Pedro Zamora’s portrait

Pedro Zamora

  • 22 years old
  • Born Feb 29, 1972
  • Died Nov 11, 1994
  • United States
was a Cuban-American HIV-positive AIDS educator who became famous for his activism, testimony before Congress, and his appearance on Real World. U.S. President Clinton credited Zamora with personalizing and humanizing those with the disease.
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About

Legacy

After his death, Zamora was publicly praised by President Bill Clinton and Donna Shalala for his leadership and work in educating high school students, saying that through his appearances on The Real World, Pedro had become a part of viewers’ families, and that all people who watched the show could now say that they “knew” someone who had lived with AIDS.

MTV broadcast A Tribute to Pedro Zamora, a special memorial program, in his honor.

A street in Miami (SW 59th Street) was given the name "Pedro Zamora Way", although it is not in Hialeah, where he lived. Howard D. McMillan Middle School is located on that street where he did a presentation on HIV and AIDS. The school is located in Kendall, a suburb of Miami, Florida.

A number of organizations were created in Pedro's name, including:

    * The National Pedro Zamora Project (founded by Winick, Ling, Mily, and Sasser on October 21, 1994)
    * The Pedro Zamora Foundation
    * The National Pedro Zamora Project
    * The Pedro Zamora Memorial Fund (Sponsored by the AIDS Action Foundation)
    * The Pedro Zamora Youth Clinic
    * The Pedro Zamora Public Policy Fellowship
    * Pedro Zamora Youth HIV Clinic (Los Angeles)

Winick continued lecturing on behalf of Pedro, speaking at over 70 schools across the United States throughout 1995, before time constraints forced him to stop, but his friendship with Zamora helped shape his subsequent work as a comic book writer and artist. His autobiographical graphic novel, Pedro and Me: Friendship, Loss, and What I Learned, was published in September 2000. It was awarded and nominated for numerous awards, including six American Library Association awards, a nomination for an Eisner Award, won Winick his first GLAAD award, has been praised by creators such as Frank Miller, Neil Gaiman, and Armistead Maupin, and has been incorporated into school curricula across the country. Winick's experiences with Pedro would also help shape his work in mainstream superhero comics, which would receive considerable media attention for storylines in Green Lantern and Green Arrow which explored gay or AIDS-related themes.

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Memories

My MemoryROLE MODEL

BETTYBOOP1001 (Oct 21, 2008)

I NEVER KNEW PERSONALLY BUT I WATCHED ALL THE EPISODES OF REAL WORLD 3.PEDRO WAS MY FAVORITE.I WAS SO SAD WHEN YOU PASSED AWAY.YOU STILL MACH A HUGH INPACT TO THIS DAY .YOU ARE A WONDERFUL ANGEL PEDRO. LOVE YOU ALWAYS PEDRO.

My Thoughts

Cameron (Jul 12, 2008)

Pedro, I come here to cry and wish you where still with us. You are still honored for your life and how you opened it up for the entire world to see and learn from. I miss you Pedro.

Role model

Debi Fisher (Apr 17, 2008)

I never knew him personally but I watched every episode of the Real World. (That is still my favorite season.) He was such an amazing human being to speak out about AIDS when it still had so many stigmas attached to it. I can still remember hearing he passed away. I felt like I had lost a friend. I am so happy his memory is being kept alive. MTV showed him again recently during an awards show and it was so moving. I hope his family and friends know that many of us still think of him often.

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  • What did Pedro Zamora dream of doing with his/her life?