When We Rise: My Life in the Movement

Contemplate a life rich in youth, health, friends, laughter, experiences. Now imagine any of the following happening to you: Candidiasis. Cryptococcosis. Pneumocystis carinii. Lymphoma. Toxoplasmosis. Cytomegalovirus. Cryptosporidiosis. Mycobacterium avium complex. Kaposi’s sarcoma.

Seriously. Imagine it.

And finally, reckon with the discovery that it is happening to friend after friend and that Medicine offers palliative consolations at best, the illness itself regarded as the collateral consequence of who you are. It is sickness, it is stigma, it is the destroyer of worlds in which you and your friends breathed.

Now you are prepared to read When We Rise: My Life in the Movement, a memoir by Cleve Jones.

The book is partly the story show more of how the gay community came to make itself visible to America. It’s also a story of how at least some individuals discovered for themselves a way to find joy. These breakthroughs were accompanied by losses of a scope not commonly experienced outside war, famine, or tyranny.

This memoir is a journey in four parts: The hidden anxieties of childhood—The awakenings and excitements of young adulthood—The intrusion of tragedies—The responses of an activist. While the account of Cleve’s lively young adulthood took some effort to traverse (if you’re keen to hear about his sexual adventures you’ll feel differently) the rest was mostly absorbing.

Near the end of the 1970s the author’s youthful interest in political action was intensified by the impact of the murders of San Francisco politicians Harvey Milk and George Moscone, and then again by the arrival of a syndrome later named AIDS. Some of the public and some politicians claimed that victims of AIDS weren’t victims but instead persons receiving the wrath God’s justice warranted, and seemed even to celebrate the opportunity to believe this was true. It is irony, then, that by helping unmask the relative anonymity of gay people in America that had existed, the crisis caused by AIDS contributed to changes that ultimately led to authorizing gay marriage.

What created this transformation? It was ignited by the work of activists, among whom was the author, originator of the AIDS Memorial Quilt. The last parts of Cleve Jones’s story focus on this work. The rising was made possible first by individual courage and then by the urgency accompanying the grief and desperation and anger brought by AIDS. It was a difficult fight they fought and fight still. When We Rise is one way to know it better, and with respect. show less

It feels odd to say that as a gay man I have been living with privilege. I strongly believe that my generation of gay men and women take for granted, the battles that were fought and the people who fought them, that have given us this world we take for granted now. Cleve Jones is one of those people we take for granted. This memoir is a glaring portrait of the gay movement that we have forgotten. Whether that was the aim or not, it paints a strong picture of how hard men and women fought to give us freedoms we sometimes take for granted. It has been disheartening for me, as I share with friends, that I was reading a memoir by Jones, and very few knew his name. I think it is important for everyone to know his name. In the same way, that show more he talks about near the end of the memoir, he had been worried people were forgetting who Harvey Milk was, and how wanted to ensure his memory lived on, I think it is important for us to remember not only Harvey, and Cleve, but many of the other people he talks about in the book, and others not mentioned. This book to me, feels very important. It serves as a reminder, in a time, where are once again at war for our rights and our lives.
There is a line in the book, where Cleve asks Dustin Lance Black: "What is it like to be part of a generation with no purpose." For years I think, that is what the gay community felt like. We were content with going to the bar, doing drugs, having sex, and shopping for clothes. It could be argued that movies like Milk, and the battle over Prop 8 awakened something within the community, and the battle for marriage sparked once again a sense of community and movement. And now, during this movement we must look to the leaders who forged the path, like Jones, to help us pave a future.
It's true this memoir is not only about gay rights and the movement Cleve was apart of. It was also about Cleve's life, both before he knew Harvey Milk and after.
My favorite parts of the books are the times when he reflects on the way he fantasized about San Fransisco and how he dreamed of escaping there, and then when he did, the way he paints the city during his youth. You can feel the love and the nostalgia seeping through the pages. It makes me long for that feeling! I have always dreamed of San Fransisco since I was a teenage and fantasized about living there and walking the streets. This book makes me wish it was still the same city Cleve grew up in.
I will do my best to ensure anyone I can convince, that they should read this, do so. We need to remember these people. We need to remember these stories. They are the foundation that built our movement. We have some big shoes to fill.
It was amazing reading Cleve's story, and he has cemented a place in my heart as one of my heroes. His ending passage resonates, and will stay with me forever; "My generation is disappearing; I want the new generations to know what our lives were like, what we fought for, what we lost, and we won." show less

This is a book I’m reading for my real-world book club, even though I probably won’t be able to attend the meeting when it is discussed. I had seen the miniseries on tv and enjoyed it. I hadn’t been planning to read the book, but I’m glad that I did. It’s excellent.

I’m in the same generation as the author, just a year/school year older than him, and I was in San Francisco, and so much was familiar and brought up memories, and not just within San Francisco, but the country/the world: the war, the politics, the music, the books, the culture/counterculture, the restaurants, the streets & neighborhoods, current events & news & crimes of the era, the public figures, the people, and almost all were familiar and some I hadn’t show more thought about for a long time. Not this particular sub-culture though I knew a fair amount about it at the time. I couldn’t help but think about what was going on in my life month to month, year to year, as he told his story and told what was going on in the greater world.

I wish he hadn’t changed any names because I am wondering about one man I knew back then and wonder whether he was mentioned in the book but with a pseudonym. A couple more guys too.

Cleve Jones is so personable, and delivers such great storytelling. I found it hard to put this book down, except at times when painful happenings were being covered, and even then.

The author has had an interesting, eventful life.

Even though the book goes in chronological order, there is quite a bit of repetition, but it wasn’t too distracting or annoying.

At the end does touch on our current situation. As I got toward the end I felt more depressed because of what we’re going through right now, but this account does a good job of having the reader see the big picture and seeing the process needed to make positive changes. It’s hard not to get discouraged though fighting the same old battles over and over and over again. This goes for so many issues!

I already knew so much of what I read, though some of the details toward the end of events, during the 21st century, I didn’t know it all, particularly the infighting/disagreements within different groups in the movement, and they remind me more than a bit of the vegan/animal rights/environmental movements, and I’m hoping maybe we can continue to learn from one another.

My emotions were all over the place as I relived the social and personal aspects of my life over these decades. I found it both fun and painful.

I think the pacing and structure were good. The author explains at the end a change he made in how much of what was covered and I do think the choice was good, even though much of the worst of the AIDS epidemic felt skimmed over to me.

A lot of name dropping but he is entitled! And there are always valid reasons for when he does it!

Highly recommended for those who lived it or witnessed it, who lived during these decades, particularly if readers were young adults in the 70s, and also those who are curious about the period and those who want to understand how history makes our present. Through all times and causes/issues. Recommended also for people who enjoy good coming of age and aging memoirs. show less

Wow - talk about a book that dredges up parts of the very life that I have lived! I lived this history very much parallel to Cleve's - got beat up in gym class, suffered the trauma of parental sanction, sought out the comforting fold that was San Francisco at about the same time. In the very brief time that I came to know him, I wish I'd known that we shared so much common background. This is essential gay history told from the perspective of someone who was on the inside. There may be some things that got somewhat glossed over, but Cleve even admits it is a memoir. When people ask where we have come from and what part of that I lived, now I have a book that can answer a lot of questions.

I am slowly working my way through a backlog of books, and am regretting that I didn't pick this one up sooner.

Thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. I recommend this to anyone who wants to know more about the movement for equal rights for LGBTQ people. As a gay man close in age to Cleve, and one who has not been politically active, it reminded me again of the tremendous debt that we LGBTQ people owe those who have been active in fighting for our rights.

As a memoir of his life it also brought back so many of my own memories of the times we've lived through. I had the good fortune to meet the author in the early 2000's when he talked about his work on the Quilt to a conference of gay men meeting in San Francisco. I was impressed then show more with his easy way with a story and that comes through here in this book. show less

This is the story of how the author, a young gay man whose family was not supportive, came to San Francisco to live a more honest life and became involved in the movement for gay rights. It is a fascinating look at the course of gay history told through the eyes of an involved activist but what makes it even more compelling is the way the author intertwined what was going on in the rest of the world and discussed how that impacted this movement. Making this story even more moving is the discussion of the advent of the AIDS epidemic and the toll it took on so many. It is an amazing look at parts of our history.

Great historical telling of the gay rights movement from a person involved from its inception. Author uses historical touch points to tell reader where we are in time, which is effective. Could have used less of the "bed hopping" aspects of his life which was a who cares element in a story dealing with such vital moments in time. However, an easy, enjoyable read overall and great for a younger generation who did not live through these times.