Wednesday, December 28, 2011

You gotta give ‘em hope – Harvey Milk

My very talented husband has been a member of the San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus for almost a year. He has recently taken on a leadership roll with the group as the production manager for a new arts initiative to honor the legacy of Harvey Milk.

This last November, the San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus launched a global call for submissions from artists of all types (composers, lyricists, poets, essayists, dancers, visual artists, etc.) -- particularly those 35 years and younger in age -- to help honor in 2013 the life and legacy of Harvey Milk, the first gay elected politician who plowed ground for so many to follow.

Please spread the word. Invite friends, students, family, acquaintances to go to this website, to watch the videos & then to create/submit. "DEAR HARVEY, WE'VE GOT HOPE!!"

Check out this message by Harvey Milk's nephew, Stuart, as he describes his support and excitement for "Dear Harvey, We've Got Hope." Spread the word. Send to poets, musicians, artists, singers, actors, and writers. This is a cutting-edge opportunity to be a part of a collaborative, global creation of a new piece of performance art. HOW EXCITING!!!


“I ask for the movement to continue, for the movement to grow, because last week I got a phone call from Altoona, Pennsylvania, and my election gave somebody else, one more person, hope. And after all, that's what this is all about. It's not about personal gain, not about ego, not about power — it's about giving those young people out there in the Altoona, Pennsylvanias, hope. You gotta give them hope.”
 -- From a tape recording to be played in the event of his assassination, quoted in Randy Shilts’, The Mayor of Castro Street: The Life and Times of Harvey Milk

“And the young gay people in the Altoona, Pennsylvanias and the Richmond, Minnesotas who are coming out and hear Anita Bryant in television and her story. The only thing they have to look forward to is hope. And you have to give them hope. Hope for a better world, hope for a better tomorrow, hope for a better place to come to if the pressures at home are too great. Hope that all will be all right. Without hope, not only gays, but the blacks, the seniors, the handicapped, the us'es, the us'es will give up. And if you help elect to the central committee and other offices, more gay people, that gives a green light to all who feel disenfranchised, a green light to move forward. It means hope to a nation that has given up, because if a gay person makes it, the doors are open to everyone.”
 -- A version of his staple "Hope Speech," quoted in Randy Shilts’, The Mayor of Castro Street: The Life and Times of Harvey Milk

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