Pedro Zamora

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

For the trade unionist, see Pedro Zamora Álvarez.
Pedro Zamora

Born February 29, 1972
Diezmero, San Miguel del Padron, Havana, Cuba[1]
Died November 11, 1994
Mercy Hospital, Coconut Grove, Miami, Florida[2]

Pedro Pablo Zamora[3] (born Pedro Pablo Zamora y Diaz[4] February 29, 1972 - November 11, 1994) was an openly gay, Cuban-American HIV-positive AIDS educator who became famous for his activism, testimony before Congress, and his appearance on MTV's reality television series, The Real World: San Francisco. U.S. President Bill Clinton credited Zamora with personalizing and humanizing those with the disease.

Contents

[edit] Early life

Zamora was born in Diezmero,[5] San Miguel del Padrón on the outskirts of Havana, Cuba, the eighth and youngest child of his family. His father, Hector Zamora, had fought in the Cuban Revolution for Fidel Castro, but became disillusioned with the changes after Castro came to power, revealed himself as a communist, and stripped the citizens of the their rights. According to Pedro, any mention of Castro in their home would result in a tirade from Hector, for which Hector developed a reputation with local informants who made life difficult for the Zamoras as a result. The Zamoras lived in a tiny house with a dirt floor. Food was scarce, and Zamora's mother, Zoraida Diaz,[4] would trade on the black market for food. There were few or no paved roads, and the only family in town with a television set would place it on a window sill so that neighborhood children could sit in the yard and watch it.[6]

Zoraida had been told after the birth of their seventh child that she would not be able to have another, so when Zamora was born feet first on February 29, 1972, the leap day of a leap year, he was immediately regarded as charmed. A priestess of Santeria, a faith combining Catholic and Yoruba beliefs popular in Latino cultures, told Zoraida that Zamora was a grande cabeza, or a “wise one” who was born to save lives. Zamora was honored, covered in cologne and white flowers, with only men permitted to cut his hair, women kneeling in his presence, and he was allowed to attend religious ceremonies meant only for adults. The priestess warned his family that angry gods were planning on capturing him, and a tiny silver chain was placed on his ankle to symbolically keep him bound to Earth so that the angels could not take him away. Despite the family’s hardships, Zamora was a happy child.[7]

The Zamoras left Cuba for the United States during the Mariel Boat Lift when Zamora was 8. After five days of processing, the entire family was set to board for the U.S. on May 30, 1980, when, mere hours before they did so, government officials ruled that his four older brothers and older sister were too close to the draft age, and had to remain. The elder siblings insisted, over their parents’ wishes, that they go without them so that the younger ones would know a better life. Heartbroken, their parents agreed, and took Pedro, his sister Mily, and his brother Jesus onto a boat filled with 250 people that was built for half that number. After a thirteen-hour trip amid stormy seas, they arrived in the U.S. The Zamoras began new lives, with Zamora residing most of his life in Hialeah, Florida, a suburb of Miami. Though many of the Cuban immigrants viewed the Boat Lift as the first sign that Castro’s regime would fall and that they would be reunited with their families, the day never came. The pain of the family’s continued separation was particularly hard on Zoraida. As a result, she and Zamora became very close.[8]

Zoraida died of skin cancer when Zamora was 13. Unable to grieve, he went into denial in two ways: by throwing himself into his schoolwork, and by having promiscuous sex. He was an honors student, President of the Science Club, Captain of the Cross-Country Team, and as one of the most popular students in Hialeah High School, was voted Most Intellectual and Most All-Around. He decided to become a doctor in order to help others as his mother couldn’t be. He also sought to replace the love he lost from her passing by becoming sexually active. A handsome, charming and curious young man seeking attention and love, Zamora found many sexual partners, but was ignorant of safe sex, as the only AIDS education he ever received was in the seventh grade from a man who did not present the disease in a personable way as a legitimate threat to him, but as something distant that only afflicted societal undesirables like prostitutes and drug addicts. Things such as sex and condoms were never mentioned, and thus Zamora never identified himself as someone at risk. When he was 14, his father, suspecting his son was gay, had his brother follow him when he was supposed to be going out with a group of friends, only to find him with his boyfriend. Zamora admitted his sexual orientation when his father confronted him. Hector, rather than being upset, was concerned over the homophobia to which his son would be subjected, but affirmed that he would be supportive of his son.[9]

