Tertulia in the time of coronavirus: Lessons from AIDS activism for the coronavirus crisis [video]

Karen Pearlston and Jessi Taylor delivered a tertulia on lessons from AIDS activism for the coronavirus crisis on June 3.

“The AIDS epidemic is not over, just forgotten by too many. Similar to COVID-19, the AIDS epidemic did and does treat some people as disposable. Yet many of the lessons learned by queer AIDS activists have been forgotten,” stated Pearlston and Taylor.

Pearlston is a Professor of Law at the University of New Brunswick on traditional and unceded Wolastoqiyik territory. Taylor teaches in the Dept of Gender, Race, Sexuality and Social Justice at the University of of British Columbia and lives on the traditional, ancestral, and unceded territories of the Coast Salish peoples–Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), Stó:lō and Səl̓ílwətaʔ/Selilwitulh (Tsleil-Waututh) and xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam) Nations

Pearlston and Taylor are long-time activists working on issues of reproductive justice, sexual health, HIV/AIDS activism, and sex worker’s rights, among many others. They first met as activists with Reproductive Justice NB and are both active with the Campaign to Save Clinic 554.

Watch Pearlston and Taylor’s talk here:

For further reading, Pearlston and Taylor have put together this resource guide.

What is a tertulia? A tertulia is a kind of philosophy café where the lives and ideas of big thinkers, artists and other people who left a mark are shared with a broader community of curious people. This spring’s tertulia series discusses thinkers and ideas on how to deal with the coronavirus crisis.

The NB Media Co-op has partnered with Tertulia Fredericton to published videos of some of the tertulias. Stay tuned for the fall 2020 schedule.

For updates, visit the Tertulias Facebook page or email fredericton.tertulia@gmail.com.