D.C. Remembers Effi Barry

HIV/AIDS Program May Be Named for Former First Lady

To ensure that one of the issues Effi Barry championed will not be forgotten, D.C. Council Chairman Vincent C. Gray (D) introduced legislation this week to name the city's east-of-the-river HIV/AIDS initiative after the District's beloved former first lady.

"She is the only coordinator we ever had for that program, and it is fitting that we name this program in her memory and in her honor to make sure that it continues," Gray said after Barry's funeral service Friday. "We will be asking for more money in the FY '09 budget, and we are going to make sure that they are investing in Effi's legacy."

Gray noted that in the weeks before Barry died, she was making phone calls to lobby for funding. Established in 2005, the program offers grants and technical support to HIV/AIDS service providers in wards 7 and 8. In the program's flier, Barry said, "Government has the responsibility to preserve and protect the safety, health and well-being of its citizens, but government can't do everything."

D.C. Council member and former mayor Marion Barry (D-Ward 8) said whether it was her efforts to launch the HIV/AIDS initiative or her call for people to be tested for bone marrow cancer, his former wife was committed to the end. "Even though she was ill, God gave her a caring spirit and a love for people," he said last Thursday after a memorial service.

Barry died Sept. 6 after a struggle of more than a year with acute myeloid leukemia, a cancer of the blood and bone marrow.

Before and after her funeral service Friday at the National Cathedral, many others wanted to share their thoughts. Rocky Twyman, a longtime bone marrow activist, said he will always cherish the many happy times they shared after she became an advocate for people suffering with bone marrow cancer.

"She was a symbol of class, elegance, intellect and poise," Twyman said. "One of the greatest ways to honor her now is to get tested. People need to call 1-800-MARROW2."

Linda Green, an aide to Marion Barry for many years, met Effi Barry in 1972 during her husband's first political campaign. Green said from the first campaign until his most recent for D.C. Council a few years ago, she was a humble servant who never changed. "She served food to people, she even swept the campaign office."

Green was among a small group of people at her bedside at the Anne Arundel Medical Center when she died. "Even in death, she was the most gracious and dignified woman that I have ever met," Green said.

Many prominent people came to pay tribute. But perhaps the greatest tribute was the people who sat near the rear and who tried to touch the casket as it was taken out of the cathedral. Ward 5 activist Bob King was seated near the back. He came to the service with a brown paper bag that contained a photograph of him and Effi Barry and a typed form letter she had mailed to him 15 years ago.

"She meant so much to this city," King said. "She was such a classy lady."