[edit] Living with AIDS

In his junior year of high school, Zamora donated blood during a Red Cross blood drive, and received a letter a month and a half later saying that his blood tested “reactive”, though it did not specify for what, as the general screening was for a variety of viruses and infections. Denying his suspicions, Zamora threw the letter away, and continued to ignore repeated letters requesting additional tests. Six months later, he was finally tested, and on November 9, 1989, the results confirmed that he had HIV.[10]

Zamora and his loved ones were devastated. He decided to redouble his efforts to graduate from high school before he died, though he did not give much thought to his health, as he was still in denial. Five months later, he suffered a severe case of shingles that covered the entire right side of his body and face. Though with medication, the condition subsided after two months, it served as a traumatic wake-up call for Zamora, who decided to do something about it. He joined a Miami-based HIV/AIDS resource center called Body Positive, where for the first time, he met others with HIV and AIDS, and educated himself about the disease, learning how to lead a positive life with it. Soon thereafter, he came to talk about his condition to others to attempt to raise awareness about the disease in his community.[11]

Although his academic accomplishments could have gained him admission to very good colleges, including possibly those of Ivy League status, Zamora decided to make a career as an AIDS educator. Graduating from high school in 1990, he began to lecture at schools of all levels, PTA meetings, churches, and anyone else who would listen, traveling the country, sitting on the boards of various AIDS organizations, hoping to use what time he had left to prevent others from sharing his fate. At the age of 19, his work came into national focus when Eric Morganthaler wrote a front page article about him for the Wall Street Journal, resulting in numerous talk show interviews by Geraldo Rivera, Phil Donahue and Oprah Winfrey.[12][13] Though Zamora was personally gay, he chose to not make that explicit point to school children, preferring to emphasize to them that he got the disease through unprotected sex, so as to underscore the fact that anyone, homosexual and heterosexual, could contract HIV. On July 12, 1993, he testified before the United States Congress, arguing for more explicit HIV/AIDS educational programs, saying, “If you want to reach me as a young man -- especially a young gay man of color -- then you need to give me information in a language and vocabulary I can understand and relate to."[14]

In 1993, Zamora met a fellow AIDS educator named Sean Sasser during a gay/lesbian march in Washington D.C., when both were involved with other people, and they became friends.[15] The constant travel took its toll on Zamora, who at times was so tired that he was forced to cancel speaking engagements.[16]

[edit] Experiences with The Real World

In mid-1993, Zamora became aware that MTV was casting for the next season of their reality tv show, The Real World, which would take place in San Francisco. His best friend and roommate, Alex Escarno, convinced him to put together an audition tape, arguing that he could reach more people simply by living in The Real World house than through the cross-country travel that taxed him so.[17] Six months later, Zamora received a phone call from producers, telling him that out of the 25,000 applicants, he had been chosen to be a castmate on the show; Zamora was elated.[18]

Zamora and his six castmates (Mohammed Bilal, Rachel Campos, Pam Ling, Cory Murphy, David "Puck" Rainey, and Judd Winick) moved into the house at 953 Lombard Street[19] on Russian Hill on February 12, 1994. While the producers informed the other six housemates that they would be living with someone HIV-positive, they did not tell them who it was. The first to meet Zamora was Cory Murphy, who travelled to the house with Zamora. During their trip, he told her he had AIDS. Zamora quickly bonded with his housemates. Zamora informed his roommate, Judd Winick, that he was the one with AIDS by telling him he was an AIDS educator,[20] and the rest of of the cast by showing them a scrapbook of his career as an AIDS educator. Another castmate, Rachel Campos, became uncomfortable with this, and initially distanced herself from Zamora, stating that she wanted to know how this would affect her, but said nothing for fear of seeming intolerant. Zamora took this as an act of rejection on her part, though the two later formed a rapport, and Zamora addressed her concerns about his condition by educating her about HIV and AIDS.[21]

Winick, who became roommates and best friends with Zamora, stated that Zamora had an almost “clairvoyant” ability to broach sensitive subjects, and still sensing that Winick had lingering doubts about sharing a room with him, Zamora educated Winick on ways in which the virus could and could not be transmitted, and did so subtly, through casual conversation, so that Winick did not even realize it.[22]

