He’s an 25 year AIDS survivor who has helped save thousands of lives. Hear John Cunningham’s story and why he has chosen a life of service.
The following is a transcript of the conversation between Karl and John.
JOHN
It’s the largest community art project ever created on Earth. It’s 54 tons and it memorializes well over 125,000 people.
KARL
Hello there, welcome to +Talk on +Life where we’re all about turning positive into a plus. Have you heard of the AIDS Quilt, or how about the National AIDS Memorial? Joining me today is CEO of the National AIDS Memorial. It’s John Cunningham. Good to see you, John.
JOHN
It’s great to see you and great to be with you.
KARL
Congratulations on these sort of two amazing things. We’ve got the quilt which I think you’d have to sort of really have lived under a rock to not know what the quilt is. And a very very special place up there in San Francisco, the Memorial Grove. Tell me how this all came to be for you.
JOHN
Well for me personally, and because we’re on +Talk, I have been living with HIV and an AIDS diagnosis for over 25 years. I’m talking to you from our offices on Castro Street in San Francisco. I’m looking out onto Castro Street itself and I can remember when I lived just two blocks from here. During the darkest days of the AIDS crisis when things were very dark, when there wasn’t a lot of hope. But yet when also there was a great deal of energy in the community as we were not only fighting stigma, discrimination and marginalization, but we were also fighting for our lives in those days on a daily basis. So these two projects, the AIDS Memorial Grove in Golden Gate Park and the AIDS Memorial Quilt, were created a couple of miles from each other within a few years of each other. I think it speaks somewhat indicatively of some of the energy and spirit that San Francisco exemplifies that the community rose up and came together to create these two memorial projects. The quilt went to Atlanta for nearly two decades. And it did work in the south. And the AIDS Memorial Grove obviously stayed in Golden Gate Park. In 2019 we were approached by Speaker Pelosi’s office as to whether or not the National AIDS Memorial at the time, if the Memorial Grove would be open to considering transfer of stewardship of the quilt. And perhaps returning it to its place of origin in the Bay Area. I said of course, I’m happy to have that conversation, which I did. With some incredibly generous support from Gilead Sciences we were able to pay down their debt. To separate employees that didn’t come west and relocate those that did come west such as Gert McMullin who’s known as the mother of the quilt. Has been with the quilt for 36 years since its founding along with Cleve. And we returned it. We returned it, in February of 2020 it arrived back in the Bay Area. Just two short weeks from when we went into lockdown. So thank God it made it to its new home, a state-of-the-art space over by the Oakland Airport. I think it speaks volumes as to these two iconic projects. As Cleve says – Cleve Jones, the founder of the Quilt. Harvey Milk’s right arm for those that were under a rock. As he always has said, the quilt was never intended to really be a memorial project. The quilt was intended to be a weapon. An activist tool. Because those of us that lived through those days, 36 years ago, remember a time when we had a government that chose not to respond. When we had society that was stigmatizing a public health issue. Sound familiar. And the first time it went to The Mall in DC, as Cleve said, it went to put our dead on the front lawn of America so you can no longer ignore what’s going on. So when we brought these two together it has brought the activist side as well as the contemplative side of the memorial.
KARL
Yeah, and, you know, you mentioned there 38 years from when the quilt was conceived. How would you say that the quilt is as important if not more today than ever before?
JOHN
That’s a great question. I couldn’t have fed you that one better. You know, the root of the AIDS crisis rests in stigma, discrimination, marginalization, others and lack of access to healthcare. In the early days it obviously adversely impacted gay men. Predominantly gay men living in metropolitan areas. Predominantly gay white men. Today, it is predominantly impacting, as it always has, communities of color and communities of color in the south. So a year and a half ago when we – we’re looking at how can we ensure that the quilt continues to do that powerful work that it’s done for so long. Keeping in mind it’s the largest community art project ever created on Earth. It’s 54 tons and it memorializes well over 125,000 people. How can it remain relevant and how can it impact the work today? We launched a program last year called Change the Pattern, again it was supported by Gilead Sciences, where we took the quilt into southern communities. Jackson, Mississippi, Montgomery, Selma, Birmingham, Memphis, Baton Rouge, New Orleans, Atlanta, Dallas, Houston, Pensacola. Where the infection rates and the caseload is increasing. We know why it’s increasing. It’s increasing for the same reason it was increasing 35 years ago. Because of lack of access to healthcare, stigma, discrimination and marginalization. Taking the quilt to these communities and doing quilt panel making workshops in advance of weeks leading up, and then having five to seven days of beautiful exhibition display with town halls and community meetings that are bringing these different disparate parts of the community together to have conversations ’cause keep in mind, the quilt is quintessential Americana. But it’s also quintessential black all the way back to the Underground Railroad where the quilt was used as a communication tool for the slaves going north. It would hang on lines and tell them stop, don’t go north. So bringing these communities together, having conversations, having dialogue, finding the will to start to bring about some change within the needs of those communities has been profoundly powerful. But also it’s been profoundly painful to see how racism is impacting the epidemic today.
