I go back to the parallels with 1963, 1964 when white America really became aware of the brutality of segregation, the cruelty of the apartheid system which existed in the south. Then white people began to get on the freedom buses and travel to the south and be part of the voter registration drives and they... some of them were beaten and some of them were murdered but they stood with the African-American community and the civil rights movement. It's time for straight people to do that today and it is time for gay people to insist that they do that today.
Cleve JonesI think that a big part of the energy that was going into fighting AIDS was reduced when we saw that more of the new infections were among our black and brown young people. That's a sad truth to have to claim, but I believe it's true.
Cleve JonesI recently heard young people talking about collective bargaining agreements - I hadn't heard young people use that phrase in forever!
Cleve JonesMost of the young people I know are working so hard, 60 or 70 hours a week. They have no time for recreation or love affairs; it's just work and struggle. I want them to endure, and find that strength and be able to continue.
Cleve JonesI am tired of fighting state by state, county by county, city by city, for fractions of equality. I am tired of compromises and I am tired of the strategy that divides us from each other. It is time for us to unite across state boundaries in a truly nationwide movement to win full, actual equality, which can only come from the federal government. That's not my opinion. That's a fact.
Cleve Jones