Writing: ‘Untitled’ by Noel Chavez Campos

This piece placed second for high school submissions in the Ánimo Voices Competition, which invited students to write about innovators, upstanders, visionaries, or rebels that have made a difference in their local or broader communities. The competition was an opportunity to motivate, recognize, and celebrate our strong student voices through writing and art.

Untitled

Alone, I watched a biographical documentary called Milk. It told the narrative of a man who was a reflection of me. At first this man thought he had never accomplished anything in his forties; I thought I had never accomplished anything meaningful as well being a teenager. We both had a vision, a vision that one day the morning birds could sing for the joy of love in every corner of the world. No longer would people hide in fear of the crows that threatened to scavenge the bodies of those who were beaten to death for choosing to love indiscriminately, to love openly, to love unafraid. A flash of inspiration came to me from what felt like an apparition of myself on screen, turned into reality.

To ward off death, the angry voices of the crowd walking on the soil that was and has been oppressing their existence towards the depth of the earth. Their voices choose not to stay silent, despite the bloody beatings from the police, despite the voices that oppress their existence in the phrase, “ God hates fags.” There was a voice among the crowd spurring the Gay Liberation Movement and was none other than Harvey Milk.

One of Milk’s most famous phrases was, “Gay people, we will not win our rights by staying quietly in our closets. … We are coming out to fight the lies, the myths, the distortions,”. In a world where the LGBT community felt like they were sinking to the bottom of the ocean, Milk brought them straight out to the surface with a breath of acceptance. While there were a lot of tragic moments where coming out was not the best idea, there were also many moments where people felt liberated from living a lie, a lie that would have almost erased their existence.

Before he was a politician, he was a force to be reckoned with when he established the Castro Village Association. Since many facilities were mercilessly banning gay people, Milk had many gay people and merchants go on a strike against stores that were against them. The LGBT community may have won the battle by using their economic powers to allow gay people to walk freely in the sunlight; however, there was still more work to be done during the night time. The rise of gay-friendly stores seemed quite impossible at the time, but Milk was nonetheless going to change the country once more.

As a politician, Harvey Milk’s most notorious debate against religious figures was the fight against the Briggs Initiative. It would ban gay people from teaching in schools and working with children. Conservatives were concerned that the word “gay” meant “pedophile.” As Milk debated with John Briggs, he became despondent; he saw and felt the bully’s pit filled so high with hatred that it would make the devil blush. He knew they couldn’t win. Much to his surprise, San Francisco celebrated the triumph against the Briggs Initiative as it failed by one million votes in California!

There were other wins, there were other challenges, but they weren’t enough.

Former politician Dan White assassinated Milk. After his gruesome murder, people filled the streets with lit candles honoring his memory. Each candle represented hope created from Milk himself. Across the country, the candles created a glowing warmth that enveloped people who had been outcast for so long. Alone, the candles may have not meant much, but collectively these candles inspired the nation, for his legacy would live on.

His legacy lives on within the hope Milk has given me. Now, I am motivated to give hope to others by providing a safe space within the Gay-Straight Alliance at my school- a community where the word “gay” is used to isolate people, rather than bring them together. My mission is to have the word unite people. As Harvey Milk taught me to say, “My name is Noel Chavez, and I’m here to recruit you!”

Facing History

At first this man thought he had never accomplished anything in his forties; I thought I had never accomplished anything meaningful as well being a teenager. We both had a vision, a vision that one day the morning birds could sing for the joy of love in every corner of the world. No longer would people hide in fear of the crows that threatened to scavenge the bodies of those who were beaten to death for choosing to love indiscriminately, to love openly, to love unafraid.

Their voices choose not to stay silent, despite the bloody beatings from the police, despite the voices that oppress their existence in the phrase, “God hates fags.” There was a voice among the crowd spurring the Gay Liberation Movement and was none other than Harvey Milk.

Before he was a politician, many facilities were mercilessly banning gay people. However, Milk had many gay people and merchants go on a strike against stores that were against them. The LGBT community may have won the battle by using their economic powers to allow gay people to walk freely in the sunlight; however, there was still more work to be done during the night time. The rise of gay-friendly stores seemed quite impossible at the time, but Milk was nonetheless going to change the country once more.

As a politician, Harvey Milk’s most notorious debate against religious figures was the fight against the Briggs Initiative. It would ban gay people from teaching in schools because they were concerned that the word “gay” meant “pedophile.” As Milk debated with John Briggs, he became despondent; he saw and felt the bully’s pit filled so high with hatred that it would make the devil blush. He knew they couldn’t win. Much to his surprise, San Francisco celebrated the triumph against the Briggs Initiative as it failed by one million votes in California!

There were other wins, there were other challenges, but they weren’t enough.

Former politician Dan White assassinated Milk. After his gruesome murder, people filled the streets with lit candles that honored his memory. Each candle represented hope created from Milk himself. Across the country, the candles created a glowing warmth that enveloped people who had been outcast for so long. Alone, the candles may have not meant much, but collectively these candles inspired the nation, for his legacy would live on.

It also taught us that a battle for civil rights could not be won alone. On that day, people came from everywhere corner of the country, and it did not matter whether they were homogenetic because they were there to mourn the death of a fearless leader who had died for the Gay Liberation Movement. It is this movement that has sparked the most progressive passing of rights in U.S history because different people strived and united under one cause.