美国国家公共电台 NPR How To Demand A Medical Breakthrough: Lessons From The AIDS Fight

 

SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

There are more than half a million people in the United States with HIV who are being kept alive today by drug therapy that was discovered back in 1996. Many attribute that breakthrough to pressure that was put on the government by a group of activists² called AIDS Coalition³ to Unleash⁴ Power, or ACT UP. As part of an NPR series exploring the power of anger, NPR's Nurith Aizenman explains how these early-age activists used anger to force change.

NURITH AIZENMAN, BYLINE⁵: Michael Petrelis' first act of protest was in the doctor's office. It was 1985. Petrelis had just been told he had AIDS and he had two years to live. He was 26.

MICHAEL PETRELIS: And I break down crying. And I took out a cigarette.

AIZENMAN: Because he knew it was forbidden.

PETRELIS: I was so mad with hearing this news, so angry at the doctor, I thought the one best way to protest would be to light up a cigarette and just smoke it with as much pleasure as I could find.

AIZENMAN: But soon, his rage shifted as he began to learn how little the government had done to address a crisis that was still mostly affecting men who, like him, were gay. This was four years after AIDS first made headlines. More than 6,000 Americans had already died.

PETRELIS: I mean, my anger just knew no limits.

AIZENMAN: David Barr was another young gay man living in New York, grappling with this new disease. He was too overwhelmed to dwell on his anger. He was just out of law school and part of a network of volunteers helping⁶ people with AIDS.

DAVID BARR: It was a war zone. Like, I don't have time to go yell at politicians, you know? I got to diaper somebody. You know, I've got to create a legal services program to keep people from being evicted⁷.

AIZENMAN: But while the work felt vital...

BARR: It was never satisfying because whatever help we were providing was really temporary. You know, we lost everybody.

AIZENMAN: By early 1987, the threat felt apocalyptic⁸.

(SOUNDBITE OF DOCUMENTARY, "HOW TO SURVIVE A PLAGUE")

UNIDENTIFIED PROTESTER: What do we want?

UNIDENTIFIED PROTESTERS #1: A cure.

UNIDENTIFIED PROTESTER: When do we want it?

UNIDENTIFIED PROTESTERS #1: Now.

AIZENMAN: Hundreds of gay men and their supporters began taking to New York City streets in shows of anger.

(SOUNDBITE OF DOCUMENTARY, "HOW TO SURVIVE A PLAGUE")

UNIDENTIFIED PROTESTERS #2: (Chanting) Health care is a right. Health care is a right.

AIZENMAN: For Petrelis, to lay down in front of traffic with all these other people...

PETRELIS: Screaming at the top of their lungs, I felt they were taking my anger and putting it out there to the world.

AIZENMAN: For Barr, the young lawyer, it was galvanizing.

BARR: The anger helped us fight off a sense of hopelessness.

AIZENMAN: Soon, all over the country, thousands were joining up. They called themselves AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power, ACT UP.

DAVID FRANCE: ACT UP ethos was that they had united in anger.

AIZENMAN: David France is the author of a history of ACT UP called "How To Survive A Plague." The demonstrations⁹ you've been hearing are excerpts¹⁰ from a 2012 documentary he made by the same name.

FRANCE: The task of ACT UP was to take that anger and turn it into action. They were no longer invisible sufferers of a disease. They were terrifying sufferers of a disease.

AIZENMAN: And they started using that power very strategically. What ACT UP wanted was a cure, so they took it upon themselves to figure out the specific roadblocks in government policy and in clinical trials, then unleashed¹¹ their anger to force the decision-makers to the table.

(SOUNDBITE OF DOCUMENTARY, "HOW TO SURVIVE A PLAGUE")

UNIDENTIFIED PROTESTERS #3: (Chanting) Release the drugs now. Release the drugs now.

AIZENMAN: It kicked off in 1988 at a government building in suburban¹² Maryland.

BARR: Our goal was to seize control of the FDA.

AIZENMAN: David Barr says they wanted the Food and Drug Administration to give AIDS patients access to an experimental drug. The FDA wouldn't even discuss it.

(SOUNDBITE OF DOCUMENTARY, "HOW TO SURVIVE A PLAGUE")

UNIDENTIFIED PROTESTERS #3: (Chanting) Guilty, guilty, guilty, guilty.

