my career that he was proud of me. Through small acts of kindness, he gave me back a reason to live, to keep fighting for the life I deserve, and to know that I can create it. The Ronnie I have known, did the same thing for so many in this community, he would want us to be strong, to take care of eachother and keep fighting. 

Returning to ZAO MKE Church to attend Ronnie’s Memorial Service was a surreal moment. I don’t know how much loss our small community can take, I just know that we have to keep working towards a world with systems and policies that work for all of us. I dedicated part of our Trans Day of Remembrance Vigil 2023 and have added him to the names to be honored through The Paris Ticca Mahone Memorial Transition fund, and watched as he brought us all together to celebrate his life one last time. When Erica Sinclair, Founder of Health Connections Inc., dedicated the Wakanda Wellness Week 2023 fashion show to him, I broke down and ran to her. I tried to console her, but in reality, she had to console me. I have so many memories with Ronnie, personal and professional; he was there for everything, watching over us and supporting us. When he drove me to Madison for the Inaugural Pride Flag Raising, where we spoke beside Govorner Tony Evers, to meeting Lil Murda from P Valley last year, there are so many memories I literally can’t imagine that he is no longer here. However, I feel his presence. 

Ronnie survived the fear and stigma of the HIV epidemic living in New York and contracting HIV in the early 1980s, hip and spine surgeries, and two battles with cancer. I knew it was serious, but I was in denial, thinking he was so strong and had survived so much already that he could beat this. 

Ronnie was also a talented singer and model and managed nightclubs in his youth - Ronnie loved to dance, particularly ballroom dancing. He went on to study dance/theater at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, where the invitation to relocate to New York City came about to jump-start a dance career. Ronnie was an avid lover of music, all genres, and his love for music inspired his dancing career. Ronnie moved away from Milwaukee when he was only 19 and went to New York City. We will remember Ronnie and his years of service to this community this World AIDS Day, December 1st, 2023, with the celebratory World AIDS Day Fashion show.