As the weeks went on, Wincik and castmate Pam Ling often attended Zamora's lectures at schools in the Bay Area, which allowed them to learn more about HIV and AIDS.[23] Castmate Cory Murphy joined the trio about halfway through their stay in the loft, often joining them on outings.[24]

Sean Sasser had been living in San Francisco for a couple of years, so when Zamora moved into the loft, he and Sean began dating. Zamora asked the show's producers for permission to go out without cameras, so that he and Sasser could get to know one another in a more natural setting. The producers allowed this, and as the two continued dating, they eventually fell in love. Sasser proposed to Zamora, and the two exchanged vows in a commitment ceremony in the loft.[25] Their relationship was nominated for "Favorite Love Story" at the 2008 Real Worlds Awards Bash.[26]

Zamora came into personal conflict with housemate David "Puck" Rainey from the beginning. In addition to Rainey's poor hygiene, his insistence on controlling conversations, and his refusal to compromise on household issues, he was particularly abusive towards Zamora, mocking his Cuban accent, and denigrating his career as an educator. Winick described Rainey as “obnoxious” and “homophobic,” and Zamora, realizing that the stress of his confrontations with Rainey was contributing to his deteriorating health, threatened to move out. The entire cast voted to evict Rainey from the house. Zamora’s health continued to deteriorate, however, and he suffered night sweats, Pneumocystis jiroveci pneumonia, and weight loss, and slept more and more. He soon recovered, and was even able to participate in activities like parasailing during the group’s trip to Hawaii, but the cast grew more worried about him nonetheless, often covering up for him during their weekly “confessional” interviews with the producers by lying to them, saying that Zamora was doing fine when they knew otherwise.[27]

The cast moved out of the loft on June 19, 1994, and the first episodes of The Real World: San Francisco began airing a week later. Zamora visited his family in Miami before returning to San Francisco to live with Sasser. When Winick, Zamora, Murphy and Ling met again that August for a reunion party, Zamora looked haggard, and suffered headaches. Whereas Zamora had previously been talkative, he was often silent for long periods, found it difficult to follow conversations or remember locations of places he had known for years. Zamora went to New York City for a scheduled interview on CBS This Morning but cancelled. His contacts at MTV convinced him to see a doctor, but when he arrived at the MTV offices, he didn’t know where he was. On August 17, Zamora checked into St. Vincent’s Hospital, and was diagnosed with toxoplasmosis, a condition which causes brain lesions, resulting in fatigue, headaches and confusion. His sister Mily and best friend Escarano, flew to New York to be with him. While medication alleviated the toxoplasmosis, further tests, including a biopsy, revealed he had Progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML), a rare and usually fatal viral inflammation of the brain that breaks down the electrical impulses of the nervous system. Although only 1% of AIDS patients contracted PML, it usually dissipates on its own in patients with higher T-cell counts of 300-400. More serious symptoms of the illness can include paralysis or aphasia. At the time, Zamora’s T-cell count was 32, and the inflammation was attacking the frontal lobes of his brain, causing him short-term memory loss. Zamora was given three to four months to live.[28]

Pedro Zamora (left) with Alonso R. del Portillo in 1993
Pedro Zamora (left) with Alonso R. del Portillo in 1993

On September 3, about three weeks after checking into St. Vincent’s, Zamora was flown to Miami to be with his family. The PML slowly took away Zamora’s ability to speak, though when then-President Bill Clinton called Zamora to thank him for his work,[29] Zamora, elated at the call, was able to respond. Clinton, along with a Zamora family friend named Alonso R. del Portillo, Attorney General Janet Reno, Secretary of Health and Human Services Donna Shalala, and Florida Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, reached an agreement with Cuba that would admit 20,000 Cubans per year. The Zamoras would be among the first, and would arrive in the next couple of weeks, reuniting the family for the first time in 15 years.[30][31]

On October 21, Winick announced to the press that MTV had begun a trust in order to pay for Zamora's medical costs, as Zamora had no medical insurance.[29]

