INTERVIEW INSERTED: Robert Lipsyte: The group is called ACT UP, the AIDS coalition to unleash power. Most of its members are white gay men, and their tactics include staging Die Ins like this one at City Hall. Their demands include more money for AIDS research and access to drugs. About a year ago Act Up formed a task force to address the needs of Hispanic and black people with AIDS. But the task force has relatively few members and has yet to be as active as its parent organization. Joining me is Ortez Alderson, an actor and artist and one of the few men of color in Act Up. Mr. Alderson, Mildred Pearson is such a kind of lonely fighter out there. Is it harder for minority people to enter activism? Ortez Alderson: Yeah, for quite a few reasons. One of the reasons is that a lot of minority people who are in AIDS organizations, for instance, when I joined Act Up, I also at the same time joined them and a minority task force of AIDS in Harlem. And I was also a buddy to PWA's in Harlem. So I was doing both of them. At the same time, I came to the aid struggle also as an actor doing a play in England, concerning a man whose lover had died of AIDS and I played his lover. And it was through that that I became much more concerned after doing that play for two years about what was really going on with AIDS. After I became a buddy and to people with AIDS, I began to become concerned about some of the political ramifications such as minority organizations not getting enough funding. Drug protocol is being run by the FDA and etc, where women and people of minority are excluded from these drug protocols. And therefore getting no treatment at all since drug protocols are the only way you could get treatment. It was a result of those concerns, and that act up itself was holding demonstrations and etc. And I felt that we had to give as much voice to the struggle of people with AIDS and their friends and people who want to get something done about AIDS from the city government from the federal government that I chose to joinAct Up. At the time and Act Up right now. Since I joined backed up three months after it began, we now have an Act Up what I call the Majority Action Committee, which is a committee that all the minority people in Act Up are involved in. Now what that committee does is we are very active in terms of putting out posters putting out safe sex information and communities like Harlem, Bedford Stuy, the Bronx, etc. We also participates in forums within the black community and etc. on both letting people know about transmission routes, etc. as well as making people try to apply pressure to black politicians yes, and Hispanic politicians and the Congressional Black Caucus and Congressional Hispanic Caucus into looking on what is going on in the AIDS crisis within our community. Robert Lipsyte: Mr. Alderson there is the sense that activist groups tend to be white and middle class and that institutions kind of respond to that. Ortez Alderson: I think that has to do so with with an idea of what an activist is. There is no bigger activist and this lady right here (Mildred Pearson), who whose own son died and who after all of that stood up and told people we are going to talk about eight, that is Activism. I am here as an Activist, because I have watched my friends die, I have held their hands too. So I'm saying there is all kinds of Activism, because the person decides to get arrested or not get arrested. But if necessary, we definitely will get arrested. I came here today from court over a case with Dr. Joseph that we all know about is cutting the funds for AIDS patients in New York City, I could go to jail for that. I came here to do this show from that court. So I'm saying you have to do whatever is necessary. When we are dealing in a struggle where people are living and dying, where we're dealing with the struggle where minority organizations are not getting the money that they have, I'll give you a perfect example of what I'm talking about without pointing out any minority organizations. The point of the fact is, is most minority organizations are given 75,000 are given this as if they're going to save all of Harlem with that, and they have two people on staff. This is the sort of thing that we have to fight. This is the sort of thing that people like myself, who are involved in groups like Act Up or say, No, we are not going to let this become the struggle. And we are not going to allow the only thing that is being said, or only information that's being put out there to be a benefit only to other communities, but not to the minority communities. I went to the FDA before we had the demonstration. And I said to Dr. Young, I said Dr. Young, why is it the only 200 black people are being treated in this country? Why are 200 women excuse me, 400 black men, and 235 out of 6,000 slots in your drug protocols in this country, you are not treating us. You are not giving us experimental drugs. 100 of these people are in one drug protocol in San Francisco, and they are asymptomatic, have no symptoms, and you are feeding them AZT. Robert Lipsyte: Mr. Alderson, just why are these institutions not responsive? Ortez Alderson: They're not responsive, sir. Because the whole society is run in a very way that has nothing to do with our communities. The IRBs or the committee IRB, the IRB is called institutional review boards, they are being run by places like New York University and etc. For instance, we're having a big thing now, right here right now with the idea that they're now starting drug protocols for CD4, but they want to do them at the University Hospitals where they have no black or Hispanic enrollment. Now, we all know that if these that if our community does not get some of the CD4 then whatever cure or whatever they're going to find may benefit other people, but not may not deal with the realities and the health care of our community. The reason why people in our community are suffering from this is because there is a lack of Health Care Services period, when a person of color goes who has AIDS, it is much more likely that they're only going to live six months, because it took them so long to go to the doctor, they can now cannot get into a drug protocol because they do not have a private doctor. So what we have to do is have AIDS organizations, and everybody become politically aware of these issues. So then when we say to Frank Young and it did work, we said, Look, a lot of minority people do not have private doctors, so they don't, they're not going to know about these programs. Furthermore, the only press that they are putting in is Institutional Review Board literature, which is only passed out in universities, white universities. Robert Lipsyte: Excuse me, Mrs. Pearson, you wanted to add to that? Mildred Pearson: Well, this is why we have to go into the communities and educate our people. And I feel like when I stand on the platform, and I give my story, that it's more of an awareness, he does his one way, and I do mine another and I feel like the message is being reached. Robert Lipsyte: You think that people are responding? And here? Mildred Pearson: Yes, because through phone calls I get and people want to know more. And I have been in a couple of churches and given you know, my story and they you know they're amazed. And as I'm telling also reaching out, come help me Come help me. But I'm not gonna give up. Robert Lipsyte: He's obviously there's Ortez Alderson: And I also want to say real fast that that it's a false division that people are trying to say that I am a political activist, and a person taking care of a person with AIDS because she's a nurse or etc is not a political activist, Sir, she is taking care of life, she is supporting life. If I am going to go and testify about us not having enough money to treat people with AIDS, that is saving life that does not make me and you know, again, a activist and make someone else not an activist. And I want to say that the people that are taking care of people with AIDS are activists Sir, and as you can tell from the way I feel about it, and I feel very strongly because I feel it's a false division, which people like Dr. Joseph tried to use to divide our community to divide the communities that are concerned about AIDS. He wants to divide people who care about drug abusers versus people who are not gay and etc. Mildred Pearson: We don't have to say one community. This is hitting Society, you don't have to be rich, or poor or anything. Awareness, open your eyes and see the children, our grown children are suffering, we need more help. And this is what we're reaching out for, help Robert Lipsyte: so that other mothers don't have to bury their sons. Mildred Pearson: That's it. There's no cure right now. But with love, understanding, caring and sharing we work miracles. Ortez Alderson: and fighting to make sure that we get what's necessary to take care of people and keep people alive. And to be able to deal openly and honestly, with all of our communities, about the many varied sexualities that are going on. without apology. We do not I do not apologize for being a black gay male. And I suggest that all people in our communities, no matter what their sexual preference are, come out and educate our community into how not to come in contact with this virus. Actually, We need that openess to have that happen. Robert Lipsyte: Thank you very, very much for joining us. We'll be right back with Mrs. Pearson. And with one of the city's leading black churchmen.

00:00:00:00 Geraldine Ferraro, Sally Ride, and Flo Hymaan sign autographs at National Women's Political Caucus meeting in Atlanta (0:00)/

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--SUPERS--\nSaturday\nSan Francisco, CA\n\n --VIDEO SHOWS--\nNancy Pelosi addresses the California Women's Caucus.\n\n -----END-----CNN.SCRIPT-----\n\n --KEYWORD TAGS--\nCALIFORNIA POLITICS\n\n