I know. This is supposed to be my end of month music diary, but I have something more important to write about. One of our newest Kossacks, filmmaker Cecilia Aldarando, told an amazing story in Denise Oliver Velez's diary on Sunday. She has reached out to me for help, and you know how I am when I'm touched by a cause. So this is about the story she's trying to tell, and about what we can do to help her tell it.
After a word from our sponsor.
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This is how Denise introduced the story in her diary:
So many stories have not yet been told about secrets that tear couples and families apart. Death doesn't stop the secrets, it only further obfuscates the truths. In a groundbreaking new documentary film project, Memories of a Penitent Heart, filmmaker Cecilia Aldarando tells the story of her uncle Miguel, who died when she was 6 years old, and of her journey to seek out the truth about her uncle's life and death.
This diary turned into a reminiscence about AIDS (the "secrets" to which she referred), about AIDS in the Puerto Rican community, and about how badly people with AIDS were treated in the 1980s. I am ALWAYS blown away by how willing we at Daily Kos are to tell our stories when we have stories to tell. My bereavement diaries were like that, and my diary about my wedding which solicited other stories about other people's weddings was VERY much like that too.
This is how the link in that blockquote introduces the subject matter of the film:
In 1987 at the height of the AIDS crisis, Miguel repented of his homosexuality on his deathbed, under pressure from his devout Catholic mother. Twenty-five years later, Miguel’s niece pieces together the mystery behind her uncle’s death, sifting through conflicting memories of a man she never really knew.
And this is how Cecilia explains the impact of the project on t
he indiegogo page that has been set up to fund it:
Memories of a Penitent Heart is the first feature-length documentary to explore a very common occurrence during the crisis—faith-based discrimination against people with AIDS—from the perspective of a descendant reckoning with her family’s responsibility. Miguel’s mother Carmen was a loving but misguided woman, who was too blind to see the ways that she was failing her son. This film demonstrates what happens when well-meaning family members shut out their LGBT members, even when they don't know they're doing it. Most of the time, bigotry isn’t driven by hate—most of the time, bigotry is driven by 2 things: fear and ignorance. And a lot of the time, bigotry looks like love. Memories of a Penitent Heart explores what happens when that love goes blind.
This is the kind of recovery effort I love as a historian, because the story of AIDS among the gay Latino community of New York has been obscured by all the forces Cecilia describes, and NOW, someone has been able to bring a family story about all these issues to life on the screen.
It's a wonderful story, complete with Miguel's missing partner, who is now a Franciscan monk. As of right now, the effort needs only $48 to reach the halfway funding point, and I'm covering that because this is a story that must be told. The post-production team is ready to start working, and there are some fairly interesting perqs that go with it, some for not very much at all! Here's the indiegogo link again.
Thank you for your patience.
And now for the stuff that makes this Top Comments:
TOP COMMENTS, May 29, 2014: Thanks to tonight's Top Comments contributors! Let us hear from YOU when you find that proficient comment.
From joedemocrat:
bkamr tells a true and harrowing story about life in corporate America in his own diary, The Goose That Lays Their Golden Egg.
From
Puddytat:
Annieli posts a picture in Chrislove's diary and hilarity ensues. Don't miss the fun.
From
Steveningen:
In Alexius Banks' diary Limbaugh calls #YesAllWomen "Militant FemiNAZIs", Gertie Green explains perfectly why Rush Limbaugh, although ridiculous to many,is still a very dangerous man.
From your diarist,
Dave in Northridge:
Vita Brevis adds some more tweets making fun of the hashtag #RedskinsPride in Steveningen's diary about the epic fail of same. Also flagged (for the last tweet) by Steveningen and navajo.
dawgflyer kicks off a FABULOUSLY wonderful thread in Hunter's diary, AFA asks members to refuse mail that comes with a Harvey Milk stamp (you just can't make stuff like this up). Special thanks for the contributions made by Crashing Vor, grover,aisb23, and MikeTheLiberal.
TOP MOJO, May 28, 2014 (excluding Tip Jars and first comments):
1) Re-submit the claim by Rhett23 — 136
2) Wow -- by gchaucer2 — 129
3) A Texas deputy would have convinced him to by pucklady — 117
4) I avoided my colonoscopy for years by SallyCat — 98
5) and people say they don't want government by anotherdemocrat — 93
6) What Carson fails to mention is that even with by Mother Mags — 86
7) Death Panels by Ray Radlein — 73
8) A Florida deputy would have shot the guy. by dallasdunlap — 68
9) When each new gun control bill that is signed by crystal eyes — 67
10) I hope his wife and children by manneckdesign — 66
11) This "Lamya Jarjour" by raboof — 61
12) OK, I like your diary, but I have to object to by Its the Supreme Court Stupid — 58
13) The caged bird is winging free... by Radiowalla — 58
14) her words... by kishik — 58
15) Stories like this need to get out to a wider by Walt starr — 58
16) That is, of course, only with respect to by Its the Supreme Court Stupid — 55
17) If this is bad today, just wait until by YucatanMan — 55
18) My daughter-in-law did 3 tours of Iraq by mmsood99 — 55
19) A great woman and a great soul. by One Pissed Off Liberal — 54
20) Sad. She should have lived forever. nt by Bob Love — 54
21) Cops don't arrest cops. by Bob Love — 53
22) Has he tried appealing? by bluenick — 53
23) It's a step by rduran — 53
24) I don't think that there is a spike in sexism by LaFeminista — 50
25) Worst Diary of the Week Contest still on Thursday by Darmok — 50
26) i did not even know she had been ill by TrueBlueMajority — 49
27) Right?! by Colorado is the Shiznit — 49
28) When Marissa Alexander fired a gun in her home by Hugh Jim Bissell — 49
29) A friend had the same type of problem with a by auapplemac — 49
30) "Still I Rise" by Sybil Liberty — 47
31) Stage 4 colon cancer survivor by VClib — 47
For an explanation of How Top Mojo Works, see
mik's
FAQing Top Mojo
TOP PHOTOS, May 28, 2014: Enjoy jotter's wonderful PictureQuilt below. Just click on the picture and it will magically take you to the comment that features that photo. Have fun, Kossacks!