War & Peace Quote by Gwen Moore

The line reads like a public-health memo, but its real work is political: it turns a stigmatized crisis into a civic obligation. Gwen Moore isn’t offering poetry; she’s issuing a directive that tries to widen the circle of responsibility. “We must encourage” quietly signals that the barrier isn’t ignorance alone, but hesitation - the social friction that keeps people from seeking information, walking into a clinic, or admitting risk. The verb “encourage” is softer than “mandate,” a choice that respects bodily autonomy while acknowledging how shame and fear can be as effective as laws in controlling behavior.

The three-part ladder - “get educated, get tested, get involved” - is deliberate sequencing. Education is the least threatening ask; testing is the hinge where private anxiety meets public infrastructure; involvement is the step that reframes AIDS from an individual problem to a communal fight. That escalation mirrors what successful HIV policy has often required: shifting from moralizing to practical harm reduction and, eventually, to collective advocacy and funding.

Subtext: Moore is also speaking to power. “Get tested” implies accessible testing, confidentiality, and healthcare trust - all policy-dependent. “Get involved” hints at activism, budget priorities, and the willingness to confront entrenched prejudice (especially against gay communities, Black communities, and drug users) that historically warped the AIDS response. The quote’s intent is to normalize engagement and de-exceptionalize the disease: no special “other” group, no safe distance. Just a society being asked to grow up and do the work.