tama

Grandma, remember what you told me? You told me to stop enduring everything on my own, and to make friends, follow my heart, and enjoy life. So this time around, I’m going to be bold and follow my heart. But you know what, grandma? I realized I had been living like that all along. I always thought I was alone, but… there was never a time when I was alone. I thought my life was pretty dull, but actually, I’ve always had pretty good moments. The only person who made my life seem pathetic was just me.

jim: why not

freddie: i saw a spider

jim: why didn’t you kill it

Lover of Life, Singer of Songs

Today, 27 years ago, Freddie Mercury passed away at his estate in Kensington, London after 45 years of life. He would sadly be among the 20,454 known deaths of AIDS related causes in 1991. Freddie didn’t want to be defined by his struggle with AIDS, as he waited 4 years to make a public statement about his diagnosis, but his death does prompt a very necessary dialogue. The Government turned a blind eye to the epidemic and the suffering of gay men in their countries who were dying at alarming rates. And when a “solution” was found in AZT, over 16 thousand had already died because of their negligence.

Nearly 22 million have died of AIDS since the beginning of the crisis in 1980 and today, 36.1 million people are living with HIV/AIDS. In Freddie’s memory, Brian May, Roger Taylor and Jim Beach founded the Mercury Phoenix Trust. The MPT primarily focuses on funding grassroots HIV/AIDS organizations that government just don’t reach. Since its founding, The MPT has provided more than 17 million dollars to over a thousand projects in 56 countries.

Roger: blocked

Freddie: Wait no unblock me I have something to tell you

Roger: unblocked