ACTUP Response:
Interviews: “How to Advocate for Yourself” -Chris Cochrane and “The Strength to be ACT UP” – Joe Ferrari
For this response I looked at two interviews from the ACT UP Oral History Project. Both interviews focused on being gay in the 80’s and how the interviewees got involved with ACT UP. Something that I noticed in these two interviews was the difference in personalities and action between Cochrane and Ferrari. Cochrane’s experience with being gay seemed a lot quieter while Ferrari came off as very loud and confident about everything that he did. When both interviewees were asked about their first experience with ACT UP, you could immediately tell that they were talking about ACT UP in that the atmosphere’s described and the people there were the same, but what the individual did in that setting is different. Cochrane’s course of action was that of someone not used to advocating and being overwhelmed by the fact that there were so many people like him gathering in one place. He was not the person that immediately went up in arms to be part of the cause, and did what I would do, sit back and observe what is going on. Cochrane said he did not participate in the protests out of fear that he would be arrested, and I completely understood why he did that.
On the other hand, Ferrari’s approach was that he got involved immediately and attended the protests, risking getting arrested. He said in his interview that he saw the protests as an integral part of ACT UP. I think it is good that an organization like ACT UP was able to bring people together to fight for equal treatment. While protesting is an important part to getting your point across, I think it is important to remember that not everyone is willing to put themselves at risk for a cause and that they should not feel guilty about that.
Discussion Question: ACT UP and any other organizations are successful because there is strength in numbers. Higher numbers means a greater passion for a cause, but sometimes it is hard to get things done in a large group, are there times when an individual can impact a cause as much as a mob.
