I would recommend this to everyone. Jones shares a personal account of being a member of the gay movement from its early days, while also sharing what it was like to live as a gay man in San Fransisco in the 70s and 80s. Without his contribution along with many many others, I would likely not be able to marry today. There is still progress to be made, but I am grateful for the progress so far.

When We Rise: My Life in the Movement, by Cleve Jones, is broader than a memoir. It is political and social; an in depth review of gay history, based out of San Francisco but national in scope, through a gay man's experience. Cleve Jones realized early he was different, meaning gay. After telling his father he left college, which was not holding his attention, and his home town in Arizona to go to San Francisco. He had $400 in his pocket. He landed in the hot bed of the anti Vietnam war protests, and the sexual revolution, eventually he worked with Harvey Milk. His chapter on Milk's murder and the resulting outrage that turned into a mob burning police cars outside the city government offices is one of the best recountings of this incident. There was much work to do after Harvey Milk's death: Proposition 6 and of course HIV/AIDS.

His grandmother had stayed in touch with him, she traveled from the midwest to visit him. He has warm memories of hand made quilts, their comfort, and ingenuity to recycle loved ones clothing that still held their smell. Out of this he begins to form an idea of quilt panels for the people who died from AIDS. The founder of the Names Project, in this book we get a full history of its evolution to the point where he, the founder, was asked to leave.

He may have left the Names Project much later than its inception, but his work never stopped, he gets involved in health care and insurance issues and through time gives many speeches. In one of his speeches at a yearly gathering at the Civic Center and City Hall to memorialize Harvey Milk, he wrote and spoke: “And now our numbers have been diminished and many here among us tonight are already condemned to an early and painful death. But we are pledged—to the memory of those who have fallen and those who will follow—to see this struggle through to the end.”
“We are the lesbians and gay men of San Francisco. For two decades we have been on the forefront of an international struggle to liberate homosexual people from intolerable persecution, part of a movement that has profoundly transformed the lives of millions of gay men and lesbian women throughout the world.”

He stayed in contact with his family, although he doesn’t reveal that part of his story in this book. He sticks to his work history with the movement, which is monumental. His work had an impact, and he’s still with us, a long term survivor who is active and fighting; and we have another major wave of homophobia in the US. Thank you Cleve Jones for your work and your historical knowledge of the history.

Important read for a first-hand account of living in SF during the gay revolution, working alongside Harvey Milk, dealing with the traumatic aftermath of the AIDS epidemic, and the fight for equality for LGBTQ+ populations in America - a must read.

I received a copy of this book through the Goodreads Giveaway program.

I really enjoyed this book and was surprised that Jones hasn't written more. His prose is clear, concise and really helps the reader to put themselves in his shoes. He has had an extraordinary life and continues to be a voice for all citizens.

In a time of such great political risk to our democracy, his book gave me hope that someone will rise up and inspire us to fight against what is ahead.

Thanks, Cleve. That's all I can say. Thanks.

This memoir recounts the beginning, building, and end of the gay rights movement, AIDS epidemic, and of the AIDS Memorial Quilt. Cleve Jones writes the memoir clear and precisely with a daggers edge. He does circle back quite a bit and the middle dragged a little. However, this is a novel that I would recommend to anyone looking to find more of their history, the queer history, and the leaders and revolutionist that came before us. I believe this also inspired the miniseries on Hulu, which I will be watching soon!

Fantastic book detailing Cleve Jones's, LGTBQ activist, coming of age and life in the movement. I learned so much about the history of the movement through his writing and was happy with how authentic this book is.

Memorias de uno de los personajes clave en el movimiento LGBT y de Derechos Civiles del siglo XX y principios del XXI. Vale la pena para entender momentos clave de la inconclusa búsqueda por la igualdad de derechos que comenzó en los 70 desde el punto de vista de uno de sus protagonistas principales.

I am not an overly emotional person, but i teared up several times during this book. Mr. Jones is a phenomenal storyteller and the power of the experiences he had throughout the early gay rights movement, as a friend and mentee of Harvey Milk, as AIDS tore through the US ignored by our government, and as the Supreme Court decided the fates of millions of individuals and families comes through in his writing so crystal clear.