A Closer Walk is not a film about the distance from parking lot to Volker Hall next year.

 

Nor is A Closer Walk about Cosby Stone, Faith, & Love, but it is about HOPE.

 

Nor is A Closer Walk about the courting rituals of Amanda Barner and her fiance, but it is about LOVE.

 

A Closer Walk underscores the most important public health problem of our generation

 

Free Lunch Friday

"A Closer Walk"

Noon VH B

AMSA's AIDS Week of Action

 

In my own words, A Closer Walk is about the proximity and interconnectedness that exists on our planet today, populated by 6 Billion Plus strong. It is about a struggle that I can not possibly fully fathom, of surviving on less than a dollar a day. It tells what it is like being dealt a hand of cards that might make Z or de Andrade immediately say "Fold." It's also about hope and global attention and the way that our global society is becoming more tight-knitted. As a result of epidemics like AIDS, A Closer Walk says that we can no longer ignore communities within our global village where the majority of people are dying before the age of 40.

 

No matter how distant the problem of AIDS may seem, it is not.  You may not think it's your problem, but can you think of any course so far that hasn't mentioned HIV?

 

Did you know in Zambia that there were three days of mourning that included work stoppages and school holidays after September 11th? Such was the sympathy of a proud nation 8,500 miles away from Manhattan. On that day, 2,800 Americans were killed, and Zambians that we don't know wept and thought and empathized with us. Yet every day, as many Africans die of AIDS, and we continue to live our lives in large part because we are not as informed as we could be.

A Closer Walk is not an infomercial soliciting support for the African orphan of the week. It is a film about the global AIDS crisis. A Closer Walk highlights - not that kind of highlighter, Jody - it highlights the spot in our collective consciousness where Rational Thought meets Rock star. It is the junction where economists and politicians like Jeffrey Sachs and Nelson Mandela meet Bono and Will Smith. It is an award-winning, documentary style film that may make you think about AIDS in a new way.

 

This is our last installment of the AMSA-supported AIDS Week of Action. World AIDS Day isn't enough...it's an important token reminder. But 10s of millions are living with dual daily reminders of a different world - HIV and poverty.  This film attempts to tell the story of what it is really like, on the ground, dealing with these issues on a daily basis.