Central Area Food Bank

Lisa Smith knows what it’s like to have nice things. She lived in a quality house in Thurston County with a fine living room set, slept on a Tempur-Pedic mattress, watched TV on a large flat screen and had almost everything she wanted. But a lot can change in one year.

A two-day gun violence prevention summit, beginning Tuesday, King County is billing as the first in Washington to tackle gun violence from a purely public health standpoint. The summit, at the White Center YWCA, will bring together youth leaders, doctors, public health experts, prosecutors, counselors and lawmakers.

Black feminist, activist, and BABES Network-YWCA advocate Tranisha Arzah is a true inspiration, which is why she's one of The Advocate's Champions of Pride. “As someone who has been living with HIV since birth,” she says, “it’s been what has propelled me to educate and organize spaces in which we can talk about what it means to live with HIV—and how HIV impacts everyone.