Darius, 25, has been active in STD prevention in the community ever since he was 14 years old. Ninth-grade sexual-education class inspired him to help educate about preventing the spread of STDs, HIV, and AIDS in the community. At the age of 21, Darius joined a group in Los Angeles called Positively Speaking; with this group he traveled to different schools facilitating about HIV/AIDS.
Two years later he moved to Chicago, where he started volunteering at different community events like Love Fest. Volunteering led him to becoming an outreach specialist at Taskforce Prevention and Community Services, and he went on to become a prevention counselor and a certified HIV tester. Soon after, he was hired by the Public Health Institute in June 2008 as the project manager of the Chicago Black Gay Men’s Caucus. Darius is still with the caucus, and plans to continue to do what he can to make a difference in the community.
Did you know? Although Darius is a pretty small guy, he is known for eating like a man with two stomachs—so his friends call him “Fatty.”