By Gary Holman
I’m covering the second day of our Act Up activities in New York City, and today we finished our plans from the act up meeting from the day before. The first order of business was a dialogue about activism through social media. One thing I really took home from it was the power social media has to excite people. Through twitter hash tags, and vine videos, any potential activist could capture even the smallest attention span and hopefully inspire others to learn more about the cause. If you are interested in learning more about Act Up then I suggest you follow them on twitter @actupny. We also started creating three banners for Act Up to take to Atlanta when they will confront the CDC about their complacently with the rise in HIV Infections. From beginning to end we created the banners and for me the entire experience was inspiring. I have never been one to be politically active but when you are around people that are so extremely dedicated to a cause, especially one that is very relevant, you can’t help but feel compelled to act. One of the reasons I was interested in this study abroad was because of the opportunity to learn more about act up. Once we finished, and allowed the banners to dry in the sun, we immediately began a queer walking tour of New York City’s Greenwich Village. From the moment we began, it was apparent that we were in the hands of a true New Yorker. The signs ranged from his New York accent, and attitude to his ability to seemingly walk at superhuman speed. On our tour he pointed out many interesting locations in New York but really the neighborhood grabbed your attention with or without a guide. Of course the tour guide informed us about things we otherwise might not have ever known, however the scenery jumped out at me with no help. For example we never would have known that a particular bar in the area was where Billie Holiday started singing. One thing I could appreciate from our tour guide was his admission of both the positive and negatives of queer history in New York City. Our tour guide mentioned a Jewish lesbian bar owner by the name of Eva that was deported to Germany after an vice officer showed her lesbian poetry and entrapped her. The deportation ultimately ended in her dying in the concentration camp Auschwitz. That really stands out to me because, although for many queer people (myself included) New York City is a beacon of hope for people living in less tolerant parts of the country but the walking tour really hammered in that New York is tolerant but it came from a very sordid history and it did not get there overnight. Another thing in particular that continued to jump out at me was all of the consignment and vintage stores. I love finding vintage fashions, regardless of whether I purchase anything or not I love seeing how fashion was because it almost always hints at the social and political climate of the time. Our tour concluded in a historic gay bar in the village named Julius’ where our tour guide gave a brief history about how it became a queer space. It also happens to be my first time in a gay bar. “My first time”…seems to be a reoccurring theme for me in New York City and I hope there continues to be more positive “first” to come.
