Upping the Ante

Frontdesk by David Waggoner

ACT UP, one of the most powerful-sounding acronyms in the dictionary of AIDS activism, is not just a name. It’s an attitude. And it’s having a birthday this month. Twenty years ago, Larry Kramer was asked to be a substitute speaker for a sick Nora Ephron at the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Community Center’s monthly lecture series. His rousing speech about the AIDS crisis and the discussion that followed helped give birth to the most potent form of activism since the Vietnam War. ACT UP helped force AIDS drug pricing to fall to more acceptable levels. ACT UP was the first collective to bring attention to the broad scope of the international AIDS crisis. And isn’t ACT UP proof that Larry Kramer’s greatest cultural contribution was not his pen so much as his anger?

Although there might be others more subtle than he, Kramer’s own particular genius is how he showed, by example, how people have the power to act for themselves (and others); he brought AIDS out of the closet and into the streets; and he dealt a deathblow to apathy. A&U honors Mr. Kramer for inspiring us all to keep acting up, for giving a lot of people a chance to reinvest in their life’s work—with purpose and passion, for shaking up the status quo. He challenged us to take another look at what we do everyday and change it for the better. But though ACT UP recently experienced a fresh burst of energy with a demonstration in Times Square, its tactics—like direct action and street protests—often still do not attract those who are used to giving money to causes rather than putting their bodies on the line.

Cofounding the (RED) campaign with rock star Bono, Mr. Shriver is aiming for a different kind of activism, taking on the establishment in the form of that all-powerful market of voicing one’s own opinion: shopping. Now everyone with some pocket money can fight AIDS—shoppers unite!

Mr. Shriver’s philanthropic connections are well-known from his family’s public works ethic. His mother (Eunice Kennedy Shriver) started the Special Olympics. His sister Maria Shriver is not only California’s first lady, but a hardworking and passionate voice for many causes, including the working poor, Alzheimer’s, and a variety of disabilities both physical and intellectual. For Bobby Shriver, taking on difficult fights comes naturally. It’s in his genes and now on his jeans. From iPod to Gap, from Motorola to Verizon, from Converse to Emporio Armani, everything is (RED) again. Remember those AIDS ribbons? Well, they’ve sort of reappeared, but this time by wearing and using something (RED), you’re also raising money—fast cash—and not just consciousness.

About time, you might say, that the world remembers that every year five million more are infected. And millions more are affected, from the loss of jobs, insurance, and, more importantly, parents and grandchildren. As AIDS worsens it’s about time that something as clever, and as fun, happens to hit the stores. “Red is a state of mind, not just a color,” Shriver shares with A&U’s Dann Dulin. “There are (RED) people in the world and these people don’t just wear the color red. They have a social consciousness and understand that shopping is a form of power.” Well put.

I can see it now: Valentine’s Day, Christmas, World AIDS Day, these are all perfect occasions for giving (RED). If Bobby Shriver has it his way, we can end the AIDS crisis by shopping. Sounds good to me. What better way to put good use to money. After all, money changes everything if we remember to shop (RED) when we’re filling a shopping cart at Walmart or on-line.

And if they don’t sell it in (RED), then don’t buy it there. They’ll change their minds; they’ll have to if they want some of my green. I think Larry Kramer might agree.

March 2007