AIDS Quilt crosses barriers

In 1985, Cleve Jones asked fellow San Franciscoans to honor the growing number of friends lost to AIDS by writing their names on placards and fastening them to a wall of the Federal Building. Hundreds of placards were taped up.

'I looked at that patchwork of names on that cold, gray, stone wall and I thought to myself, It looks like a quilt,' said Jones.

The quilt he envisioned 17 years ago now numbers more than 44,000 hand-made panels and has been viewed by 14 million people worldwide. A 1,400-panel section is on display at Grand Valley's Fieldhouse Arena through Sunday, May 12.

Public viewing hours are 9 a.m.-9 p.m. Friday and Saturday, May 10 and 11, and noon-5 p.m. on Sunday. There is no admission charge. Closing ceremonies and the dedication of new panels will take place at 5 p.m. on Sunday. The GVSU Fieldhouse Arena is located on Grand Valley's Allendale Campus, 15 minutes west of Grand Rapids on Lake Michigan Drive.

Jones, a Michigan native, spoke at opening ceremonies for the AIDS Memorial Quilt on Thursday, when the quilt sections were unfurled as names of people memorialized on the panels were spoken. Many were West Michigan residents.

Nearly 50 million people are infected with HIV today; 23 million have already died, said Jones, who travels the world to advocate AIDS awareness. There are approximately 1,200 cases of HIV/AIDS in West Michigan, with about 70 new infections each year, according to the Michigan Department of Community Health.

Jones himself has had AIDS for 20 years. He began treatment in 1994 and said he continues to feel strong and healthy, but the newly infected ¿ predominantly people under the age of 25 ¿ may not fare as well. A quarter of newly diagnosed patients are infected with drug-resistant strains of HIV.

'I hope you understand that the epidemic is, in fact, worse than ever,' said Jones, who has been at the epicenter of gay rights and AIDS activism movements for more than two decades.

Called the world's largest community arts project, the AIDS Memorial Quilt crosses barriers of race, nationality, gender, sexual orientation, and ideology ¿ as does the disease itself, said Jones.

'If we are to be successful in fighting this epidemic, then we must be fearless in crossing these barriers,' he said. That, he said, is the lesson of the quilt.

Click here to hear Cleve Jones' remarks at opening ceremonies for the West Michigan display of the AIDS Memorial Quilt.

For information about HIV/AIDS and for anonymous HIV testing, call the Michigan AIDS Hotline, 1-800-872-AIDS, or the National Hispanic AIDS Hotline, 1-800-344-SIDA.

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