particularly for people like me. now called lgbtq, something something something. >> host: that movement is larger than the gay movement treachery fastly i grew up. i grew up believing that all of these movements for social justice were connected, that we are all part of a larger struggle to end war and end racism and poverty. i think that's changed a bit over the years but it is still the way i look at and i think it would be helpful for people viewed it that way. >> host: how would you define the gay movement today, 2017? >> guest: right now in 2017 i think lgbt people face a real challenge.ac we have won some very important victories in recent years,, particularly during the obama administration. now i think all of those advances clearly are in great danger of being reversed.d. so we have a younger generation that grew up under obama and never really knew the kind of struggle my generation went through. generation went throught was part of my impetus to write the book of what people to know what it took to get us there. >> where does the title come from? >> it came from a daydream one day when i was much longer would it would be like in we were just beginning to understand but for my generation to understand and if we could all rise up what happens when people rise? >> host: how did you become connected to harvey milk? he just turned 40 had been through many different careers was a republican and living most of his life in the caucus then open and a camera store for word of transforming that scandinavia and an irish neighborhood. he was a very kind and compassionate man and very funny but what i want people to know is sea is a very ordinary person he was not a saint he was full of all of the challenges that most of us into our inner zero negative. and with the community worldwide with that fascination and 1978. >> what was your connection? >> i was a radical obnoxious punks kid he persuaded me to cut my hair the then he brought me with him when he was elected to san francisco city hall as the intern presentence discuss state university. >> that is an interesting question but going back to world war ii with the war in the pacific ending the armed forces word decommissioned and among them were the game in and lesbian women and then volunteered to fight for their country and in the word decommissioned in san francisco and then said i not going back to iowa. that was the beginning but many historians would trace that back to always have a reputation. but it was after world war two that it solidified. >> host: in your book "when we rise" you write by 1985 almost everyone i knew was dead or dying or caring for someone that was dying. >> guest: it was like a slow-motion avalanche with the report from the centers of disease control there's just a few short paragraphs about the young seemingly healthy gain in getting very sick with pneumonia and shortly after that a dermatologist at ucsf saw some of the irritations and some of them were my friends. walking back this overwhelming to contemplate how many people died me with this 1,000 after that removes 1,000 every year for a decade and a half but this is a neighborhood eight blocks by eight blocks so the concentration was very strong literally people were dying on the streets. i can point to every building to tell you who lives there. nobody thought to take care of them so landlord would be evicted and the early years were very terrible. >> this is a call in program if you like to talk to about his book here are the numbers. >> host: what was your connection? >> i started that project in 1987 and is very moved by the death of my best friend and a felt at that point all of my friends were going to die and i would die and we would all be forgotten believe me i was the least had my friends lived there retaking pulitzers and denny's and in the state houses and many of them were a great artist and that was so distressed by the reality that wanted them to be remembered and also as the statistics those can on your mind but i wanted to reveal something behind the statistics so with all of these individually created tributes it is a big part to change the hearts and minds of the american people spinet it is hard to say how many there are because there are quotes all over the world, but there are similar traditions on every continent. in the u.s. said is 85,000 panels worldwide i don't know but this still represents just the tiny fraction of the total number of people the overkill by this disease. the overwhelming majority were not gain an. and that still gets lost in of stigma. >> when is the last time that was displaced? >> it was 1996 with the entire national mall to visualize to the steps of the of washington monument. to live in atlanta with the project foundation with the new visitors' center. >> host: i did end up in a land the? >> they made a decision it wanted to be closer to the cdc and the civil-rights leadership and us demographic is the - - traffics so we see the of places of the increase are mostly in the south in atlanta and it is ironic to avi hiv/aids. for those with highest infection rates especially with african-american men. >> host: here is the cover of the book "when we rise" my life in the movement" where's the of picture taken quite. >> of the san francisco gay pride celebration. >> host: let's hear from the callers. [applause] >> caller: bois i never liked the word gay but that the detroit cops and then after 1910 month they can mount i had myself tested and i found out. into me some professional doctors in detroit with the age hiv testing programs and i became good friends with them. i got missile tested over andover and i have seen people die of aids. event my family came from europe. >> host: i am sorry to interrupt your story. day you have a question? >> caller: i believe dole believe in that and i save the guy's life through different levels of work and it is an senior not going forward we are going back word. >> guest: i am afraid you may be right. and to cross the barriers with those silly is we'll hold dear in the country think you for calling. >> host: what do you fear going backwards? >> getting information about a young hiv-positive asylum seeker who has spent locked up in improbably be deported and that in russia treated very badly are worse. people to understand how these events is can be reversed and now people are determined to turn the clock back. for algae bt that means victories like larry g. quality and the effort to prevent unfair discrimination in the workplace could be further restricted and i am concerned about what the republicans will do for a to be funding, education, treatment and prevention. i am extremely frustrated because we still don't have a cure or vaccine. we do have the knowledge pdf to stop this so people with the of virus you're treated regularly who can afford the medication have access to medical care they can diminishes though sufficiently taken not translate -- chris with the disease and others could present from being infected but the strategy is only work when of population has access to those life-saving medications. >> caller: i'm in atlanta. i am a black gay activist and 67 years old. so deceive the increase of the hiv rate with the black community may be you can give me some insight live the community rose up. >> so why do you say you made the distinction between the black-and-white gay community? >> back in the '80s when aids first hit this country use of the community organizers but today the epidemic had transferred to the by taking unity and to concede those infection rates. >> guest: yes. hugh raises a very important point that many people don't understand. in the '80s all of us in the gay community black and brown and white took responsibility we knew we were abandoned by the government. and then to create the system to care for people and educate people and advocate for for active quality. for and it would be irresponsible of me to gloss over as more and middle-class men the interest in fighting the fight began to diminish and part of a problem absolutely is lingering racism within the gay community and that is a terrible thing. african-americans and that fight against racism as the ball as homophobia communities marginalized for generations with the medical establishment. with poverty and lack of education has a very fertile ground for hiv/aids this is a very complicated challenge and if we lose the of funding we have no to pay for these treatment programs then we will be set back further but by one to thank you for your work because new york city is a real example with infection rates across the board that has come down steadily with our black and brown youth and that subset as you know well has an appalling increase shame on the government for not doing more. >> host: err when tennessee. >> caller: i was in severance cisco in the '80s as a heroin addict but somehow i can mount by must have been lucky so i wonder what is the relationship between the dope fiends that died? >> from the beginning we knew i'd be drug users were at greater risk that was the single most effective way to transmit the virus through the shared syringe. is an ongoing problem in those with substance issues they're very likely to have other issues complicating their ability to protect themselves or their partners so it is an ongoing problem not only in this country but around the world. >> host: cleve jones why are you alive today? >> guest: i am alive i think for a number of reasons. first i ma white educated man from a middle-class background with a job and insurance. i always add access to medical care. then gave me real benefits and i was connected so i can access the best scientific and medical device also with the support of my family. i was not abandoned by my church ramie families or friends. especially anybody who faces a long illness you know how hard it is an you are sick for a long time it is frightening and exhausting if you don't have the support of family or community it is so much more difficult. i also have to say both of my grandmother's live to be really, really old so i got some good genes. >> host: when did you contract hiv quite. >> was then the steady collecting blood samples in the late '70s and actually contracted hiv in the winter of 78 lawful to years before the first word of what was published in this cdc journal. pdf i learned for certain was positive 1985 when the antibodies had came out i did not get sick until 1993 and was very ill. i begin and end by book saying it saved my life i was kidding ready to kill myself because i was afraid to be david then saved a life again i stormed the nih and fda to change the way we were tested. we are facing a lot of challenges right now in this country and people of all sides can acknowledge we have challenges ahead of us my life is living evidence of that. >> caller: i appreciate speaking with you actually have a two-part question. i work in the health care field and i see a lot of people do you consider the health care hindrance? and the second question how is the gay community working with the government? >> host: before we get an answer are you gay? >> guest: yes. i have been no for a long time bought. >> guest: for those who are tuning in and don't know curvy the only drug that has been approved for the pre-exposure prophylactics what we know from any rigorous studies just one today taken regularly can prevent almost entirely the transmission of hiv positive to negative individual there is controversy some people have suggested this will increase high-risk behavior leading to the transmission of other nasties but for me it is a no-brainer this is what we have to work with no. , there is a lot of misinformation out there but i tell the young people first of all make sure they have a health care provider who understands hiv/aids and then they need to look closely at at their behavior and ask themselves the my engaging in behavior that puts me at high risk? if the answer is yes and i suggest the drug purpose some people thank you have to take for the rest of your life. that is nonsense it is that period of life when you are at risk. we know among the young people in particular with drugs and all call or part of our lives that can lead to unfortunate choices. so i'm doing everything i can to encourage young people in particular but all of us to do a self evaluation in conjunction with medical care providers if i am at risk maybe it is the right thing for me. the second question how low are we interacting currently with the government? who knows. everything hangs in the balance right now. i know the of large organizations barberry concerned about '04 range of issues president trump has attempted to portray himself as a friend of the lgbt community i don't think there is evidence that he is but i think he will do great harm in be will have to be very strong and smart and organize and resist. >> host: behalf time for one more. >> what about ronald reagan with his tendencies and how much he delayed the progress on the remedies such as they are also but appealing to the fiesta like to urge the christians in the skeptics to keep the commercial religion backed by big money who don't give the damn about jesus for the power and the control. >> host: we are almost out of time. >> guest: thanks for calling i have spent to modesto many times. yes ronald reagan who has been elevated to a st. he waited until more americans died in the entire vietnam war if he had moved faster with common-sense and compassion we may have done a much better job to prevent what became a goal pandemic and an overwhelming tragedy. >> you are watching booktv on c-span2 with top nonfiction books and authors every weekend. booktv, television for serious readers. >> but the other contribution i think what i hope the book as is a discussion of the domestic cadaver trade and this is a trafficking of dead bodies. i've traced medical school records, anatomy professors that were involved in this traffic, and he wrote letters back and forth to one another looking for the dead bodies of enslaved people or exempt them from grades. one of the pivotal quotes that i have is a quote from one medical doctor to the other that is saying tell me how much it costs for a dead -- one that you can't, you can determine what the cost of a dead -- he continued, one that will come doesn't smell strong enough to be nosed mrr. i traced this traffic and the trading at his bodies and a look at the ways in which even after death enslaved people were commodified. so just to final closing short like one sentence quotes that kind of helped push to this book, and that is a quote from elizabeth kegley who some of you may know was the enslaved seamstress to martha jefferson, and she says it which he talks about what it's like i'm at the grave at least we should be permitted to lay our burdens down that a new world, world of brightness may open to us. the life that is tinnitus here should grow into a flood of estimates beyond the dark, mysterious shadow of death. .. >> you can watch this and other programs on-line at book tv.o tv.org. c-span, where history unfolds daily. in 1979, c-span was created as a public service by america's cable television companies. that's brought to you today by your cable or satellite provider. up next on after words, ohio governor and former republican presidential candidate john kasich discusses the 2016 presidential race and his outlook on america's future in his book "two paths, america divided or