AIZENMAN: The activists laid down in rows, blocked entrances. It made national news.

(SOUNDBITE OF DOCUMENTARY, " HOW TO SURVIVE A PLAGUE")

UNIDENTIFIED PROTESTERS #3: (Chanting) Seize control, seize control, seize control.

AIZENMAN: Within days, the FDA agreed to meet. In a couple months, officials opened access to experimental drugs. Next, ACT UP took on the National Institutes of Health, then the pharmaceutical¹⁴ companies. Here's France.

FRANCE: What they were able to revolutionize was really the very way that drugs are identified and tested.

AIZENMAN: Fast-tracking drug trials, getting the government to set research priorities such that in 1996, scientists finally found the treatment that would keep people alive. France says there's no question ACT UP sped up the breakthrough. But along the way, the anger that propelled ACT UP became a source of division.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: We wish to remind all visitors to respect...

AIZENMAN: It all came to a head one Sunday in December of 1989 at Manhattan's St. Patrick's Cathedral.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: ...The prayerful atmosphere.

AIZENMAN: ACT UP wanted to call out the archbishop, John O'Connor, for the church's opposition¹⁵ to condoms. Petrelis was in a group that decided¹⁶ to take the protest inside. He'd been raised Roman Catholic, had a lot of unresolved feelings towards the church.

PETRELIS: You know, condemning¹⁷ me as gay - just all that Catholic guilt¹³ I had been raised with.

AIZENMAN: The plan was for a quiet gesture - interrupt O'Connor's sermon by reading a quick statement, then turn their backs on him in silence. But as Petrelis watched...

PETRELIS: Something inside of me - I feel there's just not enough anger that could be heard.

AIZENMAN: He had a whistle on his keychain. He started blowing it.

(SOUNDBITE OF WHISTLE BLOWING)

PETRELIS: Loudly, stood up on the pew, literally¹⁸ blowing the whistle on centuries of horrible treatment by the church toward gays and toward women.

AIZENMAN: Even that didn't feel like enough. Then, Petrelis pointed¹⁹ his finger at Archbishop O'Connor.

PETRELIS: I started screaming, stop killing²⁰ us.

(SOUNDBITE OF DOCUMENTARY, "HOW TO SURVIVE A PLAGUE")

PETRELIS: (Screaming) Stop killing us.

Archbishop O'Connor, stop killing us.

AIZENMAN: Others took up the call.

(SOUNDBITE OF DOCUMENTARY, "HOW TO SURVIVE A PLAGUE")

UNIDENTIFIED PROTESTERS #4: (Chanting) Stop it. Stop it.

AIZENMAN: An activist¹ lined up for communion took the wafer from the priest and crushed it.

(SOUNDBITE OF DOCUMENTARY, "HOW TO SURVIVE A PLAGUE")

UNIDENTIFIED PROTESTERS #4: (Chanting) Stop it. Stop it.

AIZENMAN: David Barr had opposed this protest. He says the next day...

BARR: This story on the front page of the papers was not, you know, look at these horrible HIV policies that the church is promoting. It was, you know, gay guy spits body of Christ out on the floor.

AIZENMAN: Barr felt the time had come to expand ACT UP's appeal. Now, this action against the church had alienated²¹ potential supporters.

BARR: It was a turning point where venting²² one's anger took precedent²³ over political strategy.

AIZENMAN: As for Petrelis, he has no regrets. He argues that ACT UP remained effective. And he says that while what happened at St. Patrick's wasn't strategic...

PETRELIS: It was a catharsis finally happening.

AIZENMAN: And not just for the activists in the cathedral. He's been in movie theaters when David France's documentary has been shown. When that scene comes on of his younger self screaming at the archbishop, people stand up, he says, and they applaud me.

Nurith Aizenman, NPR News.

