ACT UP Albany Action (1988)

This demonstration by ACT UP in Albany, NY took place on May 7, 1988 and was part of the ACT NOW National Spring AIDS Actions. 

The following description of the event comes from Ron Goldberg’s ACT UP Timeline:

ACT NOW National Spring AIDS Actions (aka “The Nine Days of Rain”) – AIDS organizations in over 50 cities participate in the first coordinated nation-wide AIDS activist event. The nine days of actions run from April 29-May 7. Each day has its own selected theme, highlighting specific AIDS-related issues. Groups are encouraged to participate in as many or as few of the days as they choose. ACT UP NY, being ACT UP NY, chooses to participate in them all. 

Day Nine: A National Day of Protest – Marches, rallies, and demonstrations at state capitals across the US Albany action – ACT UP joins with other NY State AIDS and LGBT groups to display a portion of the AIDS Memorial Quilt, march through the streets of Albany, and then rally at the State Capitol Building. 600+ protestors gather to hear Vito Russo’s historic AIDS speech.

A complete transcript of Vito Russo’s speech

A video of Vito’s speech with sound

Digital transfer made possible by a grant from the Al Larvick Conservation Fund.

00:24 Frank Smithson
00:57 Peter Staley
01:03 Charlie Franchino (also 05:05, 08:41)
01:11 Leslie Gevirtz
01:13 Vito Russo (06:57)
01:18 Bob Lederer
01:26 Robert Garcia
01:50 Walter Armstrong
01:55 Costa Pappas
02:02 Stephen Gendin (09:19)
02:08 Jay Blotcher (02:46, 09:07)
02:10 Gerri Wells (09:15)
02:19 Dan Keith Williams, Ortez Alderson (04:26)
02:38 David Feinberg (06:26)
02:53 Charles Stimson (04:00)
03:39 Alan Klein (09:15)
03:49 Avram Finklestein
04:00 Frank Jump (08:28)
04:01 Eric Sawyer (04:14, 07:05)
04:14 David Falcone (09:41)
04:32 Gary Adler (04:52)
04:49 Michael Petrelis (07:28)
05:36 Jim Fouratt
05:39 SPREE (06:29)
05:43 Neil Broome (09:10)
05:58 David Kirschenbaum
06:03 Robert Vazquez-Pacheco
06:37 Marc Rubin
06:53 Barbara Smith
06:57 Vito Russo
07:19 Joyce Hunter
07:38 Jim Eigo, Russell Pritchard
08:25 Eliot Pilshaw
08:37 Steven Cordova
09:38 Marty Robinson
09:46 Michael Savino