Edwin Cameron: Witness to AIDS

Justice Cameron (now appointed to South Africa's Constitutional Court) gives a brave account of his personal story and struggle against AIDS. As a previous reviewer suggests, the book could have been more heavily edited (it is repetitive in parts). Written in 2005, some of the stats and figures are also now outdated. Nonetheless, it is a very worthwhile read that gives interesting insight into the stigma of AIDs, the Sub-Saharan epidemic, and South Africa's failed AIDs policies. Edwin Cameron: Witness to AIDS

In WITNESS TO AIDS, Edwin Cameron, a white South African judge discusses the AIDS pandemic in that nation and the world from both the political and the personal for he is a gay man living with AIDS-- and a very brave and compassionate one. Cameron understands totally that he is a lucky man because of the color of his skin and his relatively affluent position. He is able to afford the drugs that keep him alive but are out of the reach of most black Africans. Mr. Cameron (should I refer to him as judge?) is brave in that he has always spoken out against racism, is not afraid to challenge President Mbeki, takes on the greed of drug companies, makes the comparison between the Holocaust denial and AIDS denial and speaks openly and honestly about his own HIV status. For example, he discusses how he became infected in one unprotected sexual encounter "during Easter 1985." Altough the writer covers a tremendous amount of ground about AIDS in Africa and quotes many facts and figures, he is best when he makes the disease personal with experiences from his own life or naming the names of others with HIV/AIDS. One of the most moving passages from this fine work is about Cameron's telling his 78 year-old mother that (1) not only was he living with HIV but that (2) he was about to go public with his status. "I brought the conversation around and spoke gently to her. . . After a moment she glanced at me and quietly murmured: 'I thought as much, my boy.'" Though at first distressed by this new knowledge, she soon, however, began wearing the "red, furled ribbon of AIDS solidarity," until her death two years later. Mr. Cameron also discusses with candor his impoverished childhood, his being sent to a children's home, the accidental death of a sister and his father (an alcoholic) attending her funeral, having been given special dispensation from the warden where he was serving a year's sentence in prison for car theft. He acknowledges that being sent to a first rate school changed his life of poverty forever. The writer's perception of the AIDS epidemic in the United States is a bit rosy. He seems to believe that the disease is kept at bay because of the drug cocktails readily available and affordable here. While certainly no comparison can be made between Africa and the U. S., not everyone here has access to drugs, either because they cannot afford them or there are not enough free drugs for everyone. The book also suffers from repetition. Since Mr. Cameron is an attorney by profession, this is probably an occupational hazard as it is not unusual for barristers to repeat themselves, particularly if they are arguing their case before a judge and/or jury-- in this case, the reader. WITNESS TO AIDS, nevertheless, contains a wealth of information on the subject of AIDS in Africa and ought to have a very wide readership. Every page comes alive with both the writer's passion and humanity.