On National HIV Testing Day, we recognize AIDS, anti-war, civil rights activist Kiyoshi Kuromiya, whose emboldened work on behalf of individuals living with HIV/AIDS so defined the era. Born in a Wyoming Japanese-American internment camp during World War II, Kuromiya seemed to be everywhere – the “Forrest Gump of Activism,” as he called himself. As a participant in the 1963 March on Washington, he met Martin Luther King Jr., became his personal assistant/confidante, and marched with him in Selma. During the Vietnam War, he used his creativity to attract thousands to anti-war demonstrations, including those at the 1968 Democratic Convention in Chicago and at Abbie Hoffman’s historic “Levitate the Pentagon” protest. Following the Stonewall Riots, he became actively involved in LGBT activism, co-founding the Gay Liberation Front, one of the most radical pro-gay political organizations of the time. In addition to his work for LGBT causes during the 1970’s, Kuromiya also helped utopian scientist/philosopher Buckminster Fuller translate his complicated ideas into books that could be understood by the general public. During the AIDS Crisis of the 1980’s and 1990’s as a founding member of ACT-UP Chicago, he edited the first medical and cultural competency guidelines produced for people living with the disease. He also played a crucial role in empowering individuals through his pioneering use of the internet to disseminate HIV/AIDS news and resources through websites he developed. As founder of Philadelphia’s Critical Care Project he sought to provide accurate and up-to-date information at a time when confusion and misinformation about HIV was rampant. Ironically, he was diagnosed with AIDs himself in 1989 and passed in 2000 from AIDS-related complications. Prior to his death, he was also the lead plaintiff in Kuromiya vs. United States of America, a 1999 Supreme Court case that tried, but failed to establish the right to compassionate medical use of marijuana to treat people with AIDS-related nausea and wasting. Kuromiya’s life provides an inspiring benchmark for civil rights advocates everywhere, especially on a day when people are encouraged to get tested for HIV.
“The only way to change the world is to be actively engaged in it.” Kiyoshi Kuromiya
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