On December 1, 2004, we were privileged to participate in the World AIDS Day candlelight vigil held at the steps of City Hall in New York City. This vigil, which lasted twenty-four hours, included numerous readers reciting the names of victims of AIDS and HIV in the United States since the first recorded case. As time went on, more readers spoke at the same time, representing the spread of the disease. The event culminated with a protest on the steps of City Hall. We were able to record this event in photograph.

Upon returning to Southwestern, we sent out a call for submissions for a volume entitled “Silenced Thunder: Releasing the Mute Button on the Battle with AIDS/HIV.” We received numerous responses for our project, including poetry, prose, activism information, and artwork. These submissions came not only from the Southwestern community, but also from members of the Austin community. An article, written by Joshua, ran in the Chronicle, and AIDS Service of Austin, a non-profit organization, also contacted possible collaborators.

These submissions, along with the photographs taken at the vigil on December 1, were put together into the volume and bound. It is our hope that this volume will be able to inform members of the Southwestern community of not only the consequences of ignoring the AIDS epidemic in the world, but also enlighten the community to outlets to stop this epidemic.