Cleve Jones, founder of the NAMES Project AIDS Memorial Quilt and author of the memoir “When We Rise: My Life in the Movement,” will accept an award Thursday evening to kick off Philadelphia FIGHT’s AIDS Education Month.
“It’s very kind for them to do this and I appreciate it,” the 62-year-old told PGN about the Kiyoshi Kuromiya Award for Prevention, Treatment and Justice. “I never imagined I would survive AIDS. I am very grateful to be alive and I am alive primarily because of organizations like Philadelphia FIGHT, their counterparts across the country, the people in ACT UP and all of the people who fought so hard and so long to get the government to respond, fund research and get the treatments available to people.”
The gay human-rights activist said he was looking forward to coming to Philadelphia, where the quilt has long seen support. Jones conceived of the idea for the quilt during an annual candlelight march in 1985 honoring those who died of AIDS. He asked marchers to write the names of loved ones they lost to the disease on placards and taped them to the wall of the San Francisco Federal Building, forming a patchwork quilt pattern. Now, more than 14-million people visit the quilt on displays worldwide, resulting in more than $3 million raised for AIDS-service organizations in North America.
Additionally, Jones led the 2009 National March for Equality in Washington, D.C., and served on a board challenging Proposition 8 in the U.S. Supreme Court.
The San Francisco activist spoke to PGN prior to the awards ceremony about the need to continue talking about HIV/AIDS in the community, his memoir and how activists can find inspiration from his story.
Despite advances, Jones noted that infection rates among gay and bisexual men of color are “simply unacceptable.”
“We still don’t have a cure and we still don’t have a vaccine but what we do have is the ability to eliminate HIV by using treatment,” Jones said. “Treatment is prevention.
“We still have a long way to go” when it comes to educating people about prevention, he added.
“We need to educate people about PrEP. We need to make sure that everyone who can benefit from PrEP has access to it and the ability to pay for it. It’s not just enough to have these medications. We have to make sure they’re available to everybody.”
When it comes to feedback on his memoir and the resulting ABC miniseries that aired earlier this year, Jones said he is “very happy that the book has been so well-received.” Additionally, he said he is “especially happy” that young people enjoyed his story.
“I like that a lot,” Jones said. “It means a lot to me.”
He noted that he met many people through his work in the gay-liberation movement and he loves what he does.
“I hope that everyone can find a way to contribute to the effort in a way that brings them joy and satisfaction,” Jones said. “That certainly has been my experience through the movement.”
When it comes to continuing the fight, Jones said the community needs to be “strong, strategic and smart.” He said his story shows how he has “endured.”
“The damage done in this last election will not be undone in months or even years,” Jones said. “This is going to take a long time.”
He added it’s important to listen respectfully to each other while being aware of one’s own prejudices and differences.
“People are very good at creating barriers between each other. Try not to be one of those people,” Jones said. “Try to be a unifier. Try to reach out to people who look differently than you, speak differently and maybe think differently. I think social media has really worsened that reality; more and more folks only talk to people who think exactly like them. That’s not how we win. We win by changing hearts and minds. Part of that process involves listening carefully.”
Jones noted that the climate has evolved due to the work of other LGBT activists.
“I think it’s kind of astonishing how much the world has changed just in my lifetime,” he said. “I’ve seen some remarkable changes especially in the lives of the people we now call ‘LGBTQ.’ My life is kind of a reminder that people really can change the world. I’ve seen the world change and it’s because my friends and I fought very hard and the generations that have followed us have continued that fight. It’s never won permanently. I think that’s another important thing to remember. Just because we win a battle here and there, it doesn’t mean we won the war. Right now, people need to be very vigilant and defend the advances that we won.”
For more information on Cleve Jones or to purchase his memoir, visit www.clevejones.com.