During the wait for the family members from Cuba, Zamora developed a high fever and was admitted to Mercy Hospital.[32] Wishing not to subject his family to a slow and prolonged death as had occurred with his mother, Zamora stated his wish not to be kept alive by artificial means. Hospitalized and unable to speak for almost a month, being fed intravenously, and becoming completely unresponsive, his family honored his wishes, and withdrew life support, including medication, food and water. Surrounded by his family, Escarno, Winick and Ling, Zamora died at 4:40 a.m. EST on November 11, 1994, the day after the final episode of The Real World: San Francisco aired. He was buried on November 13 at Vista Memorial Gardens in Miami Lakes, Florida.[33]

[edit] Legacy and tribute

After his death, Zamora was publicly praised by President Bill Clinton and Donna Shalala for his leadership and work in educating high school students, saying that through his appearances on The Real World, Pedro had become a part of viewers’ families, and that all people who watched the show could now say that they “knew” someone who had lived with AIDS.[34][29]

MTV broadcast A Tribute to Pedro Zamora, a special memorial program, in his honor.

A street in Miami (SW 59th Street) was given the name "Pedro Zamora Way", although it is not in Hialeah, where he lived. Howard D. McMillan Middle School is located on that street where he did a presentation on HIV and AIDS. The school is located in Kendall, a suburb of Miami, Florida.

A number of organizations were created in Pedro's name, including:

Winick continued lecturing on behalf of Pedro,[35] speaking at over 70 schools across the United States throughout 1995, before time constraints forced him to stop, but his friendship with Zamora helped shape his subsequent work as a comic book writer and artist. His autobiographical graphic novel, Pedro and Me: Friendship, Loss, and What I Learned, was published in September 2000. It was awarded and nominated for numerous awards, including six American Library Association awards, a nomination for an Eisner Award, won Winick his first GLAAD award, has been praised by creators such as Frank Miller, Neil Gaiman, and Armistead Maupin, and has been incorporated into school curricula across the country. Winick's experiences with Pedro would also help shape his work in mainstream superhero comics, which would receive considerable media attention for storylines in Green Lantern and Green Arrow which explored gay or AIDS-related themes.[36]

