Computer, begin recording. File in personal research logs.
The algorithm I have combing the historical databases turned up another interesting record. This one is late 20th century Earth and follows the lives of six people from decades before. The file is called Stonewall-Duberman for future reference.
The original narrative style appears to follow the time periods rather than the people. While this narrative style is excellent for contextualizing events, I can see why there’s an addendum on the file about reorganizing.
Back to the file, it traces the lives of six people from birth, through the Stonewall rebellion, and in most cases, to their deaths. Each period has information about each person, though the details vary wildly as to how many there are.
It was unique to read what brought people of that period to activism. Most of the previous works I reviewed skipped to ‘and then they were activists’ rather than providing those details. It’s fascinating to see how people took their journey before they were names people knew.
I think Craig Rodwell was my favorite to follow, likely owing to my own love of books. He opened the Oscar Wilde Bookshop in 1967 and supplied space for many community meetings. That the bookshop reached legendary status at the time was even more impressive.
I also enjoyed reading about Sylvia Rivera, and by association Marsha P. Johnston. The book mentions several tidbits I had not encountered in other reviews. Given how central both activists were in informing the newer movements about groups they were leaving behind, the background was helpful.
Trading through the material feels more personable than many accounts of the period, excluding the autobiographies, of course. Maybe I came around to the jumping around after all.
Klaxon blares in the background.
Computer, end recording.