Tamar W. Carroll
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- January 2016
- ISBN:
- 9781469619880
- eISBN:
- 9781469619903
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University of North Carolina Press
- DOI:
- 10.5149/northcarolina/9781469619880.001.0001
- Subject:
- Sociology, Urban and Rural Studies
Examining three interconnected case studies, this book demonstrates the ability of grassroots community activism to bridge racial and cultural differences and effect social change. Drawing on an ...
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Examining three interconnected case studies, this book demonstrates the ability of grassroots community activism to bridge racial and cultural differences and effect social change. Drawing on an array of oral histories, archival records, newspapers, films, and photographs from post-World War II New York City, the text shows how poor people transformed the antipoverty organization Mobilization for Youth and shaped the subsequent War on Poverty. Highlighting the little-known National Congress of Neighborhood Women, it reveals the significant participation of working-class white ethnic women and women of color in New York City's feminist activism. Finally, the text traces the partnership between the AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power (ACT UP) and Women's Health Action Mobilization (WHAM!), showing how gay men and feminists collaborated to create a supportive community for those affected by the AIDS epidemic, to improve health care, and to oppose homophobia and misogyny during the culture wars of the 1980s and 1990s. The book contends that social policies that encourage the political mobilization of marginalized groups and foster coalitions across identity differences are the most effective means of solving social problems and realizing democracy.Less
Examining three interconnected case studies, this book demonstrates the ability of grassroots community activism to bridge racial and cultural differences and effect social change. Drawing on an array of oral histories, archival records, newspapers, films, and photographs from post-World War II New York City, the text shows how poor people transformed the antipoverty organization Mobilization for Youth and shaped the subsequent War on Poverty. Highlighting the little-known National Congress of Neighborhood Women, it reveals the significant participation of working-class white ethnic women and women of color in New York City's feminist activism. Finally, the text traces the partnership between the AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power (ACT UP) and Women's Health Action Mobilization (WHAM!), showing how gay men and feminists collaborated to create a supportive community for those affected by the AIDS epidemic, to improve health care, and to oppose homophobia and misogyny during the culture wars of the 1980s and 1990s. The book contends that social policies that encourage the political mobilization of marginalized groups and foster coalitions across identity differences are the most effective means of solving social problems and realizing democracy.
Tamar W. Carroll
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- January 2016
- ISBN:
- 9781469619880
- eISBN:
- 9781469619903
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of North Carolina Press
- DOI:
- 10.5149/northcarolina/9781469619880.003.0006
- Subject:
- Sociology, Urban and Rural Studies
This chapter explores coalition between two reproductive rights activist groups—ACT UP and WHAM!. The two work for improved prevention and treatment for HIV/AIDS, and support women's rights to bodily ...
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This chapter explores coalition between two reproductive rights activist groups—ACT UP and WHAM!. The two work for improved prevention and treatment for HIV/AIDS, and support women's rights to bodily autonomy. In the early 1990s, Operation Rescue and other antiabortion groups barricaded women's health clinics in often successful attempts to close them. Just as ACT UP had rejected sexual shame in relation to the AIDS epidemic, WHAM! protested that women should not be made to feel ashamed for expressing their sexuality and controlling their reproduction, including via abortion. Through their demonstrations, WHAM! illustrated a different model for thinking about reproductive rights as a necessary part of health care for women and of access to high-quality health care as a human right.Less
This chapter explores coalition between two reproductive rights activist groups—ACT UP and WHAM!. The two work for improved prevention and treatment for HIV/AIDS, and support women's rights to bodily autonomy. In the early 1990s, Operation Rescue and other antiabortion groups barricaded women's health clinics in often successful attempts to close them. Just as ACT UP had rejected sexual shame in relation to the AIDS epidemic, WHAM! protested that women should not be made to feel ashamed for expressing their sexuality and controlling their reproduction, including via abortion. Through their demonstrations, WHAM! illustrated a different model for thinking about reproductive rights as a necessary part of health care for women and of access to high-quality health care as a human right.
Tamar W. Carroll
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- January 2016
- ISBN:
- 9781469619880
- eISBN:
- 9781469619903
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of North Carolina Press
- DOI:
- 10.5149/northcarolina/9781469619880.003.0008
- Subject:
- Sociology, Urban and Rural Studies
This introductory chapter explains how social activism in New York has been able to appropriate new meaning to the city's landmarks, specifically the joint protest of the AIDS Coalition to Unleash ...
More
This introductory chapter explains how social activism in New York has been able to appropriate new meaning to the city's landmarks, specifically the joint protest of the AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power (ACT UP) and the Women's Health Action and Mobilization (WHAM!) against a domestic ban on abortion, held on top of the Statue of Liberty. By selecting the Statue of Liberty as the site of their protest, these activists ensured that Americans would rapidly understand the connection they were drawing between individual freedom, misunderstandings of American exceptionalism, as well as women's reproductive autonomy. In relation to this, New York's many landmarks gave a range of unique venues for activism. Demonstrations, marches, strikes, acts of civil disobedience, and even poster campaigns provided global reach as print, broadcast, and online media inform the greater public.Less
This introductory chapter explains how social activism in New York has been able to appropriate new meaning to the city's landmarks, specifically the joint protest of the AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power (ACT UP) and the Women's Health Action and Mobilization (WHAM!) against a domestic ban on abortion, held on top of the Statue of Liberty. By selecting the Statue of Liberty as the site of their protest, these activists ensured that Americans would rapidly understand the connection they were drawing between individual freedom, misunderstandings of American exceptionalism, as well as women's reproductive autonomy. In relation to this, New York's many landmarks gave a range of unique venues for activism. Demonstrations, marches, strikes, acts of civil disobedience, and even poster campaigns provided global reach as print, broadcast, and online media inform the greater public.
