Read on Twitter
cannot say this enough: #ACTUP is one of USAs most important political movements; and for us GenXers, it’s probably the most important one of our lifetime.
too many of us would be dead without #LarryKramer and the ACTUp elders putting their bodies on the line.
may he #RIPower https://twitter.com/autostraddle/status/1265686336327081987
too many of us would be dead without #LarryKramer and the ACTUp elders putting their bodies on the line.
may he #RIPower https://twitter.com/autostraddle/status/1265686336327081987
UPDATE:
wasn’t prepared for Larry Kramer’s passing to hit me like this; but am here grieving, instead of celebrating, his joining The Ancestors.
his passing, in the middle of this #COVID19 pandemic, is a reminder we’re still fighting the same fights of the AIDS epidemic
â‘
wasn’t prepared for Larry Kramer’s passing to hit me like this; but am here grieving, instead of celebrating, his joining The Ancestors.
his passing, in the middle of this #COVID19 pandemic, is a reminder we’re still fighting the same fights of the AIDS epidemic
â‘
am not an expert on LGBTQI. am just an ally who lost family and friends to AIDS. am only bearing witness because i refuse to forget the wretchedness that has been the fascist Reagan Revolution.
and, let’s be clear: ActUP, at it’s core, has always been an ANTIFASCIST movement.
②
and, let’s be clear: ActUP, at it’s core, has always been an ANTIFASCIST movement.
②
i was reminded of the deeply rooted antifascism of ActUP when the poster of Stephen C. Johnson, to right of Larry, caught my eye.
that poster was EVERYWHERE in NYC but i couldn’t remember who he was.
then i hit NYPL’s ActUp digital archive https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/collections/act-up-new-york-records#/?tab=navigation
that poster was EVERYWHERE in NYC but i couldn’t remember who he was.
then i hit NYPL’s ActUp digital archive https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/collections/act-up-new-york-records#/?tab=navigation
OF COURSE! he was the infamous NYC Health Commissioner under (the thinly closeted) Mayor Ed Koch; a MAJOR unspoken data point explaining ActUP. he was also Jewish, like Larry, so when Joseph suggested an AIDS db after Reagan & Republicans said AIDS was god’s gay plague…
EVEN BENETTON was putting out ads in response to the not-so cryptofascist stench of eugenics of his policy hot takes:
⑤
⑤
BENETTON, by the way, deserves to have a whole moment and a half during this #COVID19 and #AIDS convo: this image of the dying son was the first billboard you saw coming out of the GWB bridge on the West Side Highway. and it was everywhere in NYC, putting a to face the crisis
in many ways, BENETTON mimicked ActUP’s guerrilla messaging style to fucking punch you on the face. they didn’y even give a fuck if you bought their shit; which was the punk shit for a brand that defined european preppiness
which takes me to not being surprised NYPL also has archives for the Gran Fury collection.
at the left is Gran Fury for ActUp.
at the right, Benetton.
“ Gran Fury collection - NYPL Digital Collections -
https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/collections/gran-fury-collection#/?tab=navigation&scroll=122
⑧
at the left is Gran Fury for ActUp.
at the right, Benetton.
“ Gran Fury collection - NYPL Digital Collections -
https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/collections/gran-fury-collection#/?tab=navigation&scroll=122
⑧
the Gran Fury collective’s work is almost inseparable from ActUp’s guerilla activism. they are really one and the same: they not only created the pink logo but their memorable piece was in itself a guerrilla tactic: a bloodied hand print on posters or painted anywhere.
⑨
⑨
this is what i miss about in activism these days, the ability to embed your messaging in public spaces, legally or not; and to do it in a way that people easily, not just understand but emotionally connect with.
late stage capitalism has robbed us of streets as commons.
â‘©
late stage capitalism has robbed us of streets as commons.
â‘©
btw, about Gran Fury:
“ACT-UP, Gran Fury & The Legacy of HIV/AIDS Activist Branding”
Talia Whyte http://taliawhyte.com/2014/12/03/act-up-gran-fury-the-legacy-of-hivaids-activist-branding/
“ACT-UP, Gran Fury & The Legacy of HIV/AIDS Activist Branding”
Talia Whyte http://taliawhyte.com/2014/12/03/act-up-gran-fury-the-legacy-of-hivaids-activist-branding/
well worth for y’all to take a look at the NYPL archives i linked to upthread.
i was reminded they have advocated for an expansion of Medicaid, decoupling health care from employment, banning for-profit pharma, and creating a UNIVERSAL HEALTH CARE SYSTEM before it was cool
â‘«
i was reminded they have advocated for an expansion of Medicaid, decoupling health care from employment, banning for-profit pharma, and creating a UNIVERSAL HEALTH CARE SYSTEM before it was cool
â‘«
more importantly, the whys:
sex workers
addiction sufferers
cis/trans women, esp BIPoC
incarcerated peoples
houseless & migrants
ie: took about a decade if not,more for media & politicians to finally acknowledge heterosexual women and children were dying of AIDS
sex workers
addiction sufferers
cis/trans women, esp BIPoC
incarcerated peoples
houseless & migrants
ie: took about a decade if not,more for media & politicians to finally acknowledge heterosexual women and children were dying of AIDS
but more importantly:
when you go through these archives, you are going to find that a lot of the fascist fuckers behind this #COVID19 pandemic response are the same fuckers behind the AIDS crisis:
â‘
when you go through these archives, you are going to find that a lot of the fascist fuckers behind this #COVID19 pandemic response are the same fuckers behind the AIDS crisis:
â‘
HISTORY ONLY REPEATS ITSELF IF WE FORGET HOW WE GOT HERE and we are here because of how Reagan & Bush weaponized the CDC, the FDA & public health policy.
in other words, eugenics.
we owe it to our AIDS #COVID19 martyrs and our LGTBQI elders & ancestors to ACTUP & FIGHT /â‘®
PS: because even though it is taking me forever, yes am working on a book about all of this: https://twitter.com/blogdiva/status/1146272840779542529
