By Mary Alice Miller

In commemoration of HIV/AIDS Awareness Month, the African American Clergy and Elected Officials (AACEO) celebrated the 17th anniversary of Watchful Eye, founded by Dr. Dee Bailey.

Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries called Dee Bailey “an activist extraordinaire. Her spirit, her intellect, her commitment to community is second to none. We are so appreciative for her work with Watchful Eye and the health and wellbeing of this community.”
New York City Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch addressed the standing room only crowd.

“Public safety is a shared responsibility. When tragedy strikes, it is shared through loss and grief and the sense that something has gone wrong,” said Tisch. “We saw in Bushwick a 7 month old child was shot and killed while sitting in her stroller on a Brooklyn street. There is nothing that makes that acceptable. A life that had barely begun taken in an instant. Moments like that demand something from us: action.”

Tisch spoke of the record reduction in violent crime in New York City.
“The NYPD has removed more than 1,000 guns from the streets so far this year. Through the first three months of 2026 murders in New York City are at the lowest levels ever. Major crime is down across all five boroughs and we have matched last year’s record low levels for shooting incidents and shooting victims,” said Tisch. “Those numbers reflect real progress and represent lives saved, people who made it home, families that stay whole and ordinary days that just stay ordinary.

That is part of NYPD building trust and partnership with the community. Trust means enforcing the law fairly, owning our mistakes, holding ourselves accountable because it is the right thing to do.”

“People talk about democracy as if it began with the Declaration of Independence. I submit to you that the true democracy in the United States of America began with the passing of the Civil Rights Act. Until then, there was no true democracy in America for all of its inhabitants,” said Congresswoman Yvette Clarke.

Clarke explained the seriousness of our current moment.
“But we have allowed a subculture of white supremacy to talk us out of a true democracy. They have used every method, every mechanism, from violence to voter suppression to mid-decade gerrymandering, to maintain their power,” said Clarke. “We are in a battle, not just for this generation, but for future generations to come. The dismantling of the federal enterprise is about how they can reshape this nation in a form that will perpetuate white supremacy for generations to come.”

Clarke asked, “How do we combat that? We look forward to exercising our right to vote with joy. We unleash generations of voters. The only way to stop the madness and get some accountability. It is wrong for us to sit back and watch this nation implode after all we have sacrificed, after all we have contributed, after all we have built and made possible for this nation. to be great.”
“We have to prepare for the spring and summer to be able to channel some of the negative energy that we see and repurpose it with something positive,” Bronx Borough President Vanessa Gibson.

Gibson continued, “We had a meeting with Bronx DA Darcel Clarke and contacted social media – TikTok, and SnapChat and Instagram and Facebook – and we met with them and said ‘you have to hold yourselves accountable, too, because you monitor activity. If we see violence perpetuated on social media we have a responsibility to stop that.”

Gibson added, “Also, a lot of young people who were taking over malls across the city said they were bored, they had nothing else to do. A young person should never be bored in our community. We address that with jobs and programs and activating spaces for young people, and making sure that schools that are closed during the holidays should be open.”

“Before there was a watchful Eye, Dee Bailey was on the ground making sure we understood what was going on,” Brooklyn Deputy Borough President Rev. Kim Council. “I came here to give honor where honor is due for the least of these.”
“Dee Bailey made sure that people got treatment, resources, and medicine,” said Assemblywoman Stefani Zinerman. “That is why we are doing better but among our seniors and some of our young people we need to do more to make sure that we conquer AIDS.”

“Luck was the only thing that stood between my status and so many people standing around us,” said Assemblywoman Latrice Walker. “HIV is still strong, still growing, people are living longer, but people are still being diagnosed at incredible numbers. We want to honor Dee Bailey who keeps that on the front of our minds.”

Dee Bailey closed the event by introducing Bishop Stacy Latimer, a long time collaborator.
“This man has been to funerals with me when nobody wanted to touch the body when people thought HIV could be spread after the person was dead. No, it is not a white male disease. It is right here in our congregations and communities,” said Bailey. “Dr. Monica Sweeney sent me to school to learn all I could able this infectious disease. I was the person who did bereavement counseling when no one else would. It is unfair for us to die in secret. It is unfair to not say what they passed away from.”

“This year will be 39 years that I have been diagnosed with HIV,” said Bishop Stacey Latimer. “I have never had an opportunistic infection, never been sick until 2019 when I was diagnosed with Stage 4 prostate cancer. There is a connection between prostate cancer and HIV. But a lot of people don’t know that. Some of the insurance companies don’t want to pay for trials and medicines. You have to become your own best advocate.”