San Francisco Supervisor Harvey Milk and the city's Mayor, George Moscone were assassinated on November 27, 1978. Thirty years ago, I was 21 and a senior at UC Berkeley, working at a donut shop early mornings before classes. Someone came running in breathless, with the news that Moscone and Milk had just been murdered by Dan White. My visceral reaction is probably what people felt who were adults when Martin Luther King, RFK or JFK, or Malcolm X were murdered. For me, these were the leaders of my town's alliance of politicians who were working for change, and their assassination was frightening and felt personal, an attack on those who represented me and people like me. I left work and went on campus for class, and then to a Talking Heads show at noon on Lower Sproul Plaza. The first song they played was Psycho Killer. Did they know?
We watched the national news that night with this report. In those days, George Moscone was better known, as a native San Franciscan who had come up through the Democratic party ranks with a cohort of political allies. He opened city politics up to people who were not part of the moneyed old guard who promoted an aggressive development agenda (which Diane Feinstein would carry out when she became mayor), but his allies did not hold a majority on the SF Board of Supervisors, so the political conflicts were bitter. Days before the assassinations, the news had broken about the Jonestown massacre in Guyana (Jim Jones had been active in SF politics before he fled with his People's Temple followers because of accusations of corruption). Randy Shilts' book The Mayor of Castro Street: The Life and Times of Harvey Milk tells both the story of the person and of the movement, the coalitions, the incredible changes that were taking place at the time. Apparently, another film is in production based on this book. If both films are as good as the "dueling biopics" about Truman Capote, that will be great. Will they freeze Harvey Milk as "St. Harvey" gay icon? or reminds us of Harvey Milk the canny coalition builder, stubborn ballsy activist, who saw his work as part of a larger struggle? Milk the advocate of rent control, union rights, police reform? One of my vivid memories of the aftermath of the killings (because we can't forget that the MAYOR of the city was also murdered, not just Milk) was the gloating of the San Francisco police, the t-shirts, the police riot. This wasn't just a lone crazy who suffered from depression; this was a politically motivated killing, egged on by a culture of homophobia and reactionary hatred of "hippies" and all the changes they (we) stood for. Dan White served five years of a seven-year sentence for two political murders.
I want to connect my memories to more stories of what actually happened, before I see the movie and it reshapes those fragments and feelings. The GLBT Historical Society site is one place to start, as it contributed archival materials to the film, and also reports on the premiere and gives a link roundup of SF reactions. The Bay Guardian has a special issue. The San Francisco Chronicle also has a collection of links, including this photo gallery
The documentary filmThe Times of Harvey Milk (1984) won an Oscar. Using archival footage and interviews with friends, neighbors and colleagues, it situates Milk in the stories and conflicts of the times, not just his work as a gay activist, but his partnerships with a new coaltion of change agents in San Francisco politics. A kind soul has posted clips on YouTube is you want to see the documentary before seeing the feature film.
Duffy Jennings, one of the SF Chronicle reporters who was on the scene, also reminds us of George Moscone's legacy:
Moscone had his critics, some with good reason, but he loved San Francisco, a passion I share as a fellow native. An entire generation of San Franciscans today knows little about him other than the convention center bears his name.
He fought against racism and for civil rights, against downtown power brokers and for neighborhoods. He opened the doors of City Hall and the seats of power to people from all walks of life, regardless of race, gender or sexual orientation. As deservedly iconic and significant as Harvey Milk has become to the gay community, it was Moscone who broke down the barriers.
His was a remarkable story in its own right. Perhaps on one of these anniversaries, Hollywood will give us a movie titled "Moscone."
For more on Harvey Milk and the Castro Street neighborhood the way it was in the seventies, visit these pages: Uncle Donald's Castro Street
UPDATED: a first-hand account by Lesbians against Police Violence
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment