#ENDAIDSNY2020
Today was a normal day with one key difference: I wasn’t actually in the office on this day. My work day today took me up to the capital of New York, Albany. This day is also known as International AIDS Awareness Day.
Being a Donation/Dispatch Associate is my day to day job. But within the organization I work for, advocacy is expected out of everyone. The cause for which the trip was intended for is the AIDS Free NY 2020 campaign. On Pride weekend last June, the campaign was announced with us, a slew of partner organizations and Governor Cuomo. A list of recommendations on how the goal could be achieved had been in the works for the last few months. This trip was about making sure the recommendations were put into place and promises were kept.
After a preparatory session on Monday explaining the events of today, it was time to get on the bus. It was a very early start this morning as I had to be at the West 13th Street offices before 6:30AM. I arrived in perfect timing, there wasn’t a long wait to board the buses. I found a few of my co-workers from my office sitting in the middle of the bus and we left Manhattan in the glow of the night. About an hour into the trip, the night began to fade and the cloudy skies of the day greeted us on both sides of the bus. At around 10AM, we pulled into Albany and made our way to security. It is at this point where I ran into another co-worker who happens to be the shop manager and she proceeded to keep me laughing through most of the day. There was a rally underway when we passed through security in the well of the Legislative Office Building with speakers comprising of partner organizations and legislators and the full roar of everyone in the room.
Lunch was over and it was time for the second act of the day to begin. The group of us and the members of another organization made three stops on each floor of the building and it was a caravan at full voice. As loud as we could muster, the chants of “End AIDS in NY by 2020” and “End AIDS Now” amongst many others rang out loud and clear at each floor we stopped at. Half the group of 120 were on the direct action side of the ledger, the rest went off to speak to legislators and their staffers. At 4PM, the buses left Albany and we ended up back in NYC by 7PM and thus this exhausting yet exhilarating day came to an end. Whether today’s mobilization will have an impact on what happens going forward is yet to be seen. But the goal of keeping the end of AIDS in the public consciousness was certainly achieved.
Today was a bittersweet day for me. In my mind all day, I was remembering my friend and former co-worker who was supposed to be with us on this trip but for outside circumstances couldn’t join us and missing her presence and energy. I also had another friend and former co-worker in mind as sadly, today marked the first anniversary of her passing. I had begun to have a flashback on the way home of all the friends and co-workers I’d met and for whatever reason left in my time working as both an intern and as an employee and the memories of each and everyone. I realize that the day to day grind of helping people donate their furniture had turned me even more jaded, cynical and workaholic than when I began. The enthusiasm had waned to the point where I was beating myself up over every little mistake I made and often in public. It was nice to escape the ringing phone, at least for a day. There is more to daily life than my desk, computer and phone and today I got a good reminder of that.
