Page 33 - That’s Crazy ebook

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There was a lot of money flowing during that time because AIDS

had just hit throughout the United States, especially in underserved
communities. The meeting's missions were to get the information to

the underserved communities. At the end of the regional workshops,
we had to prepare for two national conferences that consisted of 1500

people each, one was to be held in Los Angeles and the other was held

in New Orleans.

The fun was being young, traveling and feeling that we were

contributing to the cause. The experience and training were worth a
million dollars. By now, my eyes were wide open to what the world

offered, especially when I saw how the hotels would put me up in the
best suites because they knew we had the power to bring millions of

dollars of revenue to their hotel. I remember going to Los Angeles,
California for the first time for a site-visit to choose a hotel for the

national conference of 1500 people. One of the hotels had arranged
for my limousine and when I arrived at the hotel, they had the general

manager waiting to whisk me to my suite with a fruit tray, a bottle of
wine, cookies and milk waiting for my arrival. I was like, "Hollywood,

here I am." This country girl was never the same. I finally realized this
was how the other side lived.

This also gave me first exposure to the Latino community.

Growing up in North Carolina, everything was just black folks and
white folks. So, getting this experience allowed me to see how another

culture functions. What I did know was that they were unhappy that a

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