https://www.npr.org/2017/12/01/567723152/lgbtq-activist-cleve-jones-i-m-well-aware-how-fragile-life-is
Above, I found a Fresh Air podcast from 2016 that connects the Harvey Milk documentary to the AIDs epidemic and ACT up movement. In the show, Cleve Jones is interviewed because of the recent publication of his memoir, "When We Rise: My Life in the Movement." Jones is a well-known gay rights activist.
In the podcast, he describes Harvey Milk as one of his early political mentors. After Milk's assassination, Jones joined California's state assembly. Then, the AIDs epidemic began, and he talks about several of the different readings that we are doing for class on Wednesday.
He explains that when he read the 1981 New York Times article, he put the article up on his bulletin board at work. In 1985, he tested HIV positive. Later that year, at the annual candlelight vigil held for Harvey Milk and George Mascone, he came up with the idea for the AIDs memorial quilt. The quilt was built to recognize the names of the people that had lost their lives to AIDs. By 1987, there were 1,980 panels, and today, there are 48,000 panels representing 92,000 individuals (Myhre & Sifris 2018). More info on the quilt here: https://www.verywellhealth.com/the-history-of-the-names-aids-memorial-quilt-48711
He became seriously ill in 1993, but in 1994, he was able to get started on the drug cocktail treatment that would say his life. He says that the reason that he is alive today is because of "ACT UP and people like Larry Kramer driving people nuts with their anger and rage."
Super interesting stuff! I think that it really ties together the documentary that we watched today and the readings that we're doing for Wednesday.
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