Alicia Keys wants you to talk to your kids about AIDS

Alicia Keys was only eight or nine years old when she began to understand the impact of AIDS. The Grammy-winning singer, now 34, knew her mom's friend died of the disease.

In 2003, Keys founded Keep A Child Alive, a nonprofit dedicated to raising awareness for people in sub-Saharan Africa with HIV and AIDS. The mother of two talked to People about why parents should educate their children about the disease:

It's important to talk to our kids about having compassion and not ostracizing people who are infected or affected by AIDS. We must understand this is something we still are fighting and we can make tremendous strives if we keep this at the top of our list. We've come so far, and it would be such a shame not to take it all the way. [People]

The soon-to-be two-time marathon runner talked about how even as awareness of AIDS grows, the stigma is still prevalent: "There's this idea that you can't be friends with someone who has AIDS or can't choose to love someone who has AIDS."

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Read the rest of Keys' interview over at People.

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Julie Kliegman is a freelance writer based in New York. Her work has appeared in BuzzFeed, Vox, Mental Floss, Paste, the Tampa Bay Times and PolitiFact. Her cats can do somersaults.