[edit] References

  1. ^ Wall Street Journal, September 4, 1994, Page A-1.
  2. ^ Wall Street Journal, September 4, 1994, Page A-1.
  3. ^ Wall Street Journal, September 4, 1994, Page A-1.
  4. ^ a b Pedro Zamora, WPBT Channel 2-New Florida, November 11-17, 2004, Oscar Lopez Producer
  5. ^ Wall Street Journal, September 4, 1994, Page A-1.
  6. ^ Winick, Judd; Pedro and Me: Friendship, Loss, and What I Learned; 2000; Henry Holt & Co. Pages 33-34.
  7. ^ Winick, Judd; 2000; Pages 34-36.
  8. ^ Winick, Judd; 2000; Pages 37-40.
  9. ^ Winick, Judd; 2000; Pages 41-44.
  10. ^ Winick, Judd; 2000; Pages 45-46.
  11. ^ Winick, Judd; 2000; Pages 49-56.
  12. ^ Winick, Judd; 2000; Pages 57-58.
  13. ^ Vaillancourt, Daniel; "Pedro Zamora Tells All"; The Peak; volume 87; issue 11; July 11, 1994.
  14. ^ The Pedro Zamora Public Policy Fellowship
  15. ^ Winick, Judd; 2000; Page 103.
  16. ^ Winick, Judd; 2000; Page 58.
  17. ^ The Peak Volume LXXXVII, Issue 11; July 11, 1994
  18. ^ Winick, Judd; 2000; Pages 58-59.
  19. ^ Information on The Real World: San Francisco at brianx.com
  20. ^ Winick, Judd; 2000; Pages 61-67.
  21. ^ The revelations occurred in the season premiere. Zamora's later discussion with Campos occurred in a subsequent episode.
  22. ^ Winick, Judd; 2000; Pages 68-71.
  23. ^ Winick, Judd; 2000; Pages 96-102.
  24. ^ Winick, Judd; 2000; Page 111.
  25. ^ Winick, Judd; 2000; Pages 103-109.
  26. ^ Real World Awards Bash nominees for "Favorite Love Story" at mtv.com
  27. ^ Winick, 2000; Pages 114-115.
  28. ^ Winick, Judd; 2000; Pages 119-137.
  29. ^ a b c A Tribute to Pedro Zamora MTV; Broadcast in 1994.
  30. ^ "AIDS activist, near death, to see family from Cuba"; Reuters; October 7, 1994.
  31. ^ Winick, Judd; 2000; Pages 141-146,
  32. ^ Pedro Zamora, WPBT Channel 2-New Florida, November 11-17, 2004, Oscar Lopez Producer
  33. ^ Winick, Judd; 2000; Pages 146-161.
  34. ^ Winick, Judd; 2000; Page 160.
  35. ^ Winick, Judd; 2000; 162-173.
  36. ^ "Game One of World Series Begins Today; Bold New Comic Deals With Issue Of AIDS; Displaced Kurds Attempt To Reenter Life Back In Kirkuk"; cnn.com; October 23, 2004
  • Wall Street Journal, October 21, 1994, A-1
  • The Real World Diaries (1996; Pocket Books; MTV Books)
  • http://www.frumpy.com/judd/index.html
  • The Worlds of Judd Winick
  • The Weekly News (TWN); "'Real World' Shooting was Difficult, But Pedro's Message was Tantamount"; November 2, 1994, Page 28
  • The Washington Post; "MTV's All-Too-True-Grit 'Real World' Has a New Roommate: AIDS"; June 23, 1994
  • El Nuevo Herald; "Hispano Integra Un Panel Estatal"; November 30, 1992
  • Entertainment Weekly; "'Real' Life Support"; September 30, 1994
  • The Des Moines Register; "Students get a Dose of Reality about AIDS"; May 12, 1992, Page 2A
  • Sun-Sentinel; "One Of Their Own, Teen-ager with AIDS Virus Cautions Students"; February 5, 1992, Page 1B
  • Wall Street Journal; "The Last Chapter of "Pedro's Story" Is Drawing to a Close" by Eric Morgenthaler; October 21, 1994, Page 1
  • POZ magazine; "Pedro Zamora's Real World" by Hal Rubenstein; August-September 1994
  • The Miami Herald; "Pedro Zamora's Influence Lives On" by Johnny Diaz, March 4, 1995, Page 25A
  • El Nuevo Herald; Cientos de Personas Recuerdan a Activista de SIDA" by Frances Robles; November 21, 1994, Page 1B
  • The Miami Herald; AIDS Awareness Gets Personal At Schools" by Chaisse Grant; November 29, 1994, Page 3B
  • People magazine; "HIV, And Positive, Pedro Zamora of MTV's Real World Lived His Too-Brief Life To Its Limit"; November 28, 1994
  • Entertainment Weekly; "MTV's Real Tragedy" by Jess Cagle; November 25, 1994
  • Miami Herald; "Frank Talk of AIDS Gets Kids Attention" by Jon O'Neill; October 17, 1991
  • The Advocate; "Pedro Zamora - AIDS Educator" by Karl Soehnlein; January 14, 1992, Page 62
  • South Florida magazine; "Silent No More, A Young Man with AIDS Joins The Front Line" by Ana Gloria Rivas-Vazquez, Page 28
  • El Nuevo Herald; "Joven Lleva A Television Mensaje De Alerta Contra El SIDA" by Armando Cortina; July 9, 1994
  • Miami Herald; "AIDS Educator Zamora Critically Ill" by Jon O'Neill; August 29, 1994, Page 2B
  • Miami Herald; "Students Gather Up Help, Hope - They Raise Money for AIDS Educator" by Jon O'Neil, September 4, 1994,
  • Miami Herald; "Dying of AIDS, Zamora to be Reunited With Kin" by Armando Correa; October 6, 1994, Page 1B
  • Miami Herald; "AIDS Week Named For Zamora" by Jodi Mailander; November 17, 1994, Page 1B
  • USA Today; "Lifeline: Zamora Memorial", November 21, 1994
  • Miami Herald; "Through Laughter and Tears, Pedro Zamora's Life Celebrated" by Frances Robles; November 21, 1994, Page 1B
  • Miami Herald; "It's Now Pedro Zamora Way, AIDS Activist Honored With Renamed Street" by Claudia P. Solis, March 1, 1995, Page 2B
Cuba Portal
Languages