vip@philabs.UUCP (V. I. P.) (05/23/85)
Thanks for the gracious response to my recent posting of the
VILLAGE VOICE article written by Roger Wilkens. The next day I
was to attend the benefit 'Comic Relief' sponsored by the AIDS
Medical Foundation here in New York. I was thinking about how
what Roger Wilkens said affected me not just as a black man but
as a gay man.
After the show there was a party held for large contributors at
the Harvard Club. I spoke with many people there about the
challenge that AIDS represents; not just to the medical
establishment, but to the education establishment. About
the challenge AIDS represents; not just to the gay community, but
to the community at-large. I thought about the importance of
educating our young to remember the hardships of others, what
they went through, what they endured. This, obviously, means
different things to different people. But, Wilkens was right
about the importance of being strong. Not just for minorities,
but for all of us. We must each be strong in addressing and
dealing with the hardships that many of us now endure. We must
be thoughtful in our approach and sympathetic. We must reject
illogic and emotional reaction; stupidity and hatred.
Those who attack affirmative action, those who wish to ignore the
needs of the under-privileged, those who might suggest that we
forget the Holocaust, or earlier holocausts committed by men
against men, ignore the lesson to be learned through the
collective human experience.
Some mornings when I get on the subways to go to work, and we're
all pressed into those train cars elbow to elbow, breast to
breast, it seems there is always someone who reacts negatively to
the situation. You hear, 'Bitch! Don't touch me!' You hear
moanings and groanings, complaints, accusations. We must all
remember that we're in this together. We created the situations
and must now endure them or do what we can to change them; each
and every one of us.
Understanding and thoughtfulness are among the most important
virtues we can possess. We must all use these virtues to the
best of our ability, we must all try to 'count to ten,' weigh our
words, and understand.
Brian M. Day
'Everything happens for the best, and this is the best of
all possible worlds.'
Dr. Panglossmms1646@acf4.UUCP (Michael M. Sykora) (05/25/85)
I think you want net.religion!