TBFighters

@tbfighters.org

3347 Followers 27 Following

A collective committed to fighting the structural causes of #tuberculosis (TB). TBFighters lead by following and act with compassion! #TimeFor5 TBFighters.org

AN INVITATION TO THE TBFIGHTERS Researchers at the University of Vermont, Harvard, and Yale are studying how the TBFighters movement formed, how it operates, and how it has built political power to challenge corporate interests and shape global TB policy. We're hosting an information session for TBFighters who want to learn more! DATE: July 20, 2026 TIME: 1PM EDT WHERE: Zoom FORMAT: Q&A WHAT WE'LL COVER: What the study is about, why we're studying the TBFighters, what participation would involve, and how your information would be protected. WHO SHOULD COME: Any TBFighters member, organizer, ally, partner, or alumni curious about the study. Principle Investigator Jon Shaffer, PhD The University of Vermont Jon.Shaffer@uvm.edu Research Coordinator London Sinclair, BS The University of Vermont London.Sinclair@uvm.edu
ARE YOU A TBFIGHTER? RESEARCHERS AT UVM, HARVARD, AND YALE ARE STUDYING HOW THE TB FIGHTERS MOVEMENT FORMED, HOW IT OPERATES, AND HOW IT HAS BUILT POLITICAL POWER TO CHALLENGE CORPORATE INTERESTS AND SHAPE GLOBAL TB POLICY. WHAT'S INVOLVED? One-on-one interview up to 90 minutes, held virtually or in person at a time convenient for you. YOUR PRIVACY Participation is confidential. All data will be pseudonymized and stored securely. WHO CAN PARTICIPATE? Anyone 18+ involved with the TBFighters, comfortable in English. Click the link in the post Email London Sinclair, the Research Coordinator in charge of this study at London.Sinclair@uvm.edu for more information.
Rate on a scale of 1 to 10 TB drag queen names. Moxie Flocks-to-Sin.I'd give it an 8. I'm going to give it a 7.5. I love that Moxie is flocking to sin. I'm going to give it an 8. Betty Aquilan that one's good. Big fan of Bedaquiline. I'm going to give Betty an 8.5 out of 10. Icy Niozid. I could get to know Icy. 8.2. I like that because like you could have so many diamonds on. You could be in a tiara. I see the like little glass vials hanging off. Like a 7.3. I like that one. That's a 9. Smee R Microscopy. It's giving pirate. Stripe shirt, a peg leg. I'm going to say 10 for how much it made me laugh. That's more like a drag king kind of name which I do like. I'm going to go 7.4. Dubya H Hoe. I'm not even sure I'm allowed to say that. 7. I'm trying to think of what kind of person. What kind of a drag artist would this person be? Someone who was, sometimes afraid to take a stand. That's going to be 15 out of 10 for me. I hope to see some of these drag queens at pride this summer in NYC
The cover of the book "It Was Vulgar & It Was Beautiful. How Aids Activists Used Art To Fight A Pandemic" by Jack Lowery, and the TBReaders logo. There's also a discussion question: "what are you looking forward to learning from this book?"
Some TB bacterium with deceptively friendly faces hanging out. Text above reads "What makes you care about tuberculosis?"
The book cover for "Illness As Metaphor And AIDS And Its Metaphors" and the TBReaders Book Club logo, with the text "What did you learn?"
LENACAPAVIR INFORMATION SESSIONS. Wednesday Session with MSF, 12:00PM EDT. Thursday Session with MSF, 5:00PM EDT.
TB Ed Talks. Dr. Melino Ndayizigiye of Partners In Health. Understanding Tuberculosis: Challenges to Global Eradication. Join us for a live presentation followed by Q and A. Wednesday, April 15th 8pm ET/5pm PT on the TBFighters YouTube Channel
TB Ed Talks Dr. Jennifer Furin with special guest Dr. Kelly Holland Partnering with People: Compassion and the End of Tuberculosis Celebrate Everything is Tuberculosis' birthday with a live presentation followed by Q&A Wednesday, March 18th 8pm ET/5pm PT on the TBFighters YouTube Channel
A large group of TB Hill Day participants posing for a photo on the Capitol steps in Washington DC
A person smiling and holding up a crocheted swap.
The doors the the McCourt School of Public Policy
A group of tuberculosis advocates posing for a picture in front of the US Capitol.
An announcement for TB Innovations and Breakthroughs livestream. There's a looping arrow pointing to a pair of lungs. The logos of the participating groups are included, IAVI, TB Alliance, TAG.
Two smiling people in playful fighting poses. They're TBFighters merch: black t-shirts with a globe punching the word "tuberculosis". They're showing off the same design on a tote bag and sticker on a water bottle.
A person wearing a black graphic t-shirt and a bright red blazer. The text reads "We can end tuberculosis". There is a globe with boxing gloves in the middle, and it's punching the word tuberculosis.
An announcement for the TB 101 livestream. An arrow points to an illustration of drug resistant TB bacterium. Text reads "TB 101. Monday 8 ET/5 PT with NTCA and We Are TB"
A person wearing a TBFighters shirt with the Everything Is Tuberculosis book covering part of their face
A person holding a TBFighters graphic tote bag. The text reads "We can end tuberculosis". There is a globe with boxing gloves in the middle, and it's punching the word tuberculosis.
"STIGMATIZED By Handaa Enkh-Amgalan Stigmatized pulls back the curtain on the real-life consequences of stigma on people with Tuberculosis. Enkh-Amgalan's memoir illustrates how structural failures led to her illness in Mongolia, and how she dealt with the stigma that followed her after she recovered, went to university, and traveled the world. Reading period from Feb 1st - Mar 31st"
Two people laughing while wearing high quality TB fighting merch
Two people wearing black t-shirts with a globe punching the word "tuberculosis". They're showing off the same design on a tote bag and sticker on a water bottle.
A blurry image with multiple question marks floating in front of it.
An image of the next TB Ed Talks speaker, Dr. Salmaan Keshavjee, with information about his talk. "Search-Treat-Prevent: A Strategy to Eliminate TB, with Dr. Salmaan Keshavjee. Professor of Global Health and Social Medicine, Medical Anthropology at Harvard Medical School; Director of Harvard Medical School's Center for Global Health Delivery; a founder of the Zero TB Initiative. Live presentation on YouTube followed by a Q&A. Wednesday, January 28th. 8pm ET/1am GMT."
An image of the next TB Ed Talks speaker, Dr. Salmaan Keshavjee, with information about his talk. "Search-Treat-Prevent: A Strategy to Eliminate TB, with Dr. Salmaan Keshavjee. Professor of Global Health and Social Medicine, Medical Anthropology at Harvard Medical School; Director of Harvard Medical School's Center for Global Health Delivery; a founder of the Zero TB Initiative. Live presentation on YouTube followed by a Q&A. Wednesday, January 28th. 8pm ET/1am GMT."
A stack of postcards. The top postcard shows the US Capitol building with large text reading "Greetings from Hill Day TBFighters at the Capitol". Inside the letters of "Hill Day" are images of people at TB Hill Day 2025.
A quote card with a light tie dye background. "No disease, especially tubrculosis, should be about capital. - Dr. Edward Robitzek in The Black Angels by Maris Smilios"
A red background with images of TBFighters throughout 2025 in bubbles. Text reads "TBFIGHTERS YEAR IN 2025 REVIEW with PIHers Vincent, Rosie, & Special Guests. WED, DECEMBER 17th. 7:30 ET/4:30 PT"
A red background with images of TBFighters throughout 2025 in bubbles. Text reads "TBFIGHTERS YEAR IN 2025 REVIEW with PIHers Vincent, Rosie, & Special Guests. WED, DECEMBER 17th. 7:30 ET/4:30 PT"
A blue duotone collage of participants at TB Hill Day. Text reads "Last chance, register now. TB Hill Day 2026"
TB In Children: What's The Problem And What Can We Do? with Dr. Stijn Deborggraeve Advocacy Advisor Paediatric Tuberculosis at Médecins Sans Frontières Live presentation on YouTube followed by a Q&A. Tuesday, December 2nd 10:30am ET/4:30pm CET. Pre-submit questions at the link in the description
THE BLACK ANGELS: CHAPTER 6 Discussion Question. What role can empowered nurses play in a patient's care when they are allowed to share their expertise and observations? TBFIGHTERS.ORG/BOOK-CLUB
A collage of people at Hill Day, including John Green posing for a selfie and a woman speaking into a megaphone. Text reads "TB Hill Day 2026" with the US Hill Day logo, Capitol Hill and the TBFighters hourglass.
"Soon she learned which diseases ran rampant...: pneumonia and heart disease, caused by poverty that led to poor nutrition; and venereal disease... which struck Harlemites at twice the rate they struck white people. Tuberculosis was everywhere... killing Black residents at almost triple the rate of whites." -The Black Angels, Maria Smilios
A cutout photo of Rosie Poling shaking someone's hand. The TB Hill Day logo is in the top corner. Text reads "TB HILL DAY 2026 KICKOFF STREAM! With PIH's Rosie Poling Sunday, Nov 16 @ 3 ET/12PT"
A calendar with text "TB Hill Day 2026: Next year's application is open now!"
The nation that drew lines around water fountains and waiting rooms, buses, schools, museums, bathrooms, and sidewalks had also extended them to hospital wards. -The Black Angels, Maria Smilios
THE BLACK ANGELS: INTRO. Discussion Question. How can we ensure heroic deeds accomplished by members of marginalized communities are remembered today? tbfighters.org/book-club/
I have one poem, Letter From My Left Arm, where I'm speaking to death. That was really early on. I was... I had a lot of liver toxicity. I was really struggling to get on a regimen and to figure something out that would work for my body. And so it was really scary, like two months-ish. And I felt death's presence, like very close, because it felt very confusing. It's like, I have this disease and I can't figure out a treatment and I can't keep the medicine down but I need to because I need to, you know. It was just a way of sort of like, accounting my efforts to death, speaking directly.
A tiny skeleton with a bloody handkerchief in one hand climbing on top of Everything Is Tuberculosis. Text on the image reads "Everything? Still!?"
THE BLACK ANGELS By Maria Smilios "New York City, 1929. A sanatorium, a deadly disease, and a dire nursing shortage. This remarkable true story follows the Black southern nurses who risked their lives working under appalling conditions, helping find the cure for TB and playing a major role in desegregating the NYC hospital system. Learn the erased history of these extraordinary women and celebrate their legacy." Reading period from Nov 1st - Jan 31st
TB Ed Talks. LIBRE-Post TB: A Pilot Intervention to Address Post-TB Lung Disease with Dr. Carole Mitnick Of Harvard Medical School, Partners In Health, and Brigham & Women's Hospital. Live presentation on YouTube followed by a Q&A. Monday, October 27th 8pm ET/5pm PT. Pre-submit questions at the link in the description
Economic justice is wherever we are, right. So there's, you know, the injustice between the global north and south. There's also injustice, like, just in the US itself, right? You know, we're an extremely unequal society just across the globe, actually. Societies are becoming more and more unequal as, you know, the top, you know, the top 1% owns 50% of the wealth in the US now, and the bottom 50 owns, like, less than 5%. So, you know, this is a huge economic injustice in the US. And that means it's going to impact us personally, right? And all of these concepts are connected to each other, right. So fighting economic injustice in the US also is like contributing to the global fight against it. And just like staying informed and being aware of how that impacts our own lives I think is a really important piece of that.
A introduction to Dr. Mitnick's TB Ed Talk and her headshot. "TB Ed Talks LIBRE-Post TB: A Pilot Intervention to Address Post-TB Lung Disease. with Dr. Carole Mitnick Of Harvard Medical School, Partners In Health, and Brigham & Women's Hospital. Live presentation on YouTube followed by a Q&A. Monday, October 27th 8pm ET/5pm PT. Pre-submit questions at the link in the description"
Author Aiyana Masla next to her book of poetry The Underdream. "TBREADERS Q&A WITH AIYANA MASLA OCTOBER 21ST, 4PM ET/1PM PT"
Greywater (excerpt) is it strange to thank this sickness? Repatterned, returned, renewed & therefore, a life. -The Underdream, Aiyana Masla
It's a really big misconception that philanthropy and the private sector is gonna save us. It's not true. The only thing that's gonna save us is public sector dollars & economic sovereignty. This World Bank idea of billions to trillions, right? You know “public sector puts forward billions of dollars & the private sector puts forward trillions of dollars.” And the World Bank said that in 2015 or earlier. Never happened, never materialized. In fact, what we've seen is the reverse. Actually, in the past two years in a row, private creditors have extracted more from poor countries in debt payments than they have provided in new lending & new financing. So they're actually pulling money out. Especially when economic conditions are bad. They pull money out. And I think that also talks about what that fully resourced global TB response would look like. It's taking that holistic approach. It's addressing not just the disease where it is but the root causes that enable the disease to spread
Author Aiyana Masla next to her book of poetry The Underdream. "TBREADERS Q&A WITH AIYANA MASLA OCTOBER 21ST, 4PM ET/1PM PT"
In the style of the "Keep Calm and Carry On" poster but Pizza John's face is at the top. "Keep Calm and Carry On Defending Global Health"
"Clinic (excerpt) Hushed careful voices, the metal sound of the scale, whisper - mutter (the way people talk when they only half-want you not to hear), voices clip board stiff, & tense, she's still too thin -- while outside, June. Robust, pulsing. -The Underdream, Aiyana Masla"
A group of TB advocates posing and cheering for a picture. Everyone shouts together "yes we can end TB!"
A introduction to Dr. Mitnick's TB Ed Talk and her headshot. "TB Ed Talks LIBRE-Post TB: A Pilot Intervention to Address Post-TB Lung Disease. with Dr. Carole Mitnick Of Harvard Medical School, Partners In Health, and Brigham & Women's Hospital. Live presentation on YouTube followed by a Q&A. Monday, October 27th 8pm ET/5pm PT. Pre-submit questions at the link in the description"
A large image of Pizza John and the text "PIZZA JOHN WANTS YOU TO RESCUE GLOBAL HEALTH FUNDS"
A TB advocate explaining the significance of the design on a fan to an MP
An info card about Canadian #LeadOnTB Hill Day in front of the door leading to registration for the event