The project I explored this week is on the historical collection of ACT UP Los Angeles Chapter from 1987 to 1997. AIDS Coalition To Unleash Power/ Los Angeles (ACT UP/LA) is a grass-roots, democratic, direct action organization dedicated to creating positive changes around AIDS in federal and local government, the media, and medical industries through non-violent public protests. The onset of the first outbreak of AIDS endemic and the resultant inaction by the government sparked and shaped much of its activism and our collective memory. The records include buttons, clippings, correspondence, financial records, fliers, membership materials, minutes, newsletters, photographs, press releases, stickers, and topical files of ACT UP/LA.
Discrimination. Action. Victory.
The materials in this collection gave a concise timeline and history of the protests organized by ACT UP/LA against discriminatory practice towards People Living with HIV (PLHIV) and AIDS patients. From campaigning for better access of condoms and HIV/AIDS education in County jails to demanding improvements to outpatient AIDS clinic to pressuring then-President George Bush to adopt a 35-point plan to combat HIV/AIDS and to fighting pharmaceutical giants for speedy, affordable and universal HIV/AIDS medicine and healthcare, ACT UP/LA was at the forefront of fighting for the rights and respect for PLHIV and AIDS patients. Community building is central to ACT UP/LA’s political victory. The LGBTQIPA+ community, women rights group, and Inject Drug users (IDU) are all included in this AIDS Coalition.
This historical narrative supported by this collection is an inspiring and upbeat one. Despite numerous members were arrested in every protests or demonstrations, ACT UP/LA, the organization succeeded in numerous occasions to improve healthcare access and defeat discriminatory legislation.
Those who didn’t make it.
What’s missing in this collection; however, is the narratives of those who became the ultimate victims of the HIV/AIDS fiasco. The prelude to the uprising of ACT UP/LA – the hundred thousands of people who sacrificed under the deafening silence of Ronald Reagan administration. Homophobia, its harmful association to the disease HIV/AIDS and the irrational fear of the public as well as some of the most powerful political elites – these stories are important because they remind us of the unfinished business in HIV/AIDS advocacy while healthcare access has improved dramatically.
Where to find history?
We could probably explore why the Ronald Reagan administration was crippled on this issues from official government documents, including press statement, position paper. A record of the weekly press briefing at the peak of HIV/AIDS outbreak can offer invaluable insights on how the Reagan administration grapple with this issues and the stigma and misinformation surrounding it.
Documentation on the vigil events, whether it be written documents, video or photographs, can invite a glimpse into the stories of the sacrificed. Oral narratives from family members, friends and narratives of the sacrificed could offer a lot of information too.
Hi,
I really enjoy reading your blog post. I also worked on the ACT UP/LA collection this week and do agree that narratives, especially from the victims and participants, are important but absent in the collection. Bureautic documents have a tendency to only present the progress of a movement. However, the narratives from the victims, who have experienced the lack of accessible healthcare, should also be included in the collection in order to remind us the sacrifices of this movement.