KARL
I know for myself personally whenever I see panels of the quilt I personally just get quite emotional about it. What was the reaction from people down in the south who were seeing these panels for the first time who kind of think yeah, it’s not my problem. I don’t really need to think about. But when you’re alone and you have a moment to look at those panels and see those messages, what kind of emotional response did you get from people?
JOHN
I think it’s important to realize that each of these communities we went into, we curated specific exhibitions that drew panels and stories from their communities. So whether it was Jackson, Mississippi where there were 20 panels and blocks that hung that had actual curated stories that we had one of our fellows flesh out and tell the story. So when these individuals from the community came in, they were seeing themselves and their own community in these panels. And it was overwhelmingly positive. As we said earlier, many in those communities did not know about the quilt because the quilt, although if it was laid block to block would stretch 55 miles, only about two miles represent communities of color. Now this process and this project has generated well over 250 new panels just in the last year. We get about a thousand panels every year to add to the quilt.
KARL
Wow, and you’ve said before that, you know, the American story of the AIDS epidemic must be told. And that this organization must be the one to tell it. Why is that?
JOHN
Well, you know, I think when you look at various memorials. There are memorials to wars and there are memorials to individuals. But there are also memorials to not only to tragedies that befell society. That had attached to them societal. Threads that need to be told. I would never equate the AIDS crisis to the Holocaust. However, the similarity of silence equals death, of silence generating ongoing tragedy. There are so many different stories that need to be told. If you look at the AIDS crisis, it sits at the nexus of so many different movements. The unhoused, economic disparity, communities of color, women, those that use substances, LGBT, all the way down the line, they all intersect at the AIDS crisis. And so if we are going to indeed as a memorial honor and remember those lives lost. The best way to do that is to create a process whereby we inform future generations about what happened. And how stigma can be so corrosive to the fabric of a society so hopefully we don’t repeat that. And before we wind this up I’ll tell you a little bit about the future of this organization and where we’re looking at going.
KARL
Please. Yeah.
JOHN
So if you take and you look at the most powerful way that this organization can memorialize those that succumbed, as well as those like myself and others that may be watching this that have been living courageously, is that we can create a space where stories are captured, stories are told, history is leveraged, but then also that there can be a process by which future movement leaders can learn from not only this movement, but other movements. Because remember, this movement, you know, took its messaging and its learnings from suffrage, from civil rights, all the way through. So we are deep in a process over the last five years of building a National Center for Health and Social Justice that will be located here in San Francisco. That will tell these stories, that will be the final space of the quilt, but also will tell not only the story of the AIDS movement, but other movements that have intersected. And it will have an institute that is tied to it that will teach future generations as to what the powerful stories and lessons are out of that crisis.
KARL
It’s a fantastic project. Congratulations to you and everyone there at the team. I try to do my little bit. I donate. I’ve donated every year to you guys. And it’s well worth it if you’re in the Bay Area and you can get a chance to check out the Memorial Grove in San Francisco. It’s well worth it and pieces of the panel are constantly on tour around the country. John Cunningham, CEO of the National AIDS Memorial, thank you so much for taking the time to chat with us.
JOHN
Thank you for spotlighting our work.
KARL
John Cunningham, thank you so much for making the time. A real pleasure to chat to you. If you want more information about the National AIDS Memorial, the quilt and the grove which is up in the Bay Area, just go to our website, pluslifemedia.com. We’ll put all the information on there. We’ll also put it all in the body of the text when we post this episode. Remember, you can follow us across social media. We are @pluslifemedia. Until next time, be nice to one another. We’ll see you soon. Bye-bye.