Strength and Solace in Numbers

In times of love and loss, demonstrations of care can be another form of activism. This sentiment is perhaps most evident in the AIDS epidemic, when physical touch became paradoxically a symbol of tenderness yet agonizingly painful for someone with complications from HIV, as Keiko Lane recalls in Blood Loss: A Love Story of AIDS, Activism, and Art, a memoir exploring survival after our loved ones have died and a chronicle of the powerful lives they led in solidarity. Difficult times remind us that All Friends Are Necessary, Tomas Moniz’s novel about a recently divorced middle school teacher who leans on his network of platonic and romantic relationships to put himself back out into the world. Mei, a Dartmouth dropout-turned-limousine driver for questionable clientele from Off the Books by Soma Mei Sheng Frazier, also finds herself navigating transition in the form of a cross-country road trip that showcases the resilience of the human spirit and the power of doing the right thing. Moderated by poet, educator, and organizer Gabriel Cortez, this heartfelt and uplifting panel will highlight the power to be found in community as we go through life’s hardships together.