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ACT UP Oral History Project

felix

December 1, 2008, was the 20th anniversary of World AIDS Day, a time when we remember those we’ve lost to that epidemic. I attended a screening of episodes of a cable access show documenting the history of AIDS activism by ACT-UP (AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power). The show is produced by Jim Hubbard, co-founder of MIX NYC, and James Wentzy, who runs DIVA TV out of his SoHo basement apartment. One of the episodes I watched presented ACT-UP activists remembering the group’s accomplishments. Chief among them were reminding people that civil disobedience works, challenging the notion that the medical establishment is a monolith that cannot be changed, turning away from the charity model of AIDS support towards one of patient empowerment, and asserting an active partnership between doctor and patient in which the patient can be a source of information about her treatment. Also important according to cultural critic and ACT UP member Douglas Crimp, was the re-definition of the image of AIDS patients from passive victims (and worse, the division between “innocent victims” and the presumably “guilty” ones) to empowered, vibrant people with AIDS. With clever, courageous, and at times even rude, actions, ACT UP saved lives. Check Manhattan Neighborhood Network’s schedule for the shows, and also explore www.actuporalhistory.org to watch some of the interviews and learn more about Jim’s feature-length documentary United in Anger, co-directed by author Sarah Schulman.