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I’m 23 and Living with HIV: One Woman’s Story
SM: What has been the most rewarding part in your quest to spread awareness?
Marvelyn: The most rewarding part is when I help somebody make a wise decision. Whether it’s to go get an HIV test or whether it’s taking their daughter or whether it’s someone deciding I’m going to wear a condom each and every time I have sex—that is the rewarding part.
SM: What keeps you motivated?
Marvelyn: I’m a self-motivator in a lot of ways because I feel I have a lot to accomplish. I feel there’s a lot to be done. Telling my story is one thing. But God, that’s just the beginning. 
Marvelyn Brown is living “positively with HIV” in New York City. As an HIV/AIDS activist she continues to share her story and spread awareness to audiences nationwide. She is founder and CEO of Marvelous Connections where she works as an HIV Consultant and is writing her highly anticipated autobiography, A Marvelous Life. For more on Marvelyn, visit www.marvelynbrown.com or www.myspace.com/marvelyns.
* For more on what you need to know about HIV, click here.
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Your comments
| summer | |
| It takes a courageous woman to speak out against HIV. Thanks for sharing your story, Marvelyn. | |
| crashing_nightingale | |
| Thanks Marvelyn for being so open and continuing to share your story with others. This is the kind of reality check people need but often forget. | |
| asya | |
| Many people are still unaware of the difference between HIV and AIDS and think that both only affect certain groups of people. It was helpful to read this interview in many ways, one of which is that it was a wake-up call to be more careful. | |
| ucsdgirl | |
| I admire the fact that Marvelyn is optimistic regardless of her situation and does all she can to help others. | |
| Pari-love | |
| "I have a mission; I have a purpose in life." Marvelyn's philosophy on life is definitely inspiring and one to imitate. I admire her for all her courage, because I don't know if I could be as strong. | |
| axcar | |
| I will definitely share this story with my two teenage daughters and their girlfriends who will be entering college. This is something that young people do not think about and it comes with devasting consequences. I appreciate Marvelyn's desire to help others. She is so unselfish and brave. Thanks for the wonderful article Delilah. I am happy to be able to share these stories with my daughters( the story about the young girl who was raped and this story) and hope to possibly save them and their friends from the painful experiences these poor young women had to go through. Thanks again. | |
| Carolanne -- Los Angeles | |
| What a powerful story. Hearing about someone like Marvelyn really reminds us that it could happen to anyone. | |
| Maya522 -- Plainfield | |
| I'm so glad that Savvy Miss did this story on Marvelyn Brown. It reinforces the fact that HIV does not discriminate. I think it is great that Marvelyn is so open with her feelings and beliefs and does not define herself based on her HIV status. It is definitely an article that I will share with others. | |
| TinyDancer | |
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I truly feel for Marvelyn. She is a beautiful woman and I applaud her for being so courageous to share her story with everyone. But it makes me so angry that people are still having unprotected sex all the time. Let this be a wake up call that diseases are real and it could happen to you or someone you know. |
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| Truthbetold1 | |
| Marvelyn, I am very proud of you. For you too have the courage that you did when you revealed yourself to the public eye tell us a lot about you, however, I feel that because HIV is such of a deadly thing, it's selfish on your behalf when you choose to sleep with another who's negative. I underthand that you are a victim yourself, but a negative person should be educated on the disease, and you should just walk away because you know better than they do. Men can be so stupid when it comes to sex and a good orgasm, so they really don't think about the after-effects. I had a friend/Trina that died in 2004 and my 2nd cousin died in Sept 2007, so I understand how you feel. If I offend you, I'm sorry, but that's just my opinion. | |
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