Deon Haywood facts for kids
Deon Haywood (born April 4, 1968 in New Orleans) is an American human rights defender, activist, educator, and director noted for her work combating discrimination against Black women, adverse living conditions against the working poor, and limited access to HIV healthcare for residents of the American South. She is the executive director of the social justice non-profit, Women With A Vision.
Career
As a member of Women With Vision (WWAV)--which was co-founded by her mother Catherine Haywood and Danita Muse in 1989 as a grassroots collective to halt the spread of HIV/AIDS in communities of color—Deon Haywood helped connect those living with HIV to medical care and recovery programs while also advocating for alleviation of homelessness and affordability issues throughout the rapidly gentrifying post-Hurricane Katrina New Orleans. In 2008 she assumed executive directorship of Women With A Vision (WWAV) with the intent to overturn New Orleans' recently resurrected 203-year-old Crimes Against Nature Statute (CANS).
Prosecution under CANS was left to the discretion of arresting officers who had complete power over whether to apply the statute or to level lesser misdemeanor charges. Overwhelmingly, those targeted by the NOPD were poor Black and transgender women who were frequently baited and arrested by undercover officers. Compounding this issue was the fact that though women represented 32% of new HIV diagnoses in 2009, Black women were diagnosed with HIV at rates 11 times greater than their white counterparts. These figures, reported by the Louisiana Department of Health, worsened in 2011.
Arson attack and continued activism
In May 2012, while the CANS case was still waging, Women With A Vision's building was burned down in what the New Orleans Fire Department categorized an aggravated arson. Though no one was injured in the fire, WWAV's equipment and work space were entirely destroyed forcing the organization to temporarily relocate to a local church. News of the attack was reported in major headlines as a hate crime. Following the fire, Haywood doubled down on rebuilding and supporting Black LGBTQ advocacy in Mississippi and Louisiana. This work was assisted by a $100,000 grant from the Elton John AIDS Foundation in recognition of WWAV's success in pinpointing the localized crossover between AIDS, health stigmas, and inequality in the South.
This included dismantling misconceptions that the HIV epidemic was contained, exhorting Governor Jindal to expand Medicaid through available funds provided by the Affordable Care Act to fight the epidemic.
Combating poverty
In advocating for the working poor, Haywood has frequently targeted rising levels of gentrification which actively displaces natives in the name of post-Hurricane Katrina driven business development and recovery by passing ordinances to outlaw traditional practices, such as playing live music. Appearing on the Melissa Harris Perry Show on MSNBC in 2014 and 2015, she spoke of the need to provide women with tools to build solvent investments in their lives.
In 2017 she was one of 24 leaders of color in the LGBTQ movement to contribute to the Declaration of Liberation, a racial justice strategy for tackling the HIV epidemic. She was appointed to Mayor LaToya Cantrell's Human Relations Commission's Advisory Committee of New Orleans in 2018.
Awards
In 2010 and 2011 Haywood was spotlighted by TheBody.com for her work in the HIV/AIDS Community as a "Person Who Makes A Difference". She was made Queen of Krewe du Vieux for the 2012 Mardi Gras with the theme of the parade mirroring her "CANS" victory: "Crimes Against Nature". She was named a "Health Hero" by BET in 2013. That same year she was made the representative for the southern United States to The Human Rights Defenders in Dublin. In 2015 she was honored with the Kiyoshi Kuromiya Award and a grant from the Elton John Aid Foundation.
In 2016 Haywood was awarded a Public Voices Fellowship by the Ms. Foundation for Women, the Ben Smith Award from The ACLU. In 2018 she was awarded a fellowship by the Rockwood Leadership Institute and made a Flame Thrower Awardee by The Red Door Foundation. In 2019 she was named a "Champion of Pride" by The Advocate and awarded the Gloria Award from Gloria Steinem for her work "igniting change in communities to ensure equity and opportunity for all women".
Personal life
Haywood identifies as a lesbian. She is married to her longtime partner, Shaquita Borden.
