Confused and scared after learning he was HIV positive in 1986, Charles E. Clifton could have stayed on the sidelines of the AIDS epidemic, quietly coping out of the public eye.
But Mr. Clifton refused to be a silent victim of the disease. Instead, friends and family said, the diagnosis empowered him and made him into one of Chicago’s most inspiring leaders in the fight against HIV and AIDS.
Mr. Clifton died Sunday, Aug. 15, of a pulmonary embolism at Michael Reese Hospital in Chicago. The Kenwood resident was 45.
Mr. Clifton volunteered with several community HIV organizations before joining the staff of Test Positive Aware Network in 1995 as director of the Men of Color HIV/AIDS Coalition. Two years later, he became editor of the agency’s two nationally respected HIV treatment journals, Positively Aware and Positively Aware en Espanol.
In July 2002, he was appointed executive director of the Test Positive Aware Network. Colleagues said Mr. Clifton strengthened the organization’s finances. He was soft-spoken, yet direct and kind, but knew when to be firm.
“Charles was a black, gay man living with AIDS in America, and there was power in that,” said Phill Wilson, executive director of the Black AIDS Institute in Los Angeles, who worked with Mr. Clifton. “Charles looked at the world from a point of view of, what else could you really do to me? And that gave him a freedom and an ability to speak truth to power. His life actually is a testament to why it is important for people to be able to live in the light.”
“The world has lost a great leader in the fight against HIV/AIDS,” AIDS Foundation of Chicago Executive Director Mark Ishaug said in a statement. “Under Charles’ guidance as executive director, TPAN has become a national and international leader in HIV treatment advocacy and prevention issues and efforts to empower people living with HIV/AIDS.”
A native of Milwaukee, Mr. Clifton came to Chicago in 1995 to pursue a doctorate in history at the University of Chicago. Between 1996 and 2002, he was an active member of local and national AIDS groups, including the AIDS Foundation of Chicago, the Black AIDS Institute and the North American AIDS Treatment Action Forum.
Mr. Clifton worked with the Chicago Department of Public Health’s STD/HIV/AIDS Public Policy and Programs division on several important initiatives. In 2001, he became a member of the department’s HIV Prevention Planning Group.
Mr. Clifton completed his undergraduate studies in history at San Francisco State University in 1993 and received a master’s degree in English from Dartmouth College in 1994.
He aspired to a doctorate, but the demands of his advocacy work caused Mr. Clifton to pursue his interest in history with a second master’s degree, which he received in 2002.
Survivors include his mother, Claudell Clifton Weaver; two sisters, Charlotte Renee Jones and Elizabeth Cole-Crawford; and his partner of eight years, Kurt Kausch.
A memorial service after cremation will be held from 2 to 5 p.m. Aug. 27, at the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum, 2430 N. Cannon Drive, Chicago.
