The Oceanside Public Library is hosting an event, “Remember and Commit” in honor of World AIDS Day on Friday.
The ceremony, in the Civic Center Library Community Room, 330 N Coast Hwy., will include public speakers, a moment of remembrance, HIV resources and a display with four panels from the AIDS Memorial Quilt.
Partnering with the library on the event are the North County LGBTQ Resource Center, Pride by the Beach, Pilgrim United Church of Christ, Vista Community Clinic and TrueCare.
The quilt sections connect the story of AIDS to the work being done to provide services and raise greater awareness about HIV today.
The memorial was created 35 years ago by gay rights activist Cleve Jones. While planning a march in 1985, he was devastated by the growing numbers of lives that had been affected by AIDS in San Francisco and asked each of his fellow marchers to write down the names of friends and loved ones who had died.
Jones and others stood on ladders taping the placards to the walls of the San Francisco Federal Building. The names looked like a patchwork quilt, and inspired by this sight, Jones and his friends made plans for a larger memorial.
In 1987, a group of strangers began gathering in a San Francisco storefront with the goal of creating a memorial for those who had died of AIDS, while also helping people understand the devastating impact of the disease.
The project served as the foundation of the NAMES Project AIDS Memorial Quilt and later that year, nearly 2,000 of the panels were displayed on the National Mall in Washington, D.C.
Today, the quilt has grown to more than 50,000 panels, with more than 110,000 names stitched within its fabric. It weighs 54 tons, stretches more than 50 miles in length and is the largest community-arts project in the world. And it is now part of the National AIDS Memorial, which oversees its preservation and care.
For more information about the Oceanside event, please contact operations@northcountycenter.org or call 760-994-1690.