Dr. Boyd Ed Graves International AIDS activist lawyer dies age 57
(San Diego, CA) – Human Rights activist and HIV/AIDS advocate American lawyer Dr. Boyd Ed Graves died Thursday at the University of California San Diego Medical Center. Dr. Graves was 57.
Dr. Graves' two decades of human rights' work, judicial activism and research on behalf of people living with HIV/AIDS, catapulted him into the world spotlight earning him both international acclaim for his bravery and dedication as well as criticisms for his controversial conclusions about the man-made origins and purpose of the HIV/AIDS virus.
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Known by “Ed” to his friends and family, Dr. Graves was a dynamic and patriotic individual who dedicated his professional and personal life to the disabled, disenfranchised and the fair daily existence of men and women worldwide.
Born on July 7, 1952 in Charleston, West Virginia to James and Theresa Graves, Boyd Ed Graves was the third of nine children. In 1955 Graves' family moved to Youngstown, Ohio where his father and mother both worked several jobs simultaneously to purchase their first house. Youngstown would become Graves' home, and Graves would eventually become one of Youngstown's hometown heroes.
Graves began demonstrating leadership qualities at a young age and after graduating Youngstown High School with honors as Senior Class President at age 17; Graves was recommended by his Congressional Representative for an appointment at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland. Graves was one of only 30 African Americans in the country to earn the honor. During his time at U.S. Naval Academy, Graves learned Mandarin Chinese and was a member of the Navy boxing team. Graves became the first African American elected as President of the U.S. Navy Glee Club and was the first African American featured in U.S. Navy recruitment commercials. At a time of extreme racial tensions and as one of the few black plebes, Graves received many hazing, harassments, and racial slurs inside the ranks. His experiences during this time later were featured in several books and articles authored by official U.S. Navy historian Robert Schneller.
Having successfully served President Richard Nixon's administration posted aboard the USS Buchanan as a Communications Officer, Graves left military life with honorable discharge and began his civilian career entering the work force for IBM in 1977.
Civilian work place echoed his military experience, and Graves again faced with discrimination took the higher ground. In 1987, he successfully pursued a discrimination lawsuit and his appeals to the United States Supreme Court. This was the first of several case appearances in the U.S. Supreme Court that Dr. Graves would make to deter discrimination for himself and others.
In 1992 Graves graduated as a lawyer with honors earning his Juris Doctorate from Ohio Northern University School of Law in Ada Ohio and during a routine physical exam several weeks before graduating law school, Graves tested HIV positive.
With his new diagnosis, law degree and experiences as a minority, Graves went to work as a legal consultant specializing in code compliance and enforcement for the Americans with Disabilities Act to ensure people with disabilities had equal access.
Determined to understand his new diagnosis with a 'new' disease, Graves immediately began researching HIV/AIDS intent on understanding how to best preserve his health and help himself survive. In 1993 Graves' research into HIV/AIDS led him to a formerly secret federal virus development initiative coordinated by the Pentagon called, “The United States Special Virus Program.”
“The United States Special Virus Program.” involved the complicity of two government agencies, the Pentagon as coordinator seeking biowarfare solutions and the National Institute of Health as administrator. The veneer goal of the NIH program was to meet Nixon’s challenge of a war on cancer. Unfortunately for the program participants, the goal came at a cost of using humans / in vivo subjects to produce viruses, deadly viruses including the HIV/AIDs virus. For 16 years, between 1962 to 1978, the National Institute of Health, published 15 annual progress reports. Each year in this history, a report details thousands of human and non-human virus experiments seeking 'candidate viruses'. The most concise salient microcosm of this Mengele-madness was the 1971 U.S. Special Virus Research Logic Flow Chart. The secret blueprint coordinates every experiment and contract inside the U.S. Special Virus Program and demonstrates the true intent of the secret research – live human subjects, US citizens, US veterans, your brothers, uncles, cousins, friends, and neighbors.
On September 28, 1998 Dr. Graves filed his first class action lawsuit in the Ohio Federal Court in forma pauperis, seeking immediate investigation into the formerly secret U.S. Special Virus Program, including a petition for make whole relief for the class of members infected by HIV/AIDS.
On January 1, 2000 The United States Department of Justice notified Graves, they had named The Office of the President of the United States as the primary defendant in the case. On election day November 7, 2000 the sixth circuit federal court silently dismissed the case, Graves vs The President of the United States. Graves appealed and on April 11, 2001 appeared in the United States Supreme Court. The court quietly dismissed the case without comment and instructions 'not to publish.' Determined and armed with the 1971 Flow Chart, 15 years of 'missing medical history' and the evidence of the laboratory birth of AIDS, Graves continued filing litigation requesting immediate investigation into the formerly secret tax payer funded program until his death.
In 2001 Dr. Graves became the first American and African American to receive an injection of Tetrasil, the U.S. Patented Cure for AIDS (Patent # 5676977). Almost immediately, Graves health began recovering from years of damage inflicted by the 'special HIV virus' and he became an outspoken proponent of the Tetrasil treatment demanding immediate clinical trials and world wide accessibility for people living with HIV and dying of AIDS. Soon afterward Tetrasil was recalled by the patent owner/manufacturer, Dr. Marvin Antleman and Antleman Technologies, Inc. without public explanation. Graves took his experiences and requests to the Congress, General Accounting Office, the Centers for Disease Control, United Nations, World Health Organization, and several Ministers of Health around the world with varying degrees of success including China, the UK, and several African countries where he was widely revered and respected as the 'Man Who Solved AIDS'.
Dr. Boyd Ed Graves was a celebrated lecturer and the author several books including “STATE ORIGIN: The Evidence of the Laboratory Birth of AIDS,” and “World War AIDS: The Third World War.” Dr. Graves was working on his memoir and other manuscripts at the time of his death. The final books will eventually be published according to his publisher and long time friend Joel Bales. Additional information about Dr. Graves' life, accomplishments and the on going legal cases are widely available on the Internet. Dr. Graves official website www.boydgraves.com will continue on-line as a resource for readers posting news about the continuing legal work, his legacy and as a method to allow others affected by HIV/AIDS communicate, network and contribute to Dr. Graves' legal fund/endowment dedicated to continuing his life's work and legacy.
Dr. Boyd Ed Graves was preceded in death by his parents, James and Theresa Graves and is survived by four brothers and four sisters, including; Jesse James Graves III of Cleveland, Jimmy Graves of Cincinnati, Jeffrey Graves of Cleveland, David Graves of Youngstown, Michelle (Graves) Beachman of Youngstown, Maxine (Graves) Jones of Cleveland, Mary (Graves) Thomas of Cleveland, and Theresa (Graves) Wiggins of Youngstown.
Memorial services for Dr. Boyd Ed Graves will be held Saturday June 27 from 3:00 – 6:00 pm at the Community Room at Mount Auburn in Cleveland, Ohio.
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