Books like When We Rise by Cleve Jones
Cleve Jones, born in 1954, grew up among the last generation of gay Americans uncertain if others shared his experience. The early 1970s drew him to San Francisco, a hub of progressive politics and sexual freedom. There he found community in shared hotel rooms, bathhouses, and the burgeoning Castro district, and met Harvey Milk, whose activism inspired Jones to enter politics. After Milk’s murder in 1978, Jones continued his work in the gay rights movement. The arrival of AIDS soon after reshaped his life; he co-founded the San Francisco AIDS Foundation, conceived the AIDS Memorial Quilt, and documented the heartbreak of losing friends to the disease. His memoir blends personal relationships, political activism, and historical context, offering a vivid account of 1970s San Francisco and the broader LGBTQ struggle.
First publish date: 2016
Genre: Memoir/Personal Memoir
Authors: Cleve Jones
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