If you've ever felt a deep, burning commitment to a cause, but weren't sure how to begin to speak out about it, see this documentary for outright inspiration.  Then, like so many heroes we meet in this film, do something about it in a bold way.  The men and women on the early battlegrounds of the AIDS epidemic/plague/CRISIS were the essence of humanity as they stood up against egregious infractions to all of our civil rights.

How to Survive A Plague, journalist David France's gripping documentary chronicling the birth of ACT UP and the strides it made in getting AIDS treatments out of the laboratory & into the bodies of the infected & dying, opened last week at the IFC in New York and has a robust schedule of screenings across the country in the coming weeks. The images I have posted only begin to channel the energy of the late '80s and early '90s carrying through this 109 minute tale.   (more…)