Actor André De Shields Merges Art and Activism, Advocates for Modernization of HIV Criminalization Laws
André De Sheilds (Photo Credit: Lia Chang)
A conversation with the legendary actor André De Shields is a master class.
The Tony-award-winning actor is currently receiving rave reviews as Ben Loman in the Broadway revival of Arthur Miller's "Death of A Salesman." De Shields plays the successful and wealthy older brother of Willy Loman (Wendell Pierce), a salesman grappling with a fruitless life in a burgeoning America. The latest production of "Salesman" makes history as the first Broadway revival of the dramatic masterpiece to feature African American actors in the leading roles.
A celebrated Black queer artist, De Shields began his professional career in a 1969 Chicago production of "Hair." His star turn in the title role of the 1978 Broadway hit, "The Wiz," opposite Stephanie Mills, has endeared him to audiences across the globe.
De Shields insists that his most challenging role is always the one directly in front of him. Whether performing for an entire house or in scenes with Neil Patrick Harris in the hit Netflix comedy “Uncoupled,” or standing before a classroom filled with fresh-faced students. Each time he steps on stage, he does so as an advocate. Over the last five decades, he's prioritized helping audiences understand and accept what it means to be human.
"As an actor-activist, I want to fill intimate spaces with enormous beauty," De Shields says.
"I'm not talking about the store on the corner or even the theaters where I work. I'm talking about your heart. What's better for your spiritual health than looking at someone who causes you to smile?"
For De Shields, part of his calling as an artist is to use entertainment to educate and elevate society. He is unapologetic, intentional, and determined to shine a light on both the beauty and harsh realities embedded within society.
"I'm on stage advocating," he says. "Anybody can sell the American dream. The question is, who can own it? If you want to know the truth about America, then you've got to look at it through the eyes of those most marginalized," De Shields adds. "It's about accepting the truth and then correcting it."
"As an actor-activist, I want to fill intimate spaces with enormous beauty. What's better for your spiritual health than looking at someone who causes you to smile?"
- André De Shields (Photo Credit: Lia Chang)
From his native Baltimore, Maryland as the ninth of eleven children—to matriculating through The University of Wisconsin and New York University—De Shields' journey to the storied career he now enjoys did not come easy. But the lessons learned along the way, which he describes as his "three cardinal rules for ability and longevity," famously shared during his 2019 Tony Awards acceptance speech for his performance as Hermes in "Hadestown," proved to be invaluable for himself, and after going viral, everyone in earshot.
Surround Yourself With People Whose Eyes Light Up When They See You Coming
Slowly Is The Fastest Way To Get To Where You Want To Be
The Top Of One Mountain Is The Bottom Of The Next, So Keep Climbing
In the De Shields school of life, success is attainable by setting goals and running towards perceived challenges.
"The universe is a cornucopia of blessings," he says. "Pursue only those blessings that have your name on them."
And how does one know which blessings have their name on them? The answer is simple, according to De Shields.
"You shouldn't feel like you are beating your head against a brick wall when the universe conspires with you. We cannot live our lives being angry, stressed, and frustrated," he says. "Generosity and gratitude fuel the universe."
There's a reason why De Shields identifies with the moniker "Black Man Majesty," a term he uses to describe the reclaiming of elegance, eloquence, literacy, and the majesty ripped away from America's most marginalized groups. As a Black queer man living with HIV, De Shields knows of which he speaks.
HIV Is Not A Crime
De Shields has lived with HIV for over three decades. He went public about his status for the first time in 2020. This year, he is using his celebrity to advocate for the modernization of HIV criminalization laws as a spokesperson for The Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation's (ETAF) campaign, "HIV Is Not A Crime."
"Respecting Elizabeth Taylor's activism, I saw where I could continue making a difference," De Shields says. "I also realized that the information would resonate more if it comes from someone who knows what they speak."
According to the Williams Institute, most HIV criminal laws do not require transmission, intent to transmit, or even the possibility of transmission of HIV. People are often convicted for conduct that poses little or no risk of transmission. Despite scientific advances in understanding and treating HIV, enforcement of HIV criminal laws—arrests, convictions, and incarcerations—still happens frequently today.
“To an individual who argues that HIV needs to be treated as a criminal act, you are being willfully ignorant. You are choosing not to know.”
"We were a nation gripped by hysteria and fear of the virus, "De Shields says in the ETAF PSA regarding the early days of the HIV epidemic. "That fear permeated through the cracks and corners of society, which led to legislation targeting the spread of HIV. Unfortunately, these laws formed over 30 years ago have not kept up with modern science."
Because of adherence to antiretroviral medications, De Shields' viral load remains undetectable and untransmittable. Discriminatory in nature, HIV criminalization laws prosecute people for living with HIV and deter individuals from receiving the testing and care necessary to get to undetectable.
"To an individual who argues that HIV needs to be treated as a criminal act, you are being willfully ignorant," De Shields says. "You are choosing not to know."
De Shields has spent the last fifty years operating as the change he wants to see. A living legend, artist, activist, and Broadway deity. He epitomizes the South African term "Ubuntu—" I am because you are."
Show Your Support for HIV Decriminalization
The Health Not Prisons Collective (HNP) is an intersectional national initiative launched in 2020 by Counter Narrative Project (CNP), the Positive Women’s Network – USA (PWN), Sero Project, Transgender Law Center (TLC), and the U.S. Caucus of People Living with HIV (the HIV Caucus) — longtime collaborators led by, and accountable to, communities most affected by HIV criminalization in the United States.