Computer, begin recording. File in personal research logs.
So, they’ve added more recovered data from the 20th century to the database recently. My search algorithms have turned up many distinct works that I want to look into regarding the period, but I had to start somewhere.
Surprisingly, most of the chapters from an old book popped up. This book “And the Band Played On” apparently was not mainstream at the time but rather primarily read by a few subsets of society. I am surprised a copy remained in good enough condition.
The book chronicles the beginning of the AIDS/HIV epidemic, which vastly differs from previously assessed news coverage even 50 years after the ninth decade of the twentieth century. This disconnect is disconcerting but expected given the area’s feelings regarding difference at that point in time.
Among the significant points was the politicizing at every point in the process of fighting the new virus. From the funding that could not be procured because it would have made the, what’s the word…, president look bad to not being able to research where it began, it’s astonishing to look back on.
The toll of human suffering the book details was immense, and it remained immense for years after that.
What I found most interesting was the sense of community at the time. When larger administrative constructs did nothing practical, the community of affected individuals organized to handle it as best they could. While not everyone in the community even believed that AIDS/HIV was happening, enough did that they made stuff happen while being hamstrung with limited funds.
There were also so many groups in power that stuck their heads in the sand. From city administrators to national government to even blood banks that later ended up settling for millions, all of these people were willing to ignore a virus because the group that caught it first was one they didn’t like.
[Sound of door opening]
Computer, end recording.