A Time To Listen
A conversation series where we learn from the past and come together to prepare for the future.
Part of Hear Me: Voices of the Epidemic.
EPISODE 1: SPEECHES
Speeches have long been vital in the ongoing story of HIV and AIDS. In this inaugural episode of A TIME TO LISTEN, Dave Harper, Executive Director of the New York City AIDS Memorial, speaks with famed activist and communications guru Ann Northrop and writer/editor Kenyon Farrow to discuss what makes for a good speech, and what we should listen for when hearing AIDS news and history.
DISCUSSED VIDEO CLIPS:
Why We Fight - Vito Russo | A Whisper of AIDS - Mary Fisher | Mother, Immigrant, HIV+, Bisexual - Michelle Lopez | Speaking Out for Reproductive Freedom - W. Brandon Lacy Campos | Can you hear me? - Jose DeMarco
ACCESS NOTE: Closed Captioning Available.
EPISODE 2: DIRECT ACTION
Activism fuels progress. Activists Jason Walker and Kiara St. James talk with writer Theodore (ted) Kerr about their AIDS activism, the role that protests play in saving lives, and how protests from 20 years ago are still relevant today (as a thunderstorm rolled through New York as they were recording).
DISCUSSED VIDEO CLIPS:
Positively Trans - Transgender Law Center | A Place in the City: Three Stories about AIDS at Home - Nate Lavey and Stephen Vider | The Transgender Community and AIDS - Surviving Voices - National AIDS Memorial | Building a Powerful Grassroots HIV/AIDS Movement - Barnard Center for Research on Women | Native Americans, Two Spirits & HIV - James Wentzy | Haitian AIDS March - unknown
ACCESS NOTE: Closed Captioning Coming Soon.
EPISODE 3: MUSIC IS LIFE
Music is the heartbeat of the ongoing response to AIDS. Join long time advocate and super disco fan Krishna Stone, and the legendary DJ Danny Krivit in conversation with writer Stephen Hicks as they discuss their favorite songs, namecheck New York nightlife locations and icons, and get into the healing power of sweating to a good song. Technical glitches in this episode add to the charm, and might make you yearn that much more to gather with friends on the dance floor, pausing at times to hear each other, but understanding what is being said nonetheless.
DISCUSSED VIDEO CLIPS:
Intro : Maestro Documentary - directed by Josell Ramos | Danny Krivit Reflects on 45 Years of DJing - Thump | GMHC and the Latex Ball - Logo TV | Lady America 1977 - Voyage
ACCESS NOTE: Closed Captioning Coming Soon.
EPISODE 4: TESTIMONIES
Storytelling is one of the most important traditions within the ongoing response to AIDS. Activist, advocate, and performer Cecilia Gentili shares her story, as well as the late trans activist Lorena Borjas, and leads this discussion with Ministerial Assistant Cheri and Professor Jennifer Brier about “I’m Still Surviving” a project in which women living with HIV talk to each other about living long term with the virus.
DISCUSSED VIDEO CLIPS:
Cecilia Gentili interviewed by Michelle Esther O’Brien - New York City Trans Oral History | Alberto Ferreras, Danzas Anahuacas, Lorena Borjas - CUNY TV | I’m Still Surviving: 20 Years of the Women’s Interagency HIV Study - Humanities for All | I'm Still Surviving - Clips of Cheri’s interview
ACCESS NOTE: Closed Captioning Available.
EPISODE 5: PERFORMANCE
From Broadway, to the Lower East Side, and beyond, theater and performance have been important to the ongoing story of AIDS. Playwright Donja R. Love and multidisciplinary performer Sheldon Raymore join host Theodore (ted) Kerr for a conversation about the creative process, grace, and the importance of understanding yourself as your first audience member.
DISCUSSED VIDEO CLIPS:
45th Tony Awards (1991) | HIV/AIDS in the Indigenous Community: A talk with Sheldon Raymore - Point Source Youth | PrEPahHontoz Video Mix - PrEPahHontoz Official | A chat with one in two playwright Donja R. Love (1 of 3) - The New Group, NYC | One in Two with Donja R. Love - Soule
ACCESS NOTE: Closed Captioning Available.
EPISODE 6: STORYTELLING
Poetry, memoir, fiction, and other styles of writing help to document the experiences and feelings that surround the epidemic. Writer Alysia Abbott and poet Timothy DuWhite join journalist and educator Mathew Rodriguez to talk about their own writing about HIV, share the works of some of their favorite storytellers, and how they have been inspired by others.
DISCUSSED CLIPS:
A passage from: Sex, Drugs, Rock and Roll and AIDS by Iris De La Cruz, 1990 - read by Aaron Laxton | A passage from: Fairyland: A Memoir of My Father - Alysia Abbott | I Hope You Catch AIDS and Die - Timothy DuWhite | Today - Danez Smith | A passage from: The Gentrification of the Mind: Witness to a Lost Imagination - Sarah Schulman | Viv Maldonado remembering her father Jose from The Recollectors
ACCESS NOTE: Closed Captioning Available.