LAURA SECORD

BIO: Laura Secord, aka Mojo Mamma, has practiced as a Nurse Practitioner at UAB's 1917 Clinic for twelve years. She cares for nearly 1/3 of the clinic's HIV+ patients, providing HIV and general medical treatment, along with love, humor and lots of hugs.

She has been a clinic staff representative to the 1917 Clinic Patient Advisory Board for 7 years. She has been a leader at The Heartsong Spiritual Retreat for HIV positives since 2003, where she teaches a writing workshop.

Laura balances the care of HIV patients with an 18 year practice as a poet, playwright and actress. Many of the poems that she has written for her patients are featured in her lecture/storytelling/poetry monologue entiltled Mojo and Medicine. Her poem, "Lazarus Rising"-- a tribute to HIV+ survivors, appeared in A&U Magazine, and in the recent short documentary, Positive. She was a featured poet at the PRIDE poetry reading in 2004, and often shares her poetry at World AIDS Day services.

Laura represented Birmingham in the national tour of The Vagina Monologues. She is the founder of Birmingham's first women's performance event, My Sister's Translation. She is the author of the poetry collection, Becoming a Mojo Mamma. She has performed at venues in Birmingham, AL, Atlanta, GA, Asheville, NC, Austin, TX and Taos, NM. Her solo play, Sanapia's Courage Medicine, that shares the story of a Native American medicine woman, has been performed in Birmingham and Vermont.

NOMINATED BY: Kelly Ross Davis of the 1917 Clinic at UAB