1 activist   

n.活动分子，积极分子

参考例句：

• He's been a trade union activist for many years.多年来他一直是工会的积极分子。
• He is a social activist in our factory.他是我厂的社会活动积极分子。

2 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 coalition   

n.结合体，同盟，结合，联合

参考例句：

• The several parties formed a coalition.这几个政党组成了政治联盟。
• Coalition forces take great care to avoid civilian casualties.联盟军队竭尽全力避免造成平民伤亡。

4 unleash   

vt.发泄，发出；解带子放开

参考例句：

• They hope to create allies to unleash against diseases,pests,and invasive species.他们希望创造出一些新群体来对付疾病、害虫和一些有侵害性的物种。
• Changing water levels now at times unleash a miasma of disease from exposed sewage.如今，大坝不时地改变水位，从暴露的污水释放出了疾病瘴气。

5 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

6 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

7 evicted   

v.（依法从房屋里或土地上）驱逐，赶出( evict的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• A number of tenants have been evicted for not paying the rent. 许多房客因不付房租被赶了出来。
• They had evicted their tenants for non-payment of rent. 他们赶走了未交房租的房客。

8 apocalyptic   

adj.预示灾祸的，启示的

参考例句：

• The air is chill and stagnant,the language apocalyptic.空气寒冷而污浊，语言则是《启示录》式的。
• Parts of the ocean there look just absolutely apocalyptic.海洋的很多区域看上去完全像是世界末日。

9 demonstrations   

证明( demonstration的名词复数 )； 表明； 表达； 游行示威

参考例句：

• Lectures will be interspersed with practical demonstrations. 讲课中将不时插入实际示范。
• The new military government has banned strikes and demonstrations. 新的军人政府禁止罢工和示威活动。

10 excerpts   

n.摘录，摘要( excerpt的名词复数 )；节选（音乐，电影）片段

参考例句：

• Some excerpts from a Renaissance mass are spatchcocked into Gluck's pallid Don Juan music. 一些文艺复光时期的弥撒的选节被不适当地加入到了格鲁克平淡无味的唐璜音乐中。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He is editing together excerpts of some of his films. 他正在将自己制作的一些电影的片断进行剪辑合成。 来自辞典例句

11 unleashed   

v.把（感情、力量等）释放出来，发泄( unleash的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The government's proposals unleashed a storm of protest in the press. 政府的提案引发了新闻界的抗议浪潮。
• The full force of his rage was unleashed against me. 他把所有的怒气都发泄在我身上。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 suburban   

adj.城郊的，在郊区的

参考例句：

• Suburban shopping centers were springing up all over America. 效区的商业中心在美国如雨后春笋般地兴起。
• There's a lot of good things about suburban living.郊区生活是有许多优点。

13 guilt   

n.犯罪；内疚；过失，罪责

参考例句：

• She tried to cover up her guilt by lying.她企图用谎言掩饰自己的罪行。
• Don't lay a guilt trip on your child about schoolwork.别因为功课责备孩子而使他觉得很内疚。

14 pharmaceutical   

adj.药学的，药物的；药用的，药剂师的

参考例句：

• She has donated money to establish a pharmaceutical laboratory.她捐款成立了一个药剂实验室。
• We are engaged in a legal tussle with a large pharmaceutical company.我们正同一家大制药公司闹法律纠纷。

15 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

16 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

17 condemning   

v.（通常因道义上的原因而）谴责( condemn的现在分词 )；宣判；宣布…不能使用；迫使…陷于不幸的境地

参考例句：

• The government issued a statement condemning the killings. 政府发表声明谴责这些凶杀事件。
• I concur with the speaker in condemning what has been done. 我同意发言者对所做的事加以谴责。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

18 literally   

adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实

参考例句：

• He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
• Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，决不肯坐下来。

19 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。

20 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

21 alienated   

adj.感到孤独的，不合群的v.使疏远( alienate的过去式和过去分词 )；使不友好；转让；让渡（财产等）

参考例句：

• His comments have alienated a lot of young voters. 他的言论使许多年轻选民离他而去。
• The Prime Minister's policy alienated many of her followers. 首相的政策使很多拥护她的人疏远了她。 来自《简明英汉词典》

22 venting   

消除； 泄去； 排去； 通风

参考例句：

• But, unexpectedly, he started venting his spleen on her. 哪知道，老头子说着说着绕到她身上来。 来自汉英文学 - 骆驼祥子
• So now he's venting his anger on me. 哦，我这才知道原来还是怄我的气。

23 precedent   

n.先例，前例；惯例；adj.在前的，在先的

参考例句：

• Is there a precedent for what you want me to do?你要我做的事有前例可援吗？
• This is a wonderful achievement without precedent in Chinese history.这是中国历史上亘古未有的奇绩。