SHENECA SHARPE
Special to The Leader
Fredonia Pride Alliance is partnering with the convocation committee to host: ACT UP Locally. (WNY)
Members of the ACT UP Western New York chapter will be in attendance to provide oral histories with a focus on issues of activism and social change.
ACT UP is known for direct levels of protests and has been influential in their work for people with AIDS even to a legislative stance.
Dr. Jeffry Iovannone, coordinator of the women and gender studies program, wants the audience to see how it is to work for LGBTQ social change in Western New York, and gain an understanding of the AIDS epidemic.
“[They work to give] recognition to local LGBTQ change-makers and a space to tell their stories, [as well as] an understanding of what it means to work for LGBTQ social change in a city like Buffalo, or in Western New York more broadly,” he said. “At the height of its influence in the early to mid-1990s, [it gave] a better understanding of the HIV/AIDS epidemic and its impact on LGBTQ people and on American society.”
The audience should expect performances of oral histories and a discussion panel to further and to answer audience questions.
“With this event, I’m attempting to use oral history in a more activist fashion by presenting the stories and experiences of former members of ACT UP WNY in a public setting,” he said. “We might call the panel a form of ‘oral history activism.’The panelists will talk about their individual stories, the significance of ACT UP and HIV/AIDS advocacy in Western New York, how to create change locally and the state of LGBTQ rights and liberation today.”
ACT UP Locally will take place on Monday, Oct. 28 from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. in Fenton Hall 105.