INWARD BATTLES, OUTWARD ACTIONS

WASHINGTON -- Thousands of young adults, including 12 IU students, converged in front of the White House Saturday to participate in one of the largest AIDS rallies ever.\nEchoing chants of "U.S. lead the way, fight global AIDS" helped to keep an estimated 8,000 demonstrators in high spirits as the march began and continued down a partially blocked-off Constitution Avenue to the U.S. Capitol. As a mile of students marched toward the Capitol, downtown traffic came to a standstill with people honking horns in support of the march, only fueling chants to increase in volume. Pedestrians walking along the opposite side of the street showed support for the march by clapping and giving thumbs up.\nIU's chapter of the Student Global AIDS Campaign took a dozen representatives to the march. IU SGAC Co-director Kunal Suryawala said he felt a sense of pride being in Washington, D.C. with other AIDS activists.\n"The biggest reason we wanted to come here was to show solidarity and show people and President Bush there is support for people in other nations," Suryawala said. "We care, and this is one disease we need to get rid of and this is the war we need to be fighting."\nSuryawala said he was impressed with the results of the march. "I looked back and I was in awe," he said. "It was crazy; there were so many people. I actually felt empowered. I think we really made a difference. President Bush was supposed to be in town, and you can't ignore 8,000 people in your backyard."\nMany who helped to organize the event said they were pleased with the participation.\n"I think the turnout is stupendous, and we definitely exceeded our expectations," said Noah Heller, former employee of SGAC. "This is one of the largest student contingents to really speak out on something. I'm ecstatic about how many new people we have brought out for this cause."\nThe Student Global AIDS Campaign, in partnership with Africa Action and Advocates for Youth, organized the largest youth AIDS rally in U.S. history, with an estimated 5,000 students from more than 120 schools participating. This first-ever national student AIDS march was coordinated with youth all over the world as part of Youth AIDS Day, a global day of youth action to end AIDS.\nThe protest began Saturday morning with speeches from AIDS activists and people infected with HIV, which helped to energize thousands of students for the two-mile march through downtown.\nOne of the speakers prior to the march was veteran civil rights activist Bernice Reagan, who said she was touched by seeing future leaders unite against an issue that affects fellow peers. \n"I am honored to be here today. My heart feels so good to see all of you here. Your ability to change the world is directly related to forming a position on something that might wipe you out," Reagan said. "When your freedom is challenged and you are treated as if you are powerless, you must stop that from happening. When I got word that a youth group was having an AIDS rally in front of the White House, I said 'hallelujah.'"\nEric Sawyer, an adult infected with the HIV virus and founder of ACT UP/New York, praised students for their hard work and told students to keep speaking out and making a difference.\n"It's really great to see the turnout today, especially with the leadership coming from young people. You are the ones that have to make a change and the future of the world is definitely in your hands," Sawyer said. "By taking the streets and opening our mouths, we're helping those people who don't have a way to find a way."\nIU's chapter of SGAC drove more than 600 miles to participate in the march to help raise awareness about the current AIDS and HIV problem.\nFreshman Philip Shelton said the point of marching for any cause is a good idea.\n"I was very happy with the turnout and the march overall, and I also excited to see that there were people our age involved in activism and to see young people care about an issue," Shelton said. "I'm really into labor rights and anything you can do to protest against I think is a good thing."\nIU sophomore Arnav Patel came with the group at the last minute and said he was impressed with the level of intensity from the students during the march.\n"I'm not particularly involved with this cause. I did enjoy this in terms of the grand scale of the protest," Patel said. "Everyone who was there was passionate and wanted to be there and the energy level of everyone was high."\nTurnout for the march was on the minds of all who attended Saturday's protest; 8,000 protesters were needed to make it the largest youth rally in history.\nMarch Coordinator Sean Barry attributed much of the day's success to the people who made it happen -- the students.\n"I really didn't do as much as the students have done," Barry said. "They are the ones who were on their campuses and informed their fellow students. They are the ones who mobilized and hold the government accountable for its actions."\nReagan said she is happy to not be the marcher and is happy future leaders are taking a dynamic position in activism.\n"I'm honored that I'm being honored as a freedom fighter. There hasn't been an organization that is fearless about what is threatening the future of people," Reagan said. "To be here and not be a leader or pointing my finger and be supporting leadership coming from a generation young enough to take over power makes my heart fierce."\n-- Contact Senior Writer Lindsay Jancek at lmjancek@